PPP Senator Raza Rabbani, the moving spirit behind the 18th Amendment that gave more autonomy to the provinces, on January 6 poured cold water on the ferocious debate in the National Assembly about increasing the number of provinces in Pakistan. He quoted the Constitution and said: “The resolution for the creation of more provinces can only be brought before the National Assembly if passed by the provincial assembly with a two-thirds majority.” The PPP was all set to campaign for the creation of a Seraiki ‘suba’ (province) in south Punjab, and thought that any debate about it at the National Assembly would harm it. That has actually happened: its projected action at the Punjab Assembly to bring the ruling PML-N under pressure on the basis of the pro-Seraiki suba Muslim Leaguers from south Punjab, may have been adversely affected by this.
The MQM, trying to break out of the political straitjacket of Karachi and shake off renewed charges of wanting to create a secessionist Jinnahpur in Sindh, has pounced upon the devolutionary campaigns in south Punjab and Hazara to gain a foothold in national-level politics by championing more provinces. The reaction among south Punjabi Muslim Leaguers has been predictable: they want the ‘suba’ but not at the behest of the MQM which has yet to win a seat there. The MQM has also embraced the cause of Hazara Suba, forcing the ANP to use harsh words, including a reference to Jinnahpur, to remind everyone that the final decision will have to be taken at the provincial assembly where Pashtun nationalism will probably get a fillip at the cost of the sizable non-Pashtun population in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Predictably the Hazara suba movement — led by an unlikely octogenarian — has hit the streets in Abbottabad and blocked traffic to remind everyone that it was still alive.
There was further confusion over the possible repackaging of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) which the ANP has, at times, said should be amalgamated into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The irony is that while the Eighteenth Amendment gives the right to create more provinces to the provincial assemblies — a kind of self-surgery of their jurisdictional strength — the creation of more provinces is considered a device of further devolution which is at the heart of the 18th Amendment.
The PML-N would not want a vivisection of Punjab but supports the Seraiki suba for fear of losing votes there. Yet it backs the Hazara suba. It says it is in favour of more provinces but not on linguistic-ethnic bases — which is the case in Seraiki and Hazara movements. The Seraiki province will be sizeable if it comes into being (comprising districts Mianwali, Bhakkar, Khushab, Jhang, Layyah and Muzaffargarh) with a total population close to 13 million. But the Hazara province (comprising Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan) may be less viable because of its small population of 3.5 million. The Seraikis are equally distracted by a Bahawalpur suba movement (inclusive of Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan, etc.) which, if made, would cover an area with a population of around seven million. In India, the number of provinces has grown from 22 to 28 in recent years and there is a movement afoot in Andhra Pradesh to slice a Telangana province from it. It is generally accepted that devolution through new provinces is good for the local population because it brings governance closer to them. But in India, too, the demand must be channelled through the state assembly and Telangana is not getting the kind of support the Seraiki suba idea has among the southern Punjabis in Pakistan. In any case, in India even if there are 100 provinces, the average unit will still hold the population comparable to a country’s in Europe.
There are further ironies to consider: the provinces have demanded more autonomy on the principle of devolution but none of them is willing to devolve further by allowing local governments. Furthermore, the Eighteenth Amendment still has to bite in the shape of more resources from a centre that remains impoverished. The politics of ‘more provinces’ is based on sound principles, but apparently dishonest intentions. The debate will create more unrealistic expectations than the country is able to meet given its current battered state.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2012.
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ever since pakistan been made the pashtuns have been devided into thousand pieces pashtuns in afghanistan dont have any rights and in pakistan we dont even have the basic right for example i was going in a plane from dubai to peshawar there were 80 percent pashtuns in the plane and there were hardly any safety speech in pashto remember this plane was going to peshawar pashtuns have been devided in balochistan afghanistan and now they are talking about this talban which has nothing got to do with pashtuns everybody else is talking about there unity we are trying to find a way to devide our people and our land
The argument that Hazara province will be less viable because of its small population of 3.5 million does not hold water in view of the fact the population of Kuwait is 3.5 mil and average population of one province (out of 81) in Turkey is less than ONE million. Please do not under-value the merit of a Pakistani citizen as compared to other ones in the world.
This is all started it soon as the pakhtun khwa name was changed. when panjab was panjab sindh was sindh balochistan was balochistan these hazaras, panjabis was not saying anything of there recognition of hazara. our leader the great bacha khan wali khan died in the hope of uniting pushtoon by recognizing pakhtun khwa. i personally think just like us pushtoon waited for over 70 years to recognize the pakhtun khwa name. these hazaras should do the same they should get there name in the next 70 years time. the other thing is urdu is 90% indian language. why the urdu is official language on our children. if the panjabi or those who speak urdu like the mqm speak it or is it part of there language. its okay for them because there all background is from india. that where there culture come from. why the urdu is official on us pushtun., as it goes for the land pakhtun khwa those who come from india settle down on pushtun land and now they want hazara or chatral so and so. they should respect the language and the recognition of pushtun. those who dont should go back where there come from. i remeber here in uk in 1985 they wanted to change a street name into urdu or panjabi. there wanted to call it apna town. which is our town means in english and the british government would not allow them a name in urdu or panjabi. the pushtun should do the same thing. get rid of all the name in urdu for example kalabagh damn. it should be in pushto tur damn. we should always look after our own interest first. these people are hipocrats. once you allow them into your house or your country. they will use and abuse you
Concentration of power, whether at the central or provinical level is anathema to democracy. Since the current system does not encourage devolution of power from the provinces to the districts and local bodies, it is imperative that new, smaller provinces be carved out all over the country, be it on ethnic, linguistic or administrative basis, to bring about real empowerment of the people.
why not man make it suba and PMLn mian ji others four provinces are on language and races too if u dont want sariaki and hazara then remove the name of all fours too/.