‘Unacceptable’ Proposal: PML-N women rally against BSP proposal

More than 30 women carried placards and banners and shouted slogans against proposed Bahawalpur-South Punjab province

MULTAN:

The women’s wing of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz in the district organised a protest on Friday against the proposal for a new province called Bahawalpur-South Punjab (BSP). 

The protesting women parliamentarians gathered at the house of Sultana Shaheen, special advisor to the chief minister. They then marched to Public Square 9 after crossing Public Square 8.

The more than 30 women carried placards and banners and shouted slogans against the proposed Bahawalpur-South Punjab province with Bahawalpur as its capital.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Shaheed said that the people of Multan did not want to be part of the Bahawalpur province. They want their separate identity, she said.

“Multan can never be part of a Bahawalpur province. The people of Bahawalpur have a separate identity and culture. Most people in the southern Punjab follow slightly different traditions.”

The demonstration continued for more than an hour where the protesters demanded that the South Punjab province have Multan as its capital and be separate from the Bahawalpur province.

The participants alleged that the Pakistan People’s Party has been making conspiring against the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan by dividing Pakistanis along ethnic lines. They said the PML-N would not support any movement that led to the division of Pakistan on ethnic grounds. They said a single party could not decide the fate of the people of the country.

“We want all stake holders to be heard on the creation of new provinces,” they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2013.