Dividing Punjab?

[batmannow]

i guss for creating , new leadership in pakistan, its very important to have more thn 4 provinces, which are ill-blanced, ill-manged!
also, unblanced nature of power is infact ,one reason of sense,of unjustice, & un-security, ammong the majority of the masses in pakistan!
by the way, why to have 2 threads on the same issue!

 

[ajpirzada]

I don't know when you visited Balochistan last but I have friends and family there who claim that during Musharraf's govt. alot of infrastructure was built.

I agree that funds should increase but we should also see how the funds are used.

i went there some 6 yrs back.
rit now there is this project goin on called 'National Trade Corridor'. most of this exists in balochistan. and that is wat im pinning all my hopes at regarding development in balochistan. but even if this project gets completed, we would need more universities to educate baloch youth which could then benefit from such big projects. otherwise they ll only be involved in low scale jobs.

regarding more provinces. i dont know about 12 province or 16 provinces. but power structure in pakistan's politics definately requires some balance. for that we need to devide punjab. not because of its size but population.

 

[Zob]

time to stregthen the federal system not break into small provinces... all we need is to abolish the FEUDUAL system like the Bengalis and the Indians did......

a seraiki province or a karachi province or a bugtti province is not the solution right now....

end feudal system is the main thing.....that will never happen

 

[ajpirzada]

time to stregthen the federal system not break into small provinces... all we need is to abolish the FEUDUAL system like the Bengalis and the Indians did......

a seraiki province or a karachi province or a bugtti province is not the solution right now....

end feudal system is the main thing.....that will never happen

you r rit. feudal system needs go. but how will that happen when we are being ruled by feudals. just look at balochistan. its literally ruled by sardars. and these sardars are whom ppl vote for. then you come to sindh and look at all the bonded labour stuff goin on.
punjab and NWFP seems to be less feudal but i might be missing soemthign

 

[Zob]

punjab has chaudry's

NWFP has Khans

Balochistan has Buggtis

SINDH has vadeeras

india progressed because of no feudal system....


the only way we can end feudal system is if we get a ARMY chief who comes to power through a coup and uses his dandaa to remove these feudal systems!!!

unfortunately to legitimize their rule the army chief who comes to power actually uses the policy of appeasment towards the feudal lords!!

 

[Patriot]

We need a strong political party which is sincere and have full support of Army like CCP Of China.

 

[ajpirzada]

punjab has chaudry's

NWFP has Khans

Balochistan has Buggtis

SINDH has vadeeras

india progressed because of no feudal system....


the only way we can end feudal system is if we get a ARMY chief who comes to power through a coup and uses his dandaa to remove these feudal systems!!!

unfortunately to legitimize their rule the army chief who comes to power actually uses the policy of appeasment towards the feudal lords!!

that is again very true.
lets hope to get an army chief who was abused by these feudals. that seems lik the only hope to get rid of these ppl.

 

[ajpirzada]

Voice for Seraiki province echoes in National Assembly



Wednesday, July 01, 2009
By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: As the debate kicks off in the media and the general public on carving out new provinces, the voice in favour of a Seraiki province echoed in the National Assembly on Tuesday when Sardar Bahadur Sehar supported the formation of another administrative unit to lessen the problems of the people of southern Punjab.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, Sehar said the southern Punjab had been deprived of development despite having the ability to become the bread basket for not only Pakistan but also for South Asia.

He said since 1970s, no major education institution such as medical collage or an engineering university had been set up in the southern Punjab. “If the people there do not get proper education, religious seminaries would benefit,” he added.

He said from the development budget of Rs 137 billion for the Punjab, only a sum of Rs 5 billion had been allocated for the area with the population of approximately 50 million. “When we raise our voice for our rights, we are declared anti-Pakistanis,” he said.

Sehar said in the historical 1940 Lahore Resolution, the rights of all the nations had been accepted. “We are demanding the rights granted in the 1940 Resolution and even in the Charter of Democracy,” he added.

Rejecting the impression that the voice for a Seraiki province has been raised on the linguistic basis, Sehar said this demand was not raised on ethnic or linguistic basis but “we want that our issues resolved on our doorsteps. We want our files to go to Multan instead of Lahore,” he added. He said even the people of southern Punjab did not get the share of the National Finance Commission.

The budget session was prorogued after the 18th day of the sitting, which began on 12th of June. National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi read out the presidential order of prorogation.

Voice for Seraiki province echoes in National Assembly

 

[batmannow]

a new era has to begun in pakistan, & it needs something new ?
if we as a nation , dont want to see old faces in the , rulling class then , pakistan should equaly & faith fully divided , for the comming future of the pakistani nation?

 

[dherky]

there are three things must be done in pakistan for progress

1- land reform

2- Large provinces should be divided into 2 /3 new provinces which resolve lot of managerial issues

3- A neutral body where anyone could complain against big fishes specially politician

 

[muse]

The Pakistani President and Premier Beg to differ - below is a piece from the Nation paper - Does the Prime Minister make a convincing case, or does Batmannow have it right, that Pakistan cannot wait for changes and the time to act is always NOW - you will further note that the Premier does not view Majlis as the appropriate venue for this debate but rather the back rooms of Political party offices (democracy you say, rule of law you say) -- readers may find it interesting that the PML-N has chosen to be silent on the issue:

New province calls to open Pandora's box: PM
By: Nadeem Syed | Published: July 01, 2009

LAHORE - Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has maintained that PPP being a symbol of the Federation is totally against any fragmentation of provinces.

He said President Asif Ali Zardari and he himself were in total agreement on this issue, asserting that raising this particular issue at this point in time when country was facing more pressing issues was both ill-timed and inappropriate.

He asked all those, spearheading the move for a separate province to first take up the issue at meetings of their respective parties, which he believed, was the right forum to deliberate upon such matters.

Gilani expressed these views while talking exclusively to The Nation on Tuesday.

A new debate has started in the country after some parliamentarians demanded a separate province status for Southern Punjab. The demand echoed both in the National and Punjab assemblies with politicians from Southern Punjab strongly defending the plea for a separate province.

Reacting to this demand, Gilani said: “The country has been passing through the most critical phase of its history, confronting more pressing issues like ongoing war on terror, deteriorating law and order situation, obtaining in parts of the country as a result of this war, economic meltdown, besides the all-important constitutional issues such as NFC Award and activation of Council of Common Interests.

According to him, these issues need government’s top priority. “Hence the timing for raising the spectre of a Saraiki province is both badly timed and unfortunate,” he asserted

Gilani expressed the apprehension that such calls would open a Pandora’s box, which the country could ill afford at this juncture. He maintained that any such measure would in any case require a constitutional nod, requiring a complete unanimity among the political parties in the first place.

On political front, Gilani said the top priority at the moment for the government was to make changes in the Constitution according to the Charter of Democracy, especially the undoing of the 17th Amendment and 58-2(b), and both the PPP and PML-N were in complete agreement as far as these changes were concerned.

He most vehemently debunked the allegation that President Zardari had been fomenting the issue of Saraiki province.

He said that at a recent party meeting both President Zardari and he strongly opposed the idea of a separate province and described the move an attempt to destabilise the Federation.

 

[SSGPA1]

The Pakistani President and Premier Beg to differ - ...... President Zardari and he strongly opposed the idea of a separate province and described the move an attempt to destabilise the Federation.

Flip every statement of our masoom PM and you will get the truth.

Nawaz Sharif will remain quiet as he doesn't understand politics neither does he have the courage to make any statement.

He will wait till majority of people choose one side of the opinion and then he will sing along the majority whether they are right or wrong.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Muse,

My take is that the PM came out this strongly against the idea of a Seraiki province to avoid the impression that the 'Sindh led' PPP was 'scheming' to break up Punjab.

The suggestion that the political parties should resolve the issue amongst themselves first is probably an indication that the PPP, overtly at least, wants the most popular party in Punjab (PML-N) to determine where it stands on the issue.

This is the rather unfortunate reality of our politics and politicians, that they would not be averse to playing the ethnic card to score political points.

For example, some PPP leaders tried raising a fuss over the GoPu's 'Sasti Roti' scheme, suggesting that somehow Punjab was discriminating against Sindh by not offering the scheme in Sindh! This occurred in the backdrop of the 'Long March to restore the judiciary', where the PPP was trying to undercut the support for the march and PML-N.

Its not the GoPu's job to run welfare schemes in Sindh, it is the GoS's job! Ajeeb loog hain hamaray siyastdan.

Similarly, I could see the PML-N leadership raising the ethnicity card if the senior PPP leadership was seen as championing the cause for more provinces. And Gillani is correct, such a mudslinging match would be a distraction from the other severe challenges we face currently, especially the PWaT.

While public support for Pakistan's War has remained steady, I would not put it past the PML-N to back out of its support, and the Taliban sympathizers in the media would have a field day with the PML-N opposition, and possibly shift public opinion again.

The creation of more provinces is something long overdue and necessary, but the potential costs of the PPP championing it are IMO not worth it.

Senior PML-N leaders (Jawed Hashmi etc., though not the Sharif brothers at this point) are reportedly backing the call for a new province, so there is still a chance that the call may gather momentum within the PML-N, and push the Sharif brothers into supporting it.

At the end of the day this will boil down to whether the PML-N sees a minimal loss of power with bifurcation of the province, which would involve an analysis of its party structure and reach in Southern Punjab, and whether a loyal (to Sharif brathran) and popular PML-N leadership in S Punjab exists, to maintain their overall vote bank.

There is also the possibility of the PML-N using the opportunity to call for divisions in other provinces as sell, to dilute the strength of the PPP, in which case it may very well be impossible to obtain political consensus on the creation of more provinces.

Personally I think that the Punjab has to be divided first, to negate the argument of 'Punjabi domination'. The arguments of the other provinces against division will be far weaker if the Punjab is already divided.

 

[Omar1984]

I'll be honest. As a Punjabi, I dont want my home province to be separated, but I'm a Pakistani first so if its in the best interst of Pakistan to separate Punjab then I support it. Pakistan comes first.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I'll be honest. As a Punjabi, I dont want my home province to be separated, but I'm a Pakistani first so if its in the best interst for Pakistan to separate Punjab then I support it. Pakistan comes first.

I'm from Lahore as well (Chak Jalalabad and Cillanwalli if you really want to get down to the roots ..), but I see no issue with bifuraction or trifurcation.

The only lines that matter to me are those that define Pakistan. The GoP coudl make Lahore part of the NWFP, Sindh or Baluchistan and I wouldn't give a shite - as long as it is Pakistan.

The important thing is that such decisions are taken to improve the administration of various areas, and give locals more voice and remove grievances.