Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Mian Raza Rabbani, who is also a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, has opposed the creation of a new province, warning that the move would give rise to new national, sub-national, ethnic and linguistic tensions that would weaken state structures and would be a recipe for destabilisation.
In a dissenting note to the 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill, designed to provide for the creation of a new province of Bahawalpur-Junoobi Punjab presented in the Senate on Thursday, Rabbani said the dominance of Punjab, in one form or another would increase in the federal structure, as the new province would require representation in the Senate, which would loose its character.
He warned that the creation of a new province would give rise to new bitterness. He pointed out that the creation of a province was a historical process, and that provinces should not be carved out on the basis of administrative convenience. “This will further aggravate the national, ethnic, linguistic and natural resources questions,” he added.
“Though it will be a political slogan for elections but it is not the opportune time,” he said, adding that national decisions should be based on stronger reasoning. He pointed out that the internal political situation was fluid and polarised. “The country is plagued by terrorism, extremism, sectarianism and regionalism,” he said.
Rabbani said there were extreme nationalist forces, particularly in Balochistan, working for arrangements outside the scheme of the constitution. With the creation of a new province, he said, such forces would stand encouraged. In addition, nationalist forces whose politics have been adversely affected because of the 18th Amendment will get a new impetus, he added.
Rabbani said that if the creation of new provinces was on the basis of administrative necessity, then the entire federal structure would require changes. He said the existing provinces would also come under the knife, as certain regions in the existing provinces might want realignment or inclusion in the new provinces and this would give rise to new regional tensions.
