Right demand of separate Hazara Province

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - WITH the passage of time, the demand for a separate Hazara province is gaining momentum and hopefully this would culminate in realization of the legitimate aspirations of the people of the region. It augurs well that MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain has thrown his full weight behind the demand by reiterating his support for Hazara province when leader of the movement for Hazara province Baba Haider Zaman telephoned him on Sunday and sought his backing for practical steps for the purpose. The demand of people of Hazara is also supported by other mainstream political parties including PML-N, PML-Q and PPP but the most important is the 100% consensus in Hazara region for creation of a separate province. If practical moves can be initiated keeping in view the demand of people of South Punjab then there is no reason to deny the same right to people of Hazara. It is lamentable that though PPP acknowledges this right of people of Hazara but it is not willing to take concrete steps in this regard just to please the ANP that is otherwise ardent supporter of division of Punjab. Its opposition smacks of double standards, exposes its bias and makes mockery of its claims about democratic credentials. Hazara has a distinct identity in every respect and has almost nothing in common with the rest of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Its history, culture, language and traditions are quite different to those of KPK and therefore, its people deserve to be given a separate identity as per their demand. We believe that instead of becoming Punjab-centric, the proponents of new provinces should give a sober and serious thinking to demands coming from people of other regions including Hazara, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Balochistan. Despite claims on the contrary, the Parliamentary Commission on new provinces in Punjab has also proceeded on linguistic and cultural basis by recommending inclusion of Mianwali and Bhakkar, bordering Attock district in the extreme corner of Punjab, in the new province. If people of South Punjab cannot access ‘Takht Lahore’ easily then how can people of Mianwali reach Multan or Bahawalpur. Shun prejudices and mand make decisions on merit including acceptance of the demand of people of Hazara.

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