Dawn Editorial
Friday, 16 Apr, 2010

Tempers in Hazara appear to be cooling after several days of violence. A general strike was called off recently, businesses are reopening and leading politicians have visited the area, ostensibly to bring matters under control.



That said, the controversy surrounding the renaming of the NWFP is unlikely to go away any time soon. The ANP was originally adamant on Pakhtunkhwa but later agreed to the Khyber prefix in a compromise with the PML-N. Not surprisingly, it is strongly opposed to any division of the NWFP, whose new name was approved by the Senate yesterday. For its part, the PML-N is seemingly content with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also partial to the creation of a Hazara province. The PML-Q, meanwhile, supports the creation of new provinces wherever they might be ‘necessary’, in particular Hazara and southern Punjab. There is talk too of a 19th Amendment bill calling for the creation of new federating units.

Some of our politicians are playing an extremely dangerous game, primarily for personal gain and not regional autonomy, which could destabilise the country even further. Talk about making Hazara a province could lead to renewed demands for a Seraiki province in southern Punjab. To an extent that has happened already, though so far only a few politicians have brought up the subject with any vigour. The grassroots Seraiki movement, in fact, is nowhere near as vocal today as it used to be but that could change if nationalist sentiments are stoked any further. And where does this province-creation exercise end? Can Bahawalpur claim its own independent status within the Seraiki belt? Will southern Pakhtunkhwa be carved out of Balochistan? Would the Tharis, with their unique culture and dialect, be accommodated in the unlikely event that they demand a province of their own? Can Karachi, which bears little resemblance (ethnically and otherwise) to the rest of Sindh, ultimately claim similar status? And what about the Makran belt in southern Balochistan?

Opening the Pandora’s Box of new provinces is an ill-advised move at a time when there are far more pressing issues facing the nation. Unlike the situation in India, every Pakistani province borders another country. There is much to be said for greater regional autonomy but the country should not be reduced to a jigsaw puzzle where a piece can be dislodged by the smallest of mishaps. Of course parliament has every right to create as many provinces as it wants. But politicking must be put aside so that our collective thought can be focused on national interest, not the ethnicity card and the votes that come with it.