The single most differentiating factor between successful and not so successful nations is their national strategy. Strategic management and statecraft begins with mission, policy, information and goals. National leadership searching for excellence must stimulate and unleash creative and productive qualities of the people.

In times of globalization and true economic interdependence, national boundaries and ethnic divides are lines merely drawn in the sand. Time has come for leadership in Sindh to rise above the ordinary and define the destiny of its nation in extraordinary times of 21st century.

Another alternative is to do nothing. Let us explore this alternative first by placing ourselves in year 2025. Let us also assume that we arrived at this year without any positive intervention. One can easily assume the magnification of current issues into major conflicts of tomorrow between various ethnic groups, virtual degradation of economic, social, judicial, state and cultural institutions. These conditions will transform into bloodbath and total destruction, forcing innocent people into pain and misery. In year 2025, leaders from hundreds of different groups will be sitting across the table, probably negotiating the bounty of ashes and the ruins.

Theme of "Sindh on the Threshold of 21st Century" intrigues participants of this Tenth Annual Convention of Sindhi Association of North America. It forces us to think about the future. Like project "Sindh 2000", it incites the best in our community to think about the policy alternatives ensuring national prosperity of Sindhi people in a truly economic interdependent world.

Although formulation of strategy is pivotal to any goal setting but designing a framework for its implementation and its control is equally important. Tasks of implementation and effective controls must take into consideration environmental concerns and system constraints. Strategy lacking plan of implementation or any considerations for the constraints of resources is destined to fail.

Vertical System Constraints

Sindh has historically strived to preserve its identity and sovereignty through the centuries. Early episodes of invasions gave rise to a diffusion between local and ruling cultures. Through the times of Ashoka, Arab, Turkish, Persian, Central Asian, and British rules, Sindh has resisted centralized administrations by asserting its will for an increased degree of autonomy. During these periods, although handicapped by inferior defence systems, Sindh prevailed by the power of its magnificent sufi culture. Almost all invading dynasties subsequently waged heroic wars against new invaders to preserve sovereignty of the land which their ancestors had invaded.

The need for vertically integrated systems served the purpose of operative administrative and economic controls by a minority rule. Britishers, recognizing the heterogeneous nature of Indian sub-continent, did not pursue formal centralized systems. Instead, they laid down the ambitious infrastructure and communication systems to elude build-in hindrance against administrative centralization. Britishers were far more flexible and focused on results rather than means of achieving them.

Since 1580 the sovereignty of Spain had been extended over Portugal, and the Portuguese rights over Indian territories had passed to the Spanish Crown. Revolt of Netherlands provoked striking blow at Spain thus depriving her of monopoly over Eastern trade. After receiving Royal Charter in 1600, the Company was authorized free trade into and from the East Indies and also Asian and African countries.

The company was to take advantages granted by the Turkish Sultans in 1579. It was granted sovereignty to govern its affairs without the injury and jurisdiction to/of local laws. From 1600 to 1935 entire constitutional history of India revolves around designing systems promising adequate dominion reflecting local concerns. Like any other foreign rule, the British empire started cracking at its foundations. Two world wars lay heavy toll on the victors and the vanquished alike. Thus gave rise to a host of freedom movements around the globe.

The Great Divide of India produced polarization between its people never witnessed before in human history. It gave rise to Muslim nationalism whose allegiance was beyond the physical territories. Pakistan, a new state, unsure of its security and survival depended largely on strong center, thus mirroring its philosophical relish for unitary authority. Post partition era unlike any other settlements of the past, poured millions of immigrants who had little or nothing in common with their < href="sindstar.html">Sindhi hosts except religious faith.

Early Pakistani leadership sought for greater vertical integration to ensure swift process of national construction and consolidation. Both, highly centralized governments and mass immigration in Sindh will continue to be dominant issues for years to come. As a result major political movements of Sindhi people stay focused around these issues.

The desire of asserting sovereignty has transformed into movements of self-determination and independence of Sindh as a country. Proponents of this thought are strong believers of system approach. They concentrate primarily on question of national autonomy with very little consideration for other human and economic issues. Exclusive system approach has restricted their ability to lead large number of Sindhi population. Within this movement, fundamental approach has given way to parochial attitudes which either refuse or at best abstain from addressing the problems of urban population of the province.

Containment Approach

Political parties and groups belonging to another end of the continuum believe in centralized administrative and economic models. Refusal to extend historic and cultural recognition to Sindh as a nation state puts them in constant confrontation with their system approach adversaries and sometimes educated Sindhi middle class.

Their philosophy subscribes to economic well being of Sindhi people but with a top-down flow of strategic and administrative authority. Recently articulated district government concept reduces the huge system into sub-units. These units will have no significant delegation of authority over resource development and allocation.

This school continues to deny presence of any national question in the country. It makes all efforts to underplay ethnic diversity of Pakistan's various provinces. These parties discover themselves subscribing to early nineteenth century economists, who believed all political and cultural issues were only a product of lower level of hierarchy of needs. Needs of belonging and self-actualization rarely made to their equation of prosperity.

Between the two, there is a large section of urban population that inspite of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds remains forged together with numerous social, economic and cultural problems. This trinary compounds host of opportunities and challenges to breakaway from remains of nineteenth century and enter into the new era of 21st century.

Ethnic Problem in Sindh

The Muslim nationalist movement in India rose from the United Province and Bihar. They occupied majority of the jobs which started to slip away with the introduction of a new Anglo-vernacular system. From 64% of high ranking government jobs in 1857, Muslim share was reduced to mere 35% in 1913. Muslims although being 13 to 15 % of UP's population could not tolerate their declining influence. It was this erosion of power that forced Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to articulate demands of parity and Quotas for government jobs.

After the partition, Muhajirs from UP and Bihar virtually held the Pakistani bureaucracy under their feet. Whereas the army was predominantly from Punjab province. It was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who dismantled the stronghold of Pakistani bureaucracy. His actions were perceived as the major strike against Muhajir power. Some historians believe it was just an act of consolidation of his power and not a design against any particular group of population. When fishing in the sea, one can't expect to catch a rabbit.

Growing unemployment pressures started to mount with the tightening up of Middle Eastern markets and surging waves of fresh migrations. Rise and fall of manpower export to middle Eastern countries played a very important role in shaping urban challenges. According to Pakistan Economic Survey: during the boom of manpower export to middle eastern countries between 1975 to 1986, Pakistan's remittances from middle east alone rose from .7% to 11% of its GNP. (Approx. U.S. $ 3546.5 million in year 1986). This migration of Pakistani workers coincided with rapid growth in construction and consumer goods industries.

It is ironic that during the same period Pakistan's share of middle eastern manpower market gradually declined from 42.4% in 1977 to 8.5% in 1985. Slowdown in economic activity, reversal in migration, continued influx of people from various provinces of Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Burma, and Afghanistan triggered conditions of internal turmoil. This unparalleled population growth and mounting unemployment in both public and private sectors gave way to severe political unrest. It is important to note that rural Sindh did not benefit from this boom at all. The development in rural Sindh suffered severe stagnation during this period.

While natural growth in population increased beyond any reasonable projections, rural population tripled between 1931 and 1981. Whereas its urban population swelled eight times during the same period. In Karachi, this phenomenon is very distinct. The current population of 8 million grew at the natural rate of 6% per year whereas the population influx due to migration remained at the rate of 30 to 50%. Out of 55,000 new arrivals each year in Karachi, at least 50% are due to immigration from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma and other countries.

70% to 80% of total immigrants belong to lower income groups. This segment does not have visible means to own a house or live in centrally located and developed areas of Karachi. As a result, for years these groups have selected the peripheral areas of the city for Kachi dwellings. Internal migration of rural population has been a latest phenomenon. This new kind of population displacement is due to technological advances and introduction of modern equipment in agriculture sector. This group of population constitutes 55% Baluchi and 45% Sindhi population settling in Goths around the periphery of KMC and KDA areas.

These squatters living in Kachi Abadis are built on the arid land owned by the government. Time span and other qualifications of consolidation vary from the monies spent on the structures and political power of the dwellings. Most of these Abadis and goths remained without basic amenities for decades. Once the amenities were granted so was the status-quo.

Most of these Abadis including Gulshan-e-Zia, Usmania Muhajir Colony, Orangi Town, Ghousia Colony have mushroomed recently. Bukhari Colony and Hussainabad were built in 1953 and 1960 respectively. Gulshan-e-Zia is mostly inhibited by recent Bihari and Bengali arrivals from Bangladesh.

More than 2 million of 8 million Karachi population lives in these Abadis. Of course such inflow of population creates major social and economic problems. These patterns of population growth gave way to severe civic, hygiene and health, transportation, cultural adjustment, and political problems. Similar problems, if not at the same scale, also occurred in Hyderabad, Sukkur, and other semi-urban cities of Sindh province.

Rise of Muhajir nationalism is a direct reflection of the above factors. Muhajir leadership must take partial blame for city's problems due to its blind support for unrestricted and unchecked immigration. There is no nation in the world that could possibly assimilate so many numbers of people in such a short time.

Sindh's urban and rural problems cannot be isolated from each other. There is tremendous economic and political interdependence between the two segments of the society. Due to economic and social complexity of these problems one cannot simplify them as ethnic problems alone. What is missing is a political wisdom and courageous leadership necessary to unite all communities of Sindh under a common vision. Unity of purpose requires unity of interests.

We must arrive at a definition of Sindhi. If Sindh is a nation state than all those living in Sindh should be considered Sindhis provided they show allegiance to the land and its people. Sindhi nation constitutes Brohvi speaking Sindhis, Siraki speaking Sindhis, Urdu speaking Sindhis, Baluchi speaking Sindhis, Gujrati, Punjabi, Pashtu, and Sindhi speaking Sindhis. Any other definition will foster disorder and division.

Bottom-up approach

This approach incorporates both vertical and horizontal system considerations. Pakistan is not a country with some arbitrarily drawn state boundaries. Each province has its unique history and culture. Any system adjustment and delegation of authority will have to consider these historic determinants. For an efficient governance and unobstructed progress one must design systems to process and deliver the end product with minimum human resistance and waste of resources.

Why is it so that there is constant stubbornness in extending maximum delegation of authority to the provinces in the country? Let the system evolve from bottom-up local government level to sub-systems and to the provinces.

Provinces and the Local governments

In united States some 86,743 units make up cities, counties, towns, townships, boroughs, villages, school districts, and host of special purpose districts, authorities, and commissions as counted in 1992 census. These units have various organizational and administrative structures depending upon state's unique political needs. These local-governments have been institutionalized after thousands of acts, statutes, and constitutional provisions. The principle of home rule by county and municipal governments is center to this great society. This home rule is backed by autonomy coupled with authority established to facilitate its function.

The Home Rule of local government determines fiscal, revenue raising, borrowing, and spending functions. It also determines (Within the confines of Fair Employment Practices) employment conditions of their employees. No unfunded measure will be imposed upon the local government by the state as it jeopardizes the Home Rule. Although there is still a need for further consolidation of Home Rule which in some states does not contain legal autonomy from state control.

Pakistan has been pondering on this issue since the day one. True power of a nation is in the strength of its constituent units. Instead of ignoring this issue and promoting into a major calamity, leaders and political parties must grant structural, functional, fiscal and personnel autonomies to all provinces. Same degree of autonomy can than be replicated at the local government level within the provinces. Framework for intergovernmental cooperation, issues relating to power of initiative and immunity, and the role of judiciary can be incorporated at the outset of dispersion of the authority.

Only through the local bill of rights, city, and provincial republics can Pakistan avert mushrooming of ongoing narrow and parochial threats against its statehood. As formulated by Jefferson B. Fortham in 1953 on behalf of American Municipal Association's Committee on Home Rule, much of the urban concerns can be elevated by the "Devolution-of-Powers Approach". This approach provides local government with an area in which to operate freely, subject to the ultimate purview of the State [Provincial] legislature. This principle can be extended to as many Municipals as desired by their citizens. It is sometimes referred as legislative Home Rule. This rule does not entitle to enact private or civil law except in some circumstances it allows extension or formulations relating to punishment of a felony.

Through the host of fiscal devices, provinces and local governments can raise revenues as governed by healthy fiscal constraints. Complete ownership of natural resources and power to impose necessary sales and provincial income taxes will broaden their revenue base. A new partnership can be forged between the provinces and federal government to lay network of an elaborate infrastructure.

Maintenance of huge federal bureaucracy and unproportionate defence expenditures will have to be curtailed if Pakistan and its constituent provinces are willing to enter the challenges of 21st century. New national priorities have to be formulated. Falsehood of old paradigms will have to be given up. Gun count is no assurance for national security. Neither is a prolonged animosity between the neighbors is any measure of national dignity.

The leadership must focus on possible and extraordinary. In times of economic interdependence and specialization, nations must benefit from each others competitive edge. The prosperity of South Asia depends upon unleashing of the potential of South Asian market. Bringing down the trade barriers and opening of the markets can only assure the peace and security in the region.

For economic growth of small cities, the organization of Small Enterprise Support Units is essential. These units should be designed around financial institutions as their core. Each unit must contain a banker, marketing manager, an accountant, and legal expert to identify business opportunities and offer an ongoing assistance in successful operation of the new enterprise. Growth of small business will provide an alternative to heavy reliance on government jobs. Creation of self-employment opportunities will not only guarantee higher educational standards and respect for law but will transform Sindhi society into modern times. Government must create legal framework insuring public and private debt and consumer credit institutions. This will encourage extension of credit to and from small businesses in the country.