Dozens of people from Southern Punjab and the Hazara Division staged two separate protests on Thursday in front of the Parliament House to demand the creation of new provinces. They welcomed the parliamentary resolution for the creation of new provinces. Speaking on the occasion, Junaid Khosa said, “The idea of a referendum as suggested by some quarters is unacceptable. “The demand of the Siraiki districts of Punjab and Kyber Paktunkhwa for the formation of the Siriaki province is unanimous and the people will resist delaying tactics, like referendums, that complicate constitutional procedures.”
The participants of the protest also unanimously adopted a resolution saying: “We remind the Prime Minister that he propagated the Siraiki cause for four years and promised the province would be made. The promise must be fulfilled.”
It also stated that a task-committee on the Siraiki province be formed in the parliament to meet the Siraiki intellectuals and political activists and come with a solution for issues like the number of districts to be included in the Siraiki province.
The demonstration was called by the Siraiki students’ bodies of the Quaid-e-Azam University, the Arid Agriculture University, the Federal Urdu University, and the International Islamic University. The protesters from Hazara thanked the MQM for presenting a resolution in the national assembly for the creation of a new province. The protesters demanded that the government create the Hazara province without any delay.
