Daily Times

With the presentation of a bill on the creation of the south Punjab province by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the longstanding issue has seen the parliament for the third time in the shape of a bill. In 2013, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) presented the bill in the Senate demanding the creation of a South Punjab province consisting of Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions besides Bhakkar and Mianwali districts of Sargodha division. Earlier in January this year, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N’s) presented a bill for the creation of two provinces in south Punjab – a Bahawalpur province whose boundaries will map those of the Bahawalpur state, and a south Punjab province with its capital in Multan. The party also got a resolution on the two provinces approved by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in 2012. Now, a fresh strike by the PTI seeks a province consisting of Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan divisions. The bill has won the support of the PPP but the PML-N is sticking to the two-province demand. The movers of the PML-N bill want a Bahawalpur province consisting of three districts of what is now the Bahawalpur division and a south Punjab province consisting of Multan and Dera Ghazi divisions.

The creation of the new province cannot be realized without the PML-N support since it requires the approval of the provincial assembly where the PML-N occupies almost half of the seats. The PPP and the PTI say the two-province plan is aimed at defeating their proposal. There is hardly any buyer for the two-province bill in these parties. The three-division province plan has the backing of the PTI and the PPP. The issue, sometimes presented as a Seraiki linguistic and ethnic issue needs careful handling. The PTI manifesto promised a south Punjab province. It had included the legislation in its 100-day plan. Now it has been dusted off and tabled afresh.

The PTI does not expect the PML-N to support. Why is then so aggressive on the establishment of a South Punjab Secretariat in Multan and separate budgetary allocations for the Seraiki region? These measures are not substitute for a separate province. The government needs to work on seeking consensus if it is earnest. The issue needs immediate attention of all parties. They must put their heads together. They should also consult the intelligentsia, academics, and Seraiki nationalists. The objective must be to address the deprivation of the Seraiki people. If the parliament can build consensus on the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, there is no reason why it cannot do so for south Punjab. *