BJP, Bahawalpur and Seraikistan
By Saleem Safi

No one can beat our present government in the art of insulting elected bodies. While the government constantly complains about others doing this, it doesn’t waste a single opportunity to do so itself. The latest example is the proposal of a new province – Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab (BJP) – by the parliamentary commission for recommendations on new provinces. The constitutional and ethical mandate for such a proposal is indeed an important question.

According to the constitution, the initial move to create a new province must be made in the form of a resolution in the provincial assembly of the province from which the new province is to be created. After that the federal government has to make necessary arrangements.

On May 9, 2012, a resolution was passed in the Punjab Assembly, demanding the creation of two new provinces: Bahawalpur and Janoobi Punjab (southern Punjab). The commission, ignoring the demand, instead proposed one province including both aforementioned areas. The text of the original resolution is as under:

“On the basis of these facts, this house is of the considered opinion that the former status of Bahawalpur province should be restored at once. Therefore, this house wants immediate restoration of Bahawalpur province and demands that the federal government immediately set up a national commission that shall immediately decide all important issues (judicious distribution of water and other resources, geographical demarcation and all other constitutional, legal and administrative affairs) regarding new provinces and complete the process of creation of new provinces.

“This representative house of the provincial assembly of Punjab demands that the federal government establish Janoobi Punjab province and, for giving practical shape to the creation of the new province, it also demands that the federal government immediately set up a national commission that shall immediately decide all important issues (judicious distribution of water and other resources, geographical demarcation and all other constitutional, legal and administrative affairs) regarding new provinces and complete the process of creation of new provinces.”

The text of the resolution is very clear. The commission has no power to amend or modify the original proposal of the provincial assembly. All it has to do is execute the recommendation. But the commission violated its jurisdiction. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has not presented any such resolution, yet the commission is proposing the creation of a new province of Hazara.

The Punjab Assembly asked for the restoration of Bahawalpur as a province and creation of a new province – Janoobi Punjab – and for a formula to distribute assets and liabilities among them. But the commission preferred to impose its own opinion on the matter.

The provincial assembly named the new provinces, and the commission preferred to make them into one with the new name of BJP. What else can we call this but an insult to an elected body and to the mandate of Punjab’s voters?

Another area that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the commission is Fata. Constitutionally speaking, the area is neither a province nor a district nor a division. It has no representative assembly and is under direct control of the federal government.

The commission felt no need to present any ideas about Fata’s annexation to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or converting it into a new province. But in the case of Punjab, it feels fit to present a totally opposite recommendation to the original resolution of the provincial assembly.

I have always insisted that, while the creation of new provinces could be beneficial if based on administrative divisions, this is no time for such a move – considering the country’s present situation. It is no secret that the PPP and PML-N both are not sincere about creating a new province within Punjab. The leadership of both parties was against a Seraiki or Bahawalpur province.

Once the PPP made its intentions clear, the PML-N countered by supporting the demand for the Bahawalpur province. Consequently both the parties are stuck now and have to support the resolution in the Punjab Assembly for the creation of two new provinces. The level of sincerity of both parties on the issue is very evident. If the PPP is sincere it would not mould the resolution at the commission. Likewise, if the PML-N is sincere it must not put conditions on those who join the party to not support the new provinces.

Despite this hesitation on the part of both parties, it is very clear that the process of creation of both provinces cannot be reversed now. It will be wiser for both parties to understand that, instead of point scoring and playing politics over the issue, they must seriously work on the resolution according to the spirit of the constitution.

The proposal for the new BJP province is counterproductive for many reasons. It is not only against the resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly but also creates a series of political issues. The inclusion of Mianwali and Bhakkar in the proposed province shows that the new province is being created on a linguistic basis.

To fulfil such criteria, D I Khan also then has to be cut off from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Karachi and Hyderabad could also demand a separate province on the same basis, as could Hazara and Chitral. The same criteria would justify the long-awaited demand of Pakhtuns in Balochistan. And these demands might not end as Pakistan is a linguistically-rich country.

Apart from violating the constitution, the proposal also suffers from many other faults – of a more practical nature. Usually a common justification for creating a new province is of the area’s distance from the provincial capitals.

It is said that being near the centre of a province means people have easy access to those in decision-making positions. Even this criterion fails to apply in the latest proposal since Bhakkar and Mianwali are nearer to Lahore than Bahawalpur. If Bahawalpur is made the capital of the new province, Multan has to face the same problems it encounters with Lahore. If Multan is declared the capital, then Bahawalpur for sure will complain against Multan instead of Lahore.

The constitution is very clear on the issue; all we have to do is adhere to what it says. New provinces must be created on the basis of administrative divisions only when the relevant provincial assembly asks for that to happen.

The writer works for Geo TV.

Email: saleem.safi@janggroup.com.pk