In a major political development, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership decided to halt its campaign for the creation of Saraiki province, as President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to back the creation of a South Punjab province instead of a Saraiki province, Pakistan Today has learnt.
A source in the ruling party said the president had changed his mind following voices of dissent from urban centres of southern Punjab, which included criticism from some politicians from Punjab’s Saraiki belt. “These days, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has become the principal adviser to the president and he has manoeuvred well to influence most of the decisions being taken by the president, who otherwise is the PPP co-chairman,” the source said, adding that the Chaudhry brothers had convinced the president to do away with the idea of a Saraiki province, at least for the time being. “Under a joint strategy, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has been asked by the president not to mention the Saraiki province anymore in public gatherings and the media. This was the reason that the prime minister had to alter an important announcement prepared for his Multan address on August 14,” the source added.
Confidence building: The source said the president had also tasked the Chaudhry brothers and Gilani to hold meetings with leading Saraiki nationalists and
inform them that the party had not done away with the idea of the Saraiki province, rather the decision had been delayed and it would be reviewed when the party makes a final move in this regard.
Another PPP leader told Pakistan Today that dissenting voices from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had also been conveyed to the president. He said the Awami National Party and Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani had made formal complaints to the president, saying the campaign could harm smaller provinces and trigger lingual and racial conflicts in their respective provinces, including Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Ismail Khan, where Saraiki language was widely spoken.
A PML-Q official also confirmed that both coalition partners would now make joint efforts for the creation of a southern Punjab province.
Per the same decision, Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi held a meeting with Saraiki nationalists and National Saraiki Party (NSP) President Abdul Majid Kanju on Monday and convinced him that there must be no issue in naming the new province Junoobi Punjab (South Punjab), as it would still be meant for the Saraiki-speaking people only. Later, a joint statement was issued by the PML-Q and NSP that said both parties had extended their support for the creation of South Punjab province, rather than Saraiki province.
“Shujaat convinced Zardari that South Punjab province would not fuel lingual and racial hatred among people speaking different languages in southern Punjab, rather it would effectively help marginalise the Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N in the province,” said the official.
The PML-Q leader said the PPP’s Saraiki card had backfired due to lingual and regional leanings and the media and politicians had hit back at the PPP for promoting a regional and lingual party.
Sources said the demand by some elements from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan for inclusion of Dera Murad Jamali, Tank and Dera Islam Khan had created ripples in both the provinces, and the government of both provinces had formally conveyed their concern to President Asif Ali Zardari. Recently, NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi called for a civil disobedience movement if Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts were not incorporated into the Saraiki province. Saraiki nationalists enlist 25 districts spreading across the four provinces for inclusion in the Saraiki province, which if created, would be even bigger than existing Punjab.
The districts include Bahawalpur, Khanpur, Liaquatpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Khushab, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank, Ghotki, Jacobabad and Dera Murad Jamali.
The residents of Bahawalpur, Khanpur, Liaquatpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan are already demanding the restoration of Bahawalpur province, which was merged into one unit in 1970 by then chief martial law administrator General Yahya Khan.
Later, the administrative status of Bahawalpur was not restored, but was merged with Punjab.