i think itz a good decision..nd it duznt mean k v r dividng our country..v r stil under one flag..under same religion..same ethics..ds division is jst on the basis of location and recognition..nthing else !!

nd itz first tym that all political parties have understood each others point of view and made concessions to one another..
we have to stay united wd thm..

azme alishan..azme pakistan!!!

i have a question....are the problems of Pakistan because of large administrative regions or because of poorly organized and corrupt institutions?.....!!!

Dividing the provinces into smaller administrative regions, yet leaving them with the same old machinery and all the related provinces is not a sound decision....implement good governane and then in an effort to improve upon good governance we should systematically divide our larger provinces into smaller provinces...

the intended name was Pukhtoonkhwa and the addition of this another letter to this name is because of the people in the region who disagreed with the new name...so ANP has shown leniency provided the fact that people did vote ANP to the parliaments and as law and order is improving, who knows they may be there the next time too!!!

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Umar Abbas Babar
I Know I am Bad But When Bad is the Best, Bad is the Only Choice

alas.... govt. could neither provide good quality educational institution nor any new health facilities ..... not a single new hospital for poor not a single school of free education .... by changing the name of the province they have created a new bone of contention.. now the people of Hazara division and the Hindko speakers have started a new movement for the own province that might take the govt. towards another crisis....... AY ALLAH HUMAIN KAB HOSH AYE GA...

well the issue of creation of new provinces is becoming a hot cake...but keep in mind that only the politician gonna have it,n others who have their axe to get it sharped..

we have to focus on the real issue..i.e grievances of the ppl bcz of which they r gathering the storm. i blieve these things must b sorted out. thr is no harm in creation of new provinces bt i ll never support for doin this on ethical basis. if feeration wants so 4 efficiency n good governance n wants it on administrative basis the thing is welcomed always. 4 that ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS/UNITS would work extremely well. the grivencz of ppl should be addressed, economic development, educational institutons be made...

this is my view, any 1 can dissent...

Zardari wanted to oblige the ANP for their cooperation with PPP and he thought that re-naming the NWFP will pleased them and he will get more support from them, which is necessary to win the war he has contracted with USA.
There is no harm in re-naming, but all the population should be taken into confidence, which the PPP ignored and now ppl. of Hazara are angry. Still a referndum can solve the problem, if there is any.

I think Hazara-Pakhtoonkhwah could have been better option. Both major groups will be represented in new name. But still, there are other like people in balristan, gilgit, who are neither,Pathan nor Hazara's. Anyway, Hazara-Pakhtoonkhwah seems more acceptale than Khyber-pakhtoonkhwah.

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"The only necessary thing for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
--Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

"The reaction of a segment of people in Hazara to renaming of the NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is though understandable, yet uncalled for. They are angry with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), rather than at the renaming of the province.

They feel ditched, left in the lurch and betrayed by the PML-N; this is because the promises and pledges made by the hawks in the party regarding blocking Pakhtunkhwa in the new name proved false.

The people of Hazara would not have been that much anti-Pakhtunkhwa, had these PML-N hawks not created so much hype about the issue. A few PML-N leaders hailing from Hazara poisoned the people’s minds that the new name would prove harmful to their identity. They were also told that the name-change would create a gulf on ethnic and linguistic basis and hence the party would never allow a name containing Pakhtunkhwa as prefix or suffix.

Historically, Hazara has been part of the Pakhtun belt. A large area of Oghi, Shinkiari, Batal, Batagram and the whole of Kala Dhaka are the parts of Hazara division where Pashto-speaking people constitute the majority.

This is interesting to note that the very important families of Hazara are basically and essentially Pakhtuns like Tareens, Mashwanis, Jadoons, Swatis, Khankhels, but due to their geographical location and distance from the mainstream, they have given up speaking Pashto.

The mistrust inculcated in the people of Hazara and the rest of Pakhtuns has no ethnic or linguistic basis, but rather it has political reasons. This has wrongly been perceived and given an ethnic colour. The mistrust started developing during the stint of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, the known Muslim League chief minister of the province.

Qayyum Khan enormously contributed to the development of Hazara and people have great respect for him in the area. It was due to his efforts and interest that many people of the area joined the Muslim League and did not see the suppression of Qayyum Khan, which was so common in the down districts of the province.

The conflict between the Pakhtun nationalists and Qayyum Khan played a major role in creating trust deficit, which was portrayed by a group of PML-N leaders of Hazara as an ethnic conflict.

The powerful elites of Hazara did not want a name reflecting Pakhtuns in NWFP. They even agreed not to change the name. However, when they saw the writing on the wall that all political parties including PML-N were supporting change of the name and they could not resist anymore, the PML-N lawmakers of Hazara talked of Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa.

Interestingly, this name was never raised by PML-N in the talks with the Awami National Party (ANP). Perhaps they were doing a political game, rather than fighting for the identity of the people of Hazara. All the three names-Khyber, Abaseen and Gandhara-proposed by PML-N, have no connotation with Hazara.

The name of Abaseen-Pakhtunkhwa, initially believed to have been agreed upon by both the parties, had a reflection of Hazara as the River Indus (Abaseen) passes through Hazara. But, the PML-N backed out and the people of Hazara felt let down and betrayed.

The PML-N leadership might have thought that putting Khyber as a prefix with Pakhtunkhwa would appease their electorates in Hazara but it proved counterproductive as the people of Hazara have taken it as a snub.

The movement for separate province started by some people in Hazara might appear forceful at the start, but it lacks support of political parties and will thus wither away. The demand for a separate province is neither feasible nor viable.

Hazara has been part of NWFP and it is imperative that differences be resolved in an amicable way. Instead of widening the gulf, the people of Hazara should accept the reality as raising objections now would not serve their cause, rather the mistrust would deepen further that would not be in the interests of the province, particularly of the people of Hazara. Those who want to score points on this issue and want to achieve some political mileage would push the province into crisis.

Now the major responsibility lies with the ruling ANP to address the grievances of the people in Hazara by showing a sense of political maturity and wisdom. It has to walk a few miles to appease the people of Hazara.

Celebration over Pakhtunkhwa is understandable but keeping the people of the province united with the shared vision of future is more important and pertinent. Will the ANP rise to the occasion?"


Source

Tuesday, April 06, 2010
THE NEWS.

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Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.
" To succeed, we must first believe that we can "

well if that non-issue which has somehow been made an issue,was infact needed to be sorted out, then it was necessary that the sentiments of all the people must have been taken into consideration. it is accepted that pathans here are in majority and those who are not pathans or pushto speaking do have the same background and somehow and somewhere are connected to that race. But if the parties were serious in sorting that out, then it could have been better to name that as HAZARA PKHTUNKHWA or any other better name to satisfy all. Why Khyber, though it is FATA's part.......
we have had an example of GILGIT-BALTISTAN, named on both,because the area was neither fully Gilgit nor fully Baltistan. Now if this was done ,then why had the same not chosen to be followed here???

whatever may be the case in the end, still it is good that atleast they all did agree on something........
Looking ahead for government's response towards the agitation and protest of people in HAZARA....

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Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense.

no matter how it goes, if we analyse it, the credit of naming the frontier province goes to current PPP govt.none did it before.
secondly, some people argue about the local issues of the people of pakistan.i must make it clear to them that itz not a child's play nor has the ppp govt a mida's touch to make gold out of every crisis.these crisis have a history in the making.pakistan has been a poorly managed country, therefore, it wl surely take time to deal with the outstanding issues.be patient.let the ppp govt complete its tenure.if they return empty-handed in the end, hold them accountable at the time of elections and vote the leaders whom u wish to represent ur voice. Democracies grow by evolution, tolerance and patience.

now the govt has named the province.the name is given to the province after consulting the democratically elected representatives of the ppl of NWFP.majority of the provincial representatives and the ppl hv hailed the name.so plz plz plzzzzzzzz stand by the democratic norms and values.if u like democracy,u shud know that in democracy majoriyty rules.the minority is not ignored but itz the majority that takes the final decision.


Thanks....

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Recite a Darood Shareef at least once and now.
(RAFIQUE AHMED KHOKHAR)

AOA

The debate on renaming the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is serious business because it concerns the identity of its people and their place in the federation of Pakistan. However, the direction it has taken is sometimes comical, and at best uninformed and politicised. Coining a new name for the province has become a favourite pastime for many people and, surprisingly, even those not belonging to it appear keen to select, if not impose, a name of their own choices.
Names such as Hazara-Pukhtoonkhwa, abaseen pukhtoonkhwa have been suggested for the province by many people.... People with fertile imaginations and unconcerned that the issue was to provide identity to its majority Pakhtun population came up with still more bizarre names that don't even deserve to be discussed. Abaseen was pushed into the limelight after receiving backing from the PML-N and PML-Q. Abaseen is a name used for River Indus that runs not just through the NWFP but also Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab and Sindh.
If the province is renamed as Hazara Pukhtoonkhwa there will be no end to demands by other parts of NWFP, including Dera Ismail Khan and Chitral, seeking the addition of the names of the own regions. Certain politicians from Dera Ismail Khan even suggested "Pakhtunkhwa-Dera-Hazara.It is understandable if politicians with an eye to their respective vote banks adopt unreasonable attitudes on the issue. But it is disappointing if respected people such as Air Marshal (r) M Asghar Khan and retired civil servant Kunwar Idris don't check their facts before commenting on the question. Writing in a newspaper on March 28, Asghar Khan commented that "in a province in which the Pakhtuns are a little over half its population, insisting on renaming it Pakhtunkhwa could prove a divisive one." He also proposed Sarhad, which means "border" and is already used in reference to the province in Urdu, as the new name. In the same paper, Dawn, the same day, Kunwar Idris wrote that "most Punjabi- and Hindko-speaking inhabitants of the province (who, perhaps, outnumber the Pashto speakers)..." He also said that Pakhtunkhwa would carry a ring of Pakhtunistan for the devout Muslim Leaguers opposed to the ANP, which is spearheading the campaign for the name Pakhtunkhwa.

For the information of Asghar Khan, Kunwar Idris and others, the 1998 census showed that 73.9 per cent of NWFP's population spoke Pashto, 3.86 per cent, largely in Dera Ismail Khan, spoke Saraiki, 0.97 per cent Punjabi, 0.78 per cent Urdu, 0.04 per cent Sindhi and 0.01 per cent Balochi. A significant 20.43 per cent people listed in the "Others" column obviously included speakers of Hindko (believed to around 18 per cent), Chitrali, Gojri and other languages. The next population census must have separate columns for Hindko and the other languages to avoid future controversies.

73.9 per cent Pakhtuns in the census mentioned Pashto as their mother tongue, though there are many others in Dera Ismail Khan, including the Jadoons, Tarins, Mashwanis and Swatis in Hazara region and Miankhels, Gandapurs and Kundis, who are Pakhtuns but have forgotten Pashto. Challenge them that they aren't Pakhtun, and there is a chance they might come to blows with you.

The census figures for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which are geographically and politically part of NWFP, are even more revealing in terms of the Pakhtun identity of the population. In 1998 an overwhelming 99.1 per cent of the 3.176 million population of Fata, to which the change of name will also apply, declared Pashto as their mother tongue. Even though the tribal areas have a largely separate administrative setup, it is headed by the governor of NWFP. If the Fata figures are added to those of the settled areas or districts falling under NWFP, the percentage of Pakhtuns and Pashto-speakers will rise even further.In opposing the renaming of the province to Pakhtunkhwa, the two Muslim League factions led by Mian Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain are driven by the fear of losing votes in certain non-Pashto-speaking areas. These are the only two significant political parties represented in parliament that object to the name Pakhtunkhwa. The Jamaat-e-Islami and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf -- lacking representation in the parliament after unwisely boycotting the 2008 general elections and now keen to contest every by-election to get back into the assemblies -- also have reservations about Pakhtunkhwa and would likely support a provincial referendum on the issue. Almost all other political parties support Pakhtunkhwa, or in case of a stalemate, the alternative names Pakhtunistan and Afghania.

As respected member (from QAU) has said If democratic norms are to be followed, then the wishes of the majority need to be respected in the renaming. The NWFP Assembly, reflecting the will of the people, a passed resolution in favour of Pakhtunkhwa by majority vote in November 1997, with only the Saifullah brothers, Salim and Humayun, opposing it, and lawmakers from the PML-N, which was then a coalition partner of the ANP in NWFP, abstaining from the vote. and only 20 votes went against Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa in the National assembly.
Abstention isn't opposition and the decision not to oppose the resolution was taken to save the coalition government from collapsing. Politics rather than principles was behind this decision by the then PML-affiliated chief minister Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, Pir Sabir Shah and other Hazara politicians now in the forefront of opposition to Pakhtunkhwa. It is intriguing that the PML-N, according to Pir Sabir Shah, was willing to accept Afghania as the new name for NWFP. Though the ANP leadership too appears ready to agree to Afghania, it is difficult to understand how this name would protect the identity of non-Pakhtuns in Hazara or elsewhere who believe Pakhtunkhwa would wipe out their identity. Abaseen, Khyber and other names too cannot give an identity to the non-Pakhtun populations, but they would certainly deprive the majority Pakhtuns of their identity.

The argument against Pakhtunkhwa that it is ethnic-based is neutralised by the fact that all other provinces in Pakistan carry names that identify the majority ethnic groups living there. Even if Punjab is named after its five rivers or Sindh after the River Indus, the majority populations in the two provinces have come to be known as Punjabis and Sindhis. Balochistan is obviously named after the Baloch, the majority ethnic group in the province along with their Brahvi cousins.

Controversies would erupt if Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan were to be renamed today. The number of Saraiki-speakers in Punjab are 17.36 per cent of its population, compared to 75.23 Punjabis; in Sindh only 59.73 per cent of the population speaks Sindhi, while 21.05 per cent speaks Urdu; 6.99 per cent speak Punjabi and 4.19 per cent Pashto; in Balochistan, not more than 54.76 per cent of the population name Balochi as their mother tongue, compared to 29.64 per cent naming Pashto, 5.58 per cent Sindhi, 2.52 per cent Punjabi, and 2.42 per cent Saraiki. In fact, Pashto-speakers in NWFP and Fata form the largest group of a single ethnicity in any province in Pakistan.

Ignoring the aspirations of the Pakhtun people (15.42 per cent), who form the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan after Punjabis (44.15 per cent) and refusing to provide them an identity in the renaming of their province, would be both undemocratic and unjust.

Source
the case of Pukhtoonkhwa
by Rahimullah Yousafzai
Editor the news Peshawar

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We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.....