Saraiki people

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Saraikis / Multanis

Total population

16 million

Regions with significant populations

Pakistan	13,843,106^[1]
India	56,096^[2]

Languages

Saraiki

Religions

Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism

Related ethnic groups

Indo-Aryans
- Sindhis,
- Dogra,
- Punjabis,

The Saraiki people (Perso-Arabic: سراییکی, Gurmukhi: ਸਰਾਇਕੀ) or Multani people (Perso-Arabic: ملتانی, Devanagari: मुल्तानी, Gurmukhi: ਮੁਲਤਾਨੀ) are an ethnic group from the south-eastern areas of Pakistan, especially in the area of the former princely state of Bahawalpur and the districts of Sukhur, Multan, Lodhran, Khanewal, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, MuzafarGarh, Layyah, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Dera Ismail Khan, Khushab, Sargodha, Jhang, Vihari. A significant number of Saraikis also reside in India, with most concentrated in the state of Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat.^[1] The Saraikis maintain that they have a separate language and culture, but their language is often viewed as a dialect of Punjabi or Sindhi. While the overwhelming majority of Saraikis follow Islam, some also follow Hinduism and Sikhism.

1 History
2 See also
3 References
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] History

Ali-Al-Kufi 712 AD also in his book(Shash nama) about Sindh says that Saraiki is a dialect of Sindhi language. Ali-Al-Kufi was considered an authority on subject of Sindh and because of this reason he was invited by the Arab rulers several times to provide useful information about Sindh and its people. He explained in detail that there is one language spoken in country Sindh and its called Sindhi. He further said that 'Sareki' is one of Sindhis three dialects.

At the time of partition of India, when Hindus constituted between 40 and 60% of the population of the regions in West Punjab, the majority of the Hindus migrated to India, while a substantial population migrated to the United Kingdom, among other countries. The Muslims of East Punjab were also around 45%, they mostly migrated to Pakistani Punjab and Saraiki areas. Sind also had Hindus and Sikhs but only 10% at time of Partition, many of them are found all over the world.

A Saraiki campaign (struggle) grew in the 1960's with the aims of establishing language rights and stopping what was seen as exploitation and repression by the traditionally Punjabi dominated government. Saraiki land has always been very fertile, producing much of Pakistan's wheat and cotton. However little money has been invested back, thus leading to impoverishment and underdevelopment. The current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yousuf Raza Gilani, is Seraiki native, and has initiated several projects to uplift the region particularly in and around Multan.^[3]

The campaign continued on into the 1970's, by which time political activists had drawn up a map of a proposed new province to be carved out of central Pakistan named Saraikistan^{[citation needed]}, including most of southern Punjab and Dera Ismail Khan in the North-West Frontier Province (this excluded Sindhi and Baloch areas, possibly because of strong nationalist movements in those regions). The movement, however, was not an independence movement, but rather a movement for the establishment of a separate province within Pakistan.

In 1977 General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in a coup of Pakistan. Under his strongly centralist rule the Saraiki movement went underground. The death of General Zia in a plane crash in 1988 gave the impetus for the Saraiki movement to re-emerge. By now the aims were to have a Saraiki nationality recognised, to have official documents printed in Saraiki, a Saraiki regiment in the army, employment quotas and more Saraiki language radio and television(recently one channel is working).

Siraiki man

In 1993 moves were made to settle Biharis in Saraiki areas. This was resisted by the Saraikis and the plan was eventually shelved. Saraikis claim that they are not merely an ethnic group but a nation.