A file photo of Hazara protesters demanding a separate province. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
Over two dozen parliamentarians from Hazara division exhibited rare unity, pledging unanimous support to the cause of the Hazara province on Saturday.
The resolution pushing for the creation of a Hazara province was submitted in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Friday.
A day later, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, a leader of Tehreek-e-Suba Hazara, a group supporting the Hazara province, hosted a meeting of Hazara-based lawmakers. The 24 parliamentarians met with a single point agenda – the fifth province.
All from Hazara, the group included MNAs, a senator and MPAs belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, and the Qaumi Watan Party. Though they have varied political affiliations, the lawmakers have, in the past, publically promised their electorates a Hazara province and now stand united for the cause.
Participants discussed the pros and cons of creating the province and the constitutional requirements for translating their struggle into reality. The lawmakers promised to lobby within party ranks to win the required strength of votes from parliament to carve out Hazara as the fifth constitutional province.
Referring to April 12, 2010 when protesters demanding a Hazara province were fired upon, the parliamentarians demanded an FIR be registered against police personnel and others who resorted to the violence. They unanimously adopted the resolution submitted on Friday and agreed for the need to win the support of their respective parties’ central and provincial leadership so the resolution could be adopted in both the provincial and national assemblies.
It was decided a committee with one lawmaker from each district of Hazara division would hold meetings with political parties having representation in the assemblies and the senate.
The parliamentarians demanded the Hasanabdal to Mansehra Expressway project take the form of a motorway and funds be released by the provincial government for the development of Hazara division.
The lawmakers also offered fateha for the seven protesters who were killed on April 12, 2010.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2013.
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Why not annex Upper Parts of Punjab to the new province as well and name it Potohar-Hazara Province??. Hazara and regions like Attock, Taxila, Upper Chakwal and even upto Khushab etc almost speak the same language and Northern Punjabi is very much different from the dialect spoken in Lahore and in Central Punjab and almost similar to Hindko. Administrative wise it will be a good decision then because of similarity of language and culture in this region.
I think its a good decision to de-centralize the area's which are backward. We should support if such a thing come up. Welcome Hazara Province. ANP did nothing during its tenure & created a bigger mess with the name of the Province.
In other words, politicians from Hazara Division are power hungry. They could not find the other way to gain more powers, that is why they all are on road to demonstrate unity even with political rivals. First gain the powers collectively and then fight with each other to grab the whole chunk.
A separate province demand with obselete ground is not acceptable by the people of kpk at large,this movement needs to be suppressed for the large interest of people of kpk.
Why those people gathered everyone knows, but creating a new province in KPK which is struggling in all aspects is not a feasible solution. Why not those legislators who gather for fifth province solve the problems within their domain. They should work hard and strive for the betterment of the masses within KPK. First those MNAs and MPAs decide to change the name of the province from N.W.F.P of British era to KPK on linguistic basis then a new wave arose in Hazara district to make a fifth province. Those legislators are just hungry for better finances and higher slots within the new province. This is a rubbish excuse that they would better serve in Hazara province.
Fifth province? ET do you think Gilgit Batistan is a province in India?