Hazara suba


Aziz Akhmad April 23, 2010

I am an authentic “Hazarawal”, and I am against the demand for making Hazara a separate province.

Born in a remote place bordering Kala Dhaka, or the Black Mountain, I am a native Hindko speaker who is also comfortable with Pashto. I was comfortable with the old name of the province, NWFP, and am not uncomfortable with the new name, Pukhtunkhwa.

Therefore, the intense reaction to the renaming and the consequent demand for a separate province for Hazara came as a surprise to me. Perhaps watching the situation from ten thousand miles away, one cannot feel the heat of emotions that the name change may have unleashed, but the distance also enables one to view the situation dispassionately.

First, let us look at the ethnic mix of the area. Hazara is a multi-ethnic region comprising five districts and an affiliated tribal area known as Kala Dhaka. The total population of the region is estimated to be over 4 million, with Mansehra being the largest (over 1 million) and Batagram and Kohistan the smallest (about half a million each).

Other than Kohistan, whose people have a distinct ethnicity and a language called Kohistani, the districts of Hazara present a mixed ethnic picture, and the languages spoken there are mainly Hindko in various dialects and Pashto. However, in spite of an overall majority of Hindko speakers in Hazara, culturally most of them identify themselves more with Pakhtuns than with any other ethnic group of Pakistan.

The name change could have been handled better. The Awami National Party has not been particularly creative neither in thinking up a widely acceptable name, nor in handling the opposition to the name change. The administration’s response to the protests was shockingly disproportionate, resulting in loss of life.

The PML-N has not been helpful either. First, it opposed the name change, stirring up sentiments amongst the people of Hazara, and then conceded only after adding the prefix of Khyber to what was already a mouthful of a name. The addition of Khyber not only made the name unnecessarily longer but also distanced Hazara, literally, from the rest of the province.

The PML-Q did what losing politicians, desperate to gain a political foothold, always do they appealed to the lowest common denominator, in this case, chauvinism. Usually, voices for a separate political or administrative status are raised when people feel deprived of a share in economic development and are discriminated against in education and employment opportunities on the basis of ethnicity.

This has not been the case with Hazara. In fact, Hazara, with the exception of some remote and mountainous areas is more developed in terms of the availability of education, infrastructure and industry than the southern districts of the province. Hazara has some of the best-known schools in the province the first medical college outside Peshawar was built in Abbottabad and it has a university, a cadet college and the Military Academy at Kakul Pakistan’s West Point.

Plus, it has had a fair share in the services (civil and military), the higher judiciary, academia and other professions (not to mention the first, and so far the last, field marshal of the Pakistan Army, who was also the president of Pakistan for 10 years.) Yes, Hazara needs good governance, more education and more development. But a new province merely to create a class of VIPs flaunting flags on their cars? No! The country is already infested with these so-called VIPs.

COMMENTS (15)

DILAWAR KHAN | 13 years ago | Reply THEREEK SUBAH HAZARA some comments on inquiry report of 18 Apr 2010 I m not well educated therefore I use roman urdu. Me ne 18 Apr wali inquiry report ka sarsary jaiza liya. Jis se maloom howa ke yeh inquiry theek line par naen hoi. Is me bahot se haqaiqat ko chhopaya gia. Jo k mandarjazail hain:- a. Intakhabat k waqat her party ka ek he jagqa par ijlas aur jaloos hotey hain magar kaeen be istarah ka fasad nain hoa. Yeh subai hakoomat ki shararat hai k os ne dafa 144 lagaya jis se Hazar k 14 spoot shaheed hoi aur police ko order dia k goli sar me maro halankeh police ko goli tang men marni chaiy. Bohot se loog begonah shaheed hoi. Ziada tar rah chaltey musafar goli ka nashana bane. Wazeer dakhla subai hakomat sarasar mobalagha arai se kam ley rahey hen k goli hajoom ne be chalai jis k jawab men police ne goli chalai. Agar hajoom ne goli chalai hai to wazere mossof ye agah karen k ketney police waley marey gay they onkey pas itlah to hoge. Mein ne sona hai k aik nojawan jo k purani sabzi mandi men aik chhoti se larki k satth jan bachaney k liye khambey ki owt me khara tha k aik police waley ne os begonah ko sar men goli mari aur wo moqa par police gardi ki wajah se shaheed ho gia, yeh on record baat hai. Agar wo police par goli chalaney k liy aya tha to wo ek larki kion saath laya tha. Honourable Judge Janab Ganda Pur sahib ne yeh clear naen kia k wo berowni haath konsa tha jis ney yeh Hazarawal Ghayoor qoom ka qatle aam kia. On ko inquiry report men yeh BEROWNI HAATH sabat karna chaye tha jo k onhon ne nahin kia. Lehaza tamam HAZARAWAL QOOM is report ko mustarad karti hai aur mutalba karti hai k inquiry dobara karai jai jis men doodh ka doodh aur pani ka pani samney aiy. Yeh gool mool inquiry report ham naen mantey is men tamam asal haqaiq ko chhopaya gia jo k hazara wal qoom k sath sarasar nainsafi aur zulm hai jis ki jitni be muzamat ki jai kam hai. DILAWAR KHAN FROM ABBOTTABAD.
Sardar Zulfiqar A Khan | 13 years ago | Reply The people of Hazara are famous for their hospatality and bravenes.They play a wounderfull role in Pakistan movement befor the independance.They also fight against British.Thay pole their vote in fever of Paskistan in 1946 referendum and that why NWFP is the part of Pakistan otherwise the Pitho of India did'nt want.Hazara having 80 percent of total Industries of NWFP and 70 percent of overall reveniew generation but unfottunitly ANP never accept accepted the identity of Hazarawals and changed the name of NWFP to Pakhtoonkhaw on language basis .Now Hazara have their own language, culture, civilization, area population and recourses so the demand of separate province namely Suba Hazara is justified Bun K Raha Ga Suba Hazara Hazarawal Zindabad
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ