Bahawalpur voice : Durrani-led protesters block highway

Bahawalpur province should be restored before the general elections, says Babar.

BAHAWALPUR: Former federal minister Mohammad Ali Durrani on Sunday led a protest at the National Highway against the report of the parliamentary commission on new provinces. The protesters blocked the highway for three hours. Addressing the rally at Lalo Wali Puli near Uch Sharif, he said all political parties of Bahawalpur should unite. He said the federation could not usurp people’s rights. He said if the Bahawalpur province was not restored, his supporters would block all highways and train lines. He said Bahawalpur was being treated like Balochistan. “We have been campaigning for the restoration of the Bahawalpur province for years. We are being forced to agitate for our rights,” he said. He said Commission Chairman Farhatullah Babar had said on the floor of the Senate that Bahawalpur could not be a province. By saying this, he had embarrassed the Punjab Assembly which had adopted a resolution in its favour, he said. He said: “If the federal government does not acknowledge our rights, we will challenge it. Whoever denies the Bahawalpur province is not a follower of the Quaid-i-Azam.” He said the Bahawalpur province should be restored before the general elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2013.