South punjab: ‘New province resolution no joke’

Mehmood says he would do his best to live up to the trust President Zardari had placed in him.

MULTAN: The new governor, during his first visit to Multan after being sworn in, said that he would continue to support the movement for a province in south Punjab.  Those in Lahore hold the key to making south Punjab a separate province, said Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood on Wednesday. He was speaking with reporters at Dogar House, where he had gone to condole with Senator Salahuddin Dogar’s family. Dogar passed away recently. Mehmood said that both the National and the Punjab assemblies had passed resolutions in favour of carving out a south Punjab province. “These resolutions are no joke,” he told reporters. He described smaller provinces as “essential” to equitable development, saying that if more provinces weren’t made, the areas in south Punjab would remain under-developed. Speaking with the media after a meeting, Mehmood said he would do his best to live up to the trust President Zardari had placed in him.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2012.