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New provinces: Babar named chairman, PML-N absent from first session
Babar, Sattar and Dasti, on behalf of commission, request PML-N to participate.
Babar, Sattar and Dasti, on behalf of commission, request PML-N to participate. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: As the first session of the commission for forming two new provinces in Punjab came to an end, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) member Farhatullah Babar was appointed its chairman, with Babar, Mutahidda Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Farooq Sattar and MNA Jamshed Dasti, all requesting Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) members to participate in the commission.
Babar, while outlining details of the first ever session of the commission, told the media that the resolutions passed in the National Assembly on May 21 and in the Punjab Assembly on May 9 were discussed in the session.
“Two decisions were taken in today’s session,” said Babar.
“Today it was decided that the commission will request members of Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz (PML-N) to, as per their nomination, participate in the commission so that the resolutions passed in the assemblies can be taken forward,” he said while elaborating on the first decision.
The second decision, according to him, was that the commission would meet again tomorrow “for framing draft rules and adopting them to increase our efficiency, as is the need for all commissions and committees.”
“Further developments will take place in the light of those rules,” said Babar.
Answering a question relating to creating provinces within other provinces, Babar said, “There have been no requests by other provinces. How can this commission go to other provinces and say it will form more provinces when they have not set forth any such proposals?”
“This proposal has come from Punjab itself; therefore, the work of the commission is limited to this province alone,” he added.
When asked why only representatives from Punjab could not form this commission alone, Babar said, “When you talk about creating a new province, it requires amending the constitution and amendment of the constitution cannot be handed over to any one province or political party.”
“Amendments take place with agreement from all parties and provinces and this will hopefully happen with consensus,” said Babar.
Farooq Sattar said that the beginning of these sessions created a “historic opportunity” that should not be squandered. “We have been given one month since the formation of the commission,” he said.
“We should remove all hurdles in the creation of the south Punjab province and create it as soon as possible.”
He congratulated Farhatullah Babar for being elected chairman and assured the people of south Punjab that “we will not hold back and will use all our resources, energy and time, with consensus (form the province).”
Sattar too, appealed to PML-N to participate in this commission.
“All political parties and assemblies are representatives in this commission,” said Sattar. “PML-N representatives should also come from the Senate or National Assembly and whatever needs to be discussed can be talked over in the commission (meeting), be it for the south Punjab province, or the other resolution for the Bahawalpur province,” he said.
Member National Assembly (MNA) Jamshed Dasti added to Farooq Sattar’s statements saying that the provincial issue was a national one.
“All parties have assembled for PML-N’s own resolution that they passed in the Punjab Assembly, they requested the federal government to constitute a national commission,” said Dasti.
“South Punjab and Siraiki people’s 64 years of depravation of rights are being assessed and all parties except PML-N are present here,” he said adding, “We hope that PML-N will take part in this commission for the betterment of the nation and its people.”
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Reader Comments (34)
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PML-N from friendly opposition to enemy opposition.
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All the parties from the provinces other than punjab are ganging up together to break up punjab by force and against the wishes of punjab.The people of punjab are being targetted unfairly by the federal govt. and its allies. Why only punjab is being divided,where did the demand for hazara province go?
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This is a heinous conspiracy against punjab in which all the others have gathered together to divide punjab.Why don’t they start by dividing up Sindh first,make a Muhajir province out of Sindh,make the Hazara province out of NWFP. Why are these parties attacking the party that got the mandate of the people of punjab,it’s the PML-N that’s the majority party in punjab.
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Elections delaying tactics from both sides!!!! We know it!Recommend
@Muhammad Sadiq:
You are living in fool paradise my friend. The resolution of forming provinces was passed in PUNJAB ASSEMBLY where PML-N is in majority and they vote in fovour of forming province.
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Why on God’s green earth is a man from KP head of the chairman, he does NOT have a stake in the province that is being divided. Shows how serious the “awami hukumat” is in resolving this issue.
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Good work PPP.We are looking towards you for this historic development.We are waiting for those days when we will have our own DPO’s,DCO’s,Judiciary,army officers and media persons.When our funds will not be invested on Lahore and other GT Road cities,when our children will have qulaity education and access to all government amenities alike.
For all the haters,if people from other provinces can’t be part of national commission then people from GT Road cities are also alien to the Siraikis.Similalry PMLN should not accuse MQM of violence and any other issue related to federation as they are only GT Road party.
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@Muhammad Sadiq:
Not only Hazara province,there is a very big demand for Mohajir province in lower Sindh.If ppp is so eager to make new provinces,it should start with making the new Mohajir province out of what is at the moment sindh.
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Those people that are not from Punjab are deciding the fate of Punjab. Is it a joke or what???. ANP, MQM and PPP have no right to talk about the issue when they dont have any Majority in Punjab. Pakistan is a country of federating Units and no federating units can carve another federating unit unless their local government will not allow that.Recommend
Appointment of chairman is wrong and illegal.
It’s funny that someone who actively
supported name change from NWFP to KPK is
now being unleashed to try to destroy prularlism
of Punjab.
PML N has woken up and won’t allow this
traversty of justice to occur.
Not an inch , not an inch.
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Commission formed by such unscupulus parties not acepted to Punjabis…
And any commission to divide the federating unit , the land of Bulleh Shah, Abida Parveen , sanam Marvi, Nusrat Fateh Al Khan, Baba Fareed, etc. , not acceptable whatsoever.
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@Muhammad Sadiq:
Punjab itself wants to be divided as its assembly has already passed a resolution in this regard.As far as Hazara province is concerned ,it will never be created since neither pashtunkhwa assembly will pass such a resolution nor people of Battagram ,Kohistan and Upper Mansehra will join it.How can a province be made of two and half districts ie Abbot Abad,Haripur and Lower Mansehra.However If Baba Haider Zaman succeeds in making Hazara province through a democratic way, we will be having no objection.Recommend
How dare PML N participate! This commission will reduce Sherif brothers kingdom.Recommend
Is this going to be divide Punjab commission only and disappear or will other provinces be divided as well?
An assembly which ignored these demands for more than 4-1/2 years, should rest in peace and let the new assemblies decide on these issues.
And what about 16-18 hours of load shedding, lawlessness, mehngai, poor education, dengi etc. Will someone make a commission on these issues?
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@Shafiullah Betani: Mr Betani You are a Pakhtoon so kindly stop interfering in the affairs of Punjab. Who gave you the right to talk about us. Tell me???. We are not your slaves to be dictated by you. When we have no right to talk in the internal affairs of KPK then Betanis and other Wazirs have no right to dictate Punjab what he have to do . The irony is that when Batanis and Other Pukhtoons love to live in Punjab but are adamant in inflicting any stability when they can.Recommend
@Shafiullah Betani;Valid points.The Punjabis fear that their hegemony over other people’s resources will be cut short if new provinces are created.They have plundered Balochistan for 60 years and now even they donot dare to go there.They did it to bengalis and they still they hate them.They did it to Saraikis to too.They plundered their lands in South Punjab and gave it to the settlers who are loyel to their ethnic group than to land they inhibit.Sooner they understand the voice of sons of soil,better it would be for them.
Saraikistan is writing on the wall.
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@Muhammad Sadiq:
You are living in fool paradise my friend. The resolution of forming provinces was passed in PUNJAB ASSEMBLY where PML-N is in majority and they vote in fovour of forming province.
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Every Pakistani knows that both parties are not fair regarding the partition of Punjab. PPP pursuing the hypocritical policy to get vote bank while PML N wants to escape from it so PPP will not be able to take credit.
Change Begins at homeRecommend
@Awans:
@Shafiullah Betani: Mr Betani You are a Pakhtoon so kindly stop interfering in the affairs of Punjab.
Mr. Awans: You are Northern Punjabi. Who gave you the right to talk on behalf of Siraiki people? Why their fate should be in the hands of a bunch of losers who divert all their funds to Lahore? So kindly stop interfering in the affairs that relate to Southern Punjab.
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Punjab Assembly has already passed the resolution moved by PML-N for the division of Punjab. Provincial assembly has done its job. Now only the National Assembly needs to make it part of the constitution to make it official.
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so finally we are heading towards United States of Pakistan!!!
Make it before it is divided into several independent country like Bangladesh
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PMLN is making a grave mistake by not attending the meeting. This will give PPP the sole credit of the making of new province of south Punjab. If Sharif brothers don’t know how to do politics why don’t they just quit doing politics? PPP vs PMLN is increasingly becoming an Australia vs Pakistan match.Recommend
@Jibran: Lol that is why my half of the family lives in Bahawalpur and they are there for centuries. There is a difference in Mutlan and Bahawalpur politics. Also you have no idea about North Punjabis and Bahawalpur’s connection at all and do you have any video that Princely state was established by Abbasis that live mostly in Potohar ????. You can meet me in Bahawalpur if you want to and also and you can ask Abbasis and Awans who they are and if you dare then tell them to get out from South Punjab. Also the real people of Bahawalpur are Punjabis, Abbasis, Jatts, Rajputs, Arains, Maliks, Khar, Cheemas and All Sub clans of Jats, Janjua and Gujjars and they know who their ancestors were. A language accent cannot change your culture and history. Just study history that Bahawalpur state was owned by Abbasis and Abbasis, Awans and Maliks that lives in Potohar have a long and rich history in Bahawalpur.
@Qaisrani: Mr Qaisarani what an Irony that i have my family tree with me right now and my family lives in Silaanwali and in Bahawalpur regions apart from Soon valley 400 years ago as well and you are Qaisarani and you are Baloch and you are Immigrant here in South Punjab so how can you even claim my land when you are a settler here in the last few centuries.???Recommend
Fact of the matter is that settler Balochs have hijacked our Southern Punjab AKA Seraiki belt and yet they have the decency to call us ‘real’ locals of land i.e Rajputs,Jatts,Arains, Awans etc etc ‘settlers’ so this allegation is laughable. Fact remains that these Balochs were mercenaries and that is why most of them brutally kill innocent Punjabis, Seraikis and at time Sindhis in Balochistan. A nomad group with no tradition, culture like that of Sindh and punjab thinks they’ll rule both provinces and that is why they move around.
We Toors,Berahs,Khars,Rana,Rao,Joya,Awans,Cheemas,Maliks,Jarrals,Sials etc are the real people of land; of North and Southern Punjab and we’re living here since 3000 years in our great land and we’re true son of soils and yet few nomadic settlers think they are locals of the land. Being someone who is Punjabi and possess seraiki roots, I can only laugh at them. If someone cannot even call themselves who they really are, what are the chances of them not back stabbing seraikis tomorrow ?
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@Awan
Balochs came here to our Seraiki belt as mercenaries and now they think they own the land. Tomorrow if there is no Pakistan and they move to Rajhastan, I can bet that they’ll do the same to the people of Rajhastan and will call people of ‘Rajputana’ as settlers. Then if they move to Bengal, I wonder how Bengalis will ever cope with that.
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“Aik he Thaali ke chatay batay” – No matter where they will go, they will remain the same.
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I can laugh at the insanity of some people who dont have the ability to see the map and dont know about Cardinal Directions at all and calling Lahore as North Punjab!!!!!!!. North Punjab and North Punjabis is a term for those people who live in Potohar, Mianwali and Salt Range regions including Attock, Taxila; jhelum and Adjacent regions as Lahore is not in the North Punjab but in the East North East ( ESE) of Punjab.Recommend
@Zubair:
Bro,province apart,i was missing you.P
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@Zubair: Donot tell any one that Punjabis are inncocent.British occupation,WW1,WW2,Bangladesh,Afghnaistan,Balochistan who were the fighters??May be they were from Somalia.
You must have laughed deep inside while writing these lines.Recommend
@Asad:
you must be from PTI who will blame for delayed rains due to pml n
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ANP and PPP please stop taking this country to ruins you have already invested a lot of punjab wealth in dubai
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with gems such as jamshed dasti in the commission i doubt is commission can achieve anything.
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A selfish and totally mischievous adventurism by PPP and its band wagon of equally selfish allies. The people should resist such attempts aimed dividing the people on ethnic and linguistic lines.
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Punjab was first divided in 1947 into East and West Punjab. Later East Punjab was further divided into Haryana, Himachel Pardesh, Chandigarh, Delhi and Remaining Punjab. Now there is a plan to divide West Punjab. Had there been a united Punjab today it would have been formidable. Its all political. Punjab will never be divided again!!!!
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