New provinces should be made on the basis of national identity: Magsi
STPP chief claimed that he would oppose the division of Sindh at all costs.
File photo of Dr Qadir Magsi, chairperson of Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party.
HYDERABAD:
Upset with the government’s support for carving out the Bahawalpur South Punjab province from Punjab, a Sindhi nationalist party has announced that it would observe an “Annual Motherland Day” on February 23, to ward off any similar attempts to divide Sindh.
The chairperson of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand (STP) Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, advised two of the country’s biggest political parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to stop “politicising” the issue of new provinces. “Provinces should be made on the basis of history, tradition and national identity of the people who live there,” said Magsi during a press conference on Sunday.
A parliamentary commission for new provinces recently approved the creation of a Bahawalpur South Punjab province. The ruling PPP has tabled the 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate on this issue. However, the PML-N, which is in power in Punjab, wants two separate provinces to be created in southern Punjab instead of one.
The STP leader hit out at the PPP for making a political meal out of the contentious issue of creating a new province in Punjab. “It should respect the aspirations of the Seraiki people, who have struggled for their historic identity.”
Magsi also vowed that his party would defend the integrity of Sindh at all costs.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2013.
Upset with the government’s support for carving out the Bahawalpur South Punjab province from Punjab, a Sindhi nationalist party has announced that it would observe an “Annual Motherland Day” on February 23, to ward off any similar attempts to divide Sindh.
The chairperson of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand (STP) Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, advised two of the country’s biggest political parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to stop “politicising” the issue of new provinces. “Provinces should be made on the basis of history, tradition and national identity of the people who live there,” said Magsi during a press conference on Sunday.
A parliamentary commission for new provinces recently approved the creation of a Bahawalpur South Punjab province. The ruling PPP has tabled the 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate on this issue. However, the PML-N, which is in power in Punjab, wants two separate provinces to be created in southern Punjab instead of one.
The STP leader hit out at the PPP for making a political meal out of the contentious issue of creating a new province in Punjab. “It should respect the aspirations of the Seraiki people, who have struggled for their historic identity.”
Magsi also vowed that his party would defend the integrity of Sindh at all costs.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2013.