Seraiki Province and Beyond

Seraiki Province and Beyond

Nasim Ahmed

How serious is the PPP government in its commitment to set up a Seraiki province? Is it just a political slogan to divert attention from its dismal governance record and, additionally, to needle PML-N in the soft underbelly of Punjab? Or does it really mean to go ahead with carving out a new province from the Seraiki speaking districts of the Punjab ahead of the next elections? Has it thought through the underlying implications of the sensitive issue and worked out its details, especially the repercussion such a move will have on other provinces?

These and related questions are being asked in the wake of the new, stepped up drive that the PPP has launched in support of its proposed Seraiki province. Speaking in Rahim Yar Khan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani said last week that the problems of the country cannot be solved until the creation of a Seraiki province. He said: "The speculations are prevalent that PPP was instigating people for a Seraiki province but our party is just manifesting people's need." He declared that without the creation of a Seraiki province, people of the area would remain deprived of their rights. In this context he also held detailed discussions with a delegation of dignitaries from Bahawalpur on various issues pertaining to the new province.

President Zardari has also become active in support of a Seraiki province. Visiting Multan last week, he announced that the Seraiki province would be created before the next general elections. In a meeting with party workers from Multan and other areas, he said the time was ripe for the formation of a new province for the people of south Punjab. He promised that he would visit every nook and corner of south Punjab in a bid to carve out a Seraiki province. In this connection, he claimed that the creation of a new province was the voice of the downtrodden people who had been facing tremendous problems for a long time. He also assured the people that "the Seraiki province will be made by the present government this year." To this end he asked Prime Minister Gillani to immediately start consultations with all political parties with a view to paving the ground for a separate Seraiki province at the earliest possible.

Whatever the PPP's plans, it is not going to be easy to divide Punjab and carve out a new province. The PML-N, the largest political force in the province, has its own viewpoint on the subject. It says that the issue of a separate province has been raised to weaken its position in south Punjab. Reacting to the latest PPP drive, a PML-N spokesman said: "Had the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government been sincere in the creation of a Seraiki province, it would have evolved a consensus like it had done on the constitutional amendments." He also accused the government of spreading a sense of deprivation in the country and challenged that if President Zardari is sincere to the cause, he should raise the Seraiki province issue in the proper constitutional forum.

Among others, former senator Muhammad Ali Durrani, who heads the Bahawalpur Division movement, has strongly criticized the PPP move and said that President Asif Ali Zardari's announcement regarding the establishment of a Seraiki province was an open violation of the constitution as the law does not empower him to announce, or form, a new province in the country. 

Durrani also said that the president, as a symbol of the federation, should not propagate ethnic and linguistic hatred. He regretted that the president was accompanied by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in his "voyage of hatred on linguistic basis". He charged that Gillani was trying to create "Karachi-like circumstances in the peaceful region" through his statements. According to him, "Zardari and Gillani both are hatching conspiracies against south Punjab as they have failed to control the law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and in the northern areas."

The political rhetoric of the PPP leaders apart, the road to a new province in the Punjab is paved with a minefield of constitutional, socio-economic, administrative and ethnic complications not amenable to an easy solution. Within the Seraiki belt itself, opinion is divided over its administrative composition as well as its geographical boundaries. In the Bahawalpur region there is a strong movement for the restoration of the defunct Bahawalpur province with its distinct identity. A large segment of Seraiki opinion demands that the proposed Seraiki province should be carved out of all Seraiki-speaking districts of the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, through a presidential ordinance.

There is also a difference of opinion among the constitutional experts about the methodology for the creation of a new province. Some people say that such a move should primarily be endorsed by the elected assembly of the province concerned. According to the other experts, a referendum can be held to ascertain the opinion of the people concerned.

Given the heterogeneous and overlapping ethno-lingual groups inhabiting various parts of Pakistan, the carving out of a new province is not going to be an easy proposition. For, once a precedent is set by the creation of a new Seraiki province, no one can stop other disgruntled groups from demanding their own pound of flesh. We know that the demand for a Muhajir province is a long- standing one and continues to be raised by its proponents at critical moments. 

Then there is the issue of a separate Hazara province which has received a new impetus following the PPP's espousal of the demand for a separate Seraiki province. The Pakhtun population living in Balochistan have their own set of demands for safeguarding their separate identity.

Lessons from other countries teach us that the creation of new provinces is a hornets’ nest which is better left alone. In some countries, new provinces have been created on the basis of linguistic identities, while in others administrative convenience has formed the basis of such decisions. There are examples of both in India.

But every country takes decisions in such matters in its own best interests keeping in view its special circumstances. Ethnic feelings in our society are very strong which is the reason why people remain Punjabi, Pathan, Sindhi, Baloch and Muhajir, even after some 65 years of independence.

Look at the ongoing ethnic conflict in Karachi and the killings in Balochistan.

We need to be very careful about whipping up provincial, linguistic and ethnic passions. For, once the ball gets rolling, there will be no stopping it. We need to handle the issue with greater maturity than has been shown so far. A beginning should be made with a thorough discussion on the subject in 

Parliament to develop a consensus on the need, justification and methodology for carving out new provinces. This is the only way to put an end to the exploitation of the issue for partisan political ends.