Constitutional status: Parliamentarians discuss Hazara’s status with Sartaj

Adviser says creation of new provinces not under discussion

ABBOTABAD: FATA Reforms Committee Chairman and Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has assured parliamentarians from Hazara if new provinces are created within the country, Hazara will also be carved out as a new province.

This was disclosed by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and leader of the parliamentarian’s delegation Sardar Muhammad Yousaf who met Sartaj at the foreign office in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Talking to The Express Tribune over the telephone, Yousaf said the delegation met Sartaj and apprised him of their demands and apprehensions. They asked him to consider carving out Hazara as a separate province if Fata was to become a province of its own. “The delegation told Sartaj the movement for Hazara as a province started several years ago and it was about time the sense of deprivation of the people of the division came to an end.”

Grievances

Yousaf said the parliamentarians told FATA Reforms Committee chairman that despite the fact Hazara contributed the highest share of revenue from its resources, including Hattar Economic Zone, the division was being disbursed with only one-fourth of the share of funds allocated to it under National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

While the share Hazara Division receives in the sectors of health, education and infrastructure was almost negligible, people of Hazara were also being deprived of their rights to employment. Yousaf said he told Sartaj, people from other divisions were always preferred by the government instead of those from Hazara.

According to Yousaf, delegates told Sartaj that according to census of 1998, the number of National Assembly seats were increased from seven to nine but despite the passage of 18 years and considerable increase in population, the number of seats has remained the same.

The delegates also said Hazara Division was strategically important, particularly after the commencement of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “The aspirations of the people of Hazara should be respected and if they are deprived of their rights again, the consequences could be harmful for the integrity of the country,” one of the delegates
told Sartaj.

Towards resolution

Yousaf quoted Sartaj as saying, “The government was using its resources to end the misery of people from Fata and the creation of new provinces was not under discussion.” He added, “If Fata was made into a new province, Hazara would also be made into a separate province.”

Sartaj also assured delegates economic rights of people of Hazara and recommendations from senators and MNAs from the region will be discussed soon.

Senator Barrister Javed Abbasi, Senator Talha Mehmood, MNA Sarzamin Khan, Qari Muhammad Yousaf, Captain (retd) Safdar were among those present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2016.