Daily Times

Many political leaders in Pakistan, primarily the, Mutahhida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) have made an effort to voice their support for the establishment of new provinces in the country. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) showed incessant enthusiasm to divide Punjab, whereas when it comes to Sindh, division of the province remains strictly out of the question. The manifesto of the MQM-P, on the other hand, demands for more than 20 provinces in Pakistan, especially a separate province in South Sindh for Urdu speaking individuals.

It should be noted that at the time of Pakistan’s birth, and even 10 years after, many people in the country raised their voices for the creation of new provinces. Even when the capital was transferred from Karachi to Islamabad in 1971, Mirza Jawad Beg, Nawab Muzaffar Hussain and MM Bashir demanded that Karachi be given the status of a separate province; however, the three men were imprisoned for their views instead.

During Bhutto’s regime, when Sindhi was declared as Sindh’s official language, immigrants (Urdu speakers) felt a sense of alienation. The simple act should not have been malicious; however, it deeply upset people on the basis of linguistic disputes. If Karachi had been a province, Urdu inevitably would have been the official language, and this issue might never have been raised.

Since the time of India and Pakistan’s independence, the former has not shied away from making provinces as and when required, while the latter never even considered it even once. In view of our current population, and the size of our provinces, smaller segments could help with better governance. Nearly 160 countries have been increasing the quantity of regions, counties and provinces to make their federal governments more powerful. As far as philosophy regarding new provinces is concerned; the economy of our country, democracy and federal government will ultimately get more empowered after creating new provinces.

Since the time of India and Pakistan’s independence, the former has not shied away from making provinces as and when required, while the latter never even considered it even once. In view of our current population, and the size of our provinces, smaller segments could help deliver better governance

If the federal government grants autonomy to a province, they will have more opportunities to work for the bigger picture, and help the country grow. However, politicians believe that the emergence of new provinces will jeopardise the autonomy of our existing provinces. What they don’t pay any heed to, is that India, at the time of independence, consisted of 13 provinces, but now has 39, with seven union Territories (UTs) as well. This has helped them develop as a nation, however in Pakistan’s case, back in 1947 we had 14 provinces, and instead of increasing that number, we have brought it down to just four. Even Thailand, a country with only a population of 62 million people, has 76 provinces, including 877 districts, while Turkey, with a population of only 71 million people, is made up of 81 provinces. Similarly, a European country like Switzerland, with a population of only seven million people, consists of 23 states.

Karachi (which is the economic hub of the country and the largest city in Pakistan in terms of population size) has an estimated population of 16.21 million, which alone should merit provincial status. In Punjab’s case, their population of 110 million people is almost half of Indonesia’s population of 222 million, yet the latter have divided that population in 33 provinces, instead of trying to control it collectively.

Senior Leaders of PPP have expressed time and again that opposition parties will not side with Mutahhida Qaumi Movement and its demand for Karachi as a province, stating that, “We won’t let anyone divide the province under any circumstances”. Shazia Marri also went against these people, saying that the people willing to have a new province in Sindh will be given just grief and nothing more. Meanwhile, according to political experts, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has promised to voice the issue of establishment of a South Punjab province, but ironically he himself does not want to divide Sindh in a similar manner. It just goes to show that the PPP has serious doubts about vote-bank among the Urdu speaking community, and believe a new province will rob them of their traditional influence in the state. However, educated people, whether Sindhi or Muhajir, don’t want contentions, lingual clashes or unrest. Their loyalty remains with acquiring their rights, which is only possible by making a few more assemblies in the country.

As far as Urdu community leaders are concerned, they are fully committed to a Southern Sindh province. MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar said that the party had not committed any crime by raising their demands for new administrative states in Sindh, and that some people were opposing this demand just to try and present a negative impression of their party. The Muhajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) went one step further, with their main purpose being the establishment of a new province for the Muhajir community in Southern Sindh, and as a result, their chairman Afaq Ahmed announced their intention to contest the upcoming elections, in order to fulfil this objective.

After citing relevant examples and providing sound arguments, it can be safely asserted that four provinces were never a good enough number for a country with such a large population like Pakistan. This is why the new government seriously needs to consider creating new provinces, in order to ensure good governance in the future.

Writer is a correspondent, Daily Times and Tweets @maferozi

Published in Daily Times, July 27^th 2018.