Bahawalpur province: Political leaders lend their voice to demand provincial status

Leaders belonging to PTI, PML-N, JI gathered in Rahimyar Khan to extend support to the movement.


Owais Jafri April 18, 2012

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Leaders belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), Bahawalpur National Party (BNP), and the Movement for Hazara province gathered together and collectively raised their voice on Wednesday demanding  provincial status for Bahawalpur.

The public gathering  in Rahimyar Khan was attended by 20, 000 people from the tribal belts of Punjab, Cholistan region and the Bahawalpur division.

Speaking on the occasion, the member of the royal family of Bahawalpur state and chairman BNP Nawaz Salahuddin Abbasi, said that if the government fails to declare Bahawalpur a province, the case would be taken to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and would be dealt in accordance with the constitution of Pakistan and the agreement with Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Criticising the Punjab government and Shahbaz Sharif, he said that if they were loyal and sincere over the issue, they should pass a resolution calling for provincial status for Bahawalpur in the Punjab assembly.

PML-F leader Makhdum Ahmed Mehmood said that the demand for Bahawalpur province did not oppose the Seraiki province. “Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has wrongly linked [granting] Bahawalpur province status with the Seraiki province issue,” he said, adding that Seraiki province should be created but not at the cost of the rights of the people of Bahawalpur.

Chief of Movement for Hazara province Baba Haider Zaman, while speaking at the event, suggested that the issues of new provinces was being milked for political gains by the goverment. “Seraiki province is the right of the people,” he asserted. He further said that all those asking for new provinces including the people of Hazara district and Sindh are right and that their demands should be addressed rationally.

“Sufferings of the people of Hazara district at the hands of rulers in Peshawar are similar to the sufferings of the people of southern Punjab under the rulers in Lahore,” he said.

JI Provincial Chief Dr Waseem Akhtar highlighted that Bahawalpur is a prosperous and viable economic state and that the people’s demand for the provincial status is reasonable.

MPA PML-N Mian Imtiaz Ahmed also addressed the gathering and divisional PTI leaders including Sheikh Fayazuddin and Seth Javed were present during the event. The PTI leaders announced their support for the Bahawalpur province movement and all other similar movements.

COMMENTS (8)

Kamran | 11 years ago | Reply

@gujranwala987 My worth in front of a Fascist Pakistani is nothing because how dare i can say anything in front of an owner of Pakistan who claim to be a real Pakistani while we are Traitors. You seems to be The same Pakistani I am talking about about whose predecessors are responsible for creation of Bangladesh and now Balochistan is agonizing and whose lust of power and so called artificial identity will finally tore Pakistan Apart. I am not a Traditional mindset and I am hopeful in coming months Punjab will be less than Half of what it is present so that Proudness of Power brokers of Punjab will bear dust and Ordinary People I mean the real People of Pakistan will get the power.and they will be recognized. Keep on whining my friend but finally Pride will definitely haiths a fall in coming months. Bahawalpur Province is going to be made in coming days and then Potohar will follow suite and keep on dreaming to be a dominant and rule maker of Pakistan while in fact you are nothing in true sense.

Ahmed | 11 years ago | Reply

We can't afford more provinces. The country is on the brink of financial collapse yet people want more, these politicians are just exploiting voters so that one of these mentioned above can become a CM. Furthermore, Muhajir people as a people are an asset. The party that claims to 'represent' them is a liability. If Karachi & Hyderabad do become provinces then they'd be like the biggest no-go area around...... I for one would be scared to go there because fascists would be running it......

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