Bill on ‘Bahawalpur-South Punjab’ raises eyebrows

The Parliamentary Commission on Creation of New Provinces gave final touches to the constitutional bill to carve out the “Bahawalpur-South Punjab” province on Saturday.

However, the report has already attracted controversy with some politicians questioning the scope of the commission and others alleging that the “partisan commission” had violated the mandate it had been assigned by the presidential reference and the unanimous resolutions passed by Punjab and National Assemblies.

The commission met and finalised the recommendations for constitutional amendments for making new province in South Punjab. Per the recommendations, the name of new province would be “Bahawalpur-South Punjab”, having 124 and 59 seats for provincial and National Assembly respectively.

The coalition government plans to lay the bill seeking formation of the new province in the National Assembly on Monday. The recommendation draft, signed by members, has been sent to Ministry of Law and would be tabled in the National Assembly through a bill – 24th Amendment Bill 2012 – on Monday.

The Punjab Assembly in its unanimous resolutions had called for the creation of South Punjab Province and the restoration of provincial status of Bahawalpur, while the presidential reference had also directed the same to the commission. However, the commission has recommended the formation of a new province named “Bahawalpur-South Punjab Province”, which is a merger of the two demands.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahidda Mohaz Bahawalpur and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders from Mianwali have rejected the recommendations of the commission.

“From day one, we knew that this commission has been formed by the government to achieve political gains and our stance has been confirmed today. All such recommendations of the commission which are in violation of the unanimous resolutions passed by Punjab Assembly will be rejected,” Chaudhry Saud Majeed, PML-N MNA from Bahawalpur, told Pakistan Today. He was nominated as a member of the commission but he did not participate in any of the meetings.

Former senator Mohammad Ali Durrani, the architect of the movement for restoration of Bahawalpur province and chief of the Mutahidda Mohaz Bahawalpur, also rejected the report, stating that the people of Bahawalpur would never allow any commission to decide against their will.

“We have been fighting against the dictatorial decision of a dictator – General Yahya Khan – who had annulled the provincial status of Bahawalpur. We will not allow the so-called democratic regime to act like dictators. We will get our right through struggle which has been going on since 1970,” Durrani said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and grand-daughter of Nawab of Kalabagh, Ayla Malik has also rejected the commission’s recommendation to include Mianwali in the proposed new province.

“The demographic location and tribal ethnicity of Mianwali does not allow any merger of Mianwali into Seraiki province. We live in the Pothohar region and hence are similar to the lifestyles of Pothohar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We can’t be bullied on assumption that since the language spoken here is similar to Seariki, so we should be included into the new province,” she added.

Mahmood Hayat Tochi Khan, a PPP MNA from Vehari, also rejected the commission’s recommendations, stating that the Punjabi settlers had been totally ignored in composition of the commission and there was no opinion of the Punjabi settlers who were major stakeholders in South Punjab.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

In violation of its terms of references (ToRs) and the presidential reference sent to the National Assembly, the Parliamentary Commission for New Provinces recommended that instead of the previous resolutions passed by the Punjab and National Assemblies, one new province be formed instead of the original demand of two and the new federating unit be named as “Bahawalpur-South Punjab”.

Per the recommendations, the name of new province would be “Bahawalpur South Punjab”, having 124 and 59 seats for provincial and national assembly respectively.

Provincial Election Commission and High Court will also be established in the recommended province.

Talking to Pakistan Today, PML-Q Secretary Information Senator Kamil Ali Agha said that the new province would have twin capitals – one each in Multan and Bahawalpur – a claim contradicted by another member of the commission – Jamshed Dasti, who said the new province would have one capital – Bahawalpur.

“Three divisions – Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan – would be included in the new province while it has been recommended that Bhakkar and Mianwali districts may also be included,” Agha said.

He said that an assembly hall was already present in Bahawalpur while the chief minister would also sit there. He said that Governor’s House might be established in Multan, adding that all recommendations of the commission would not be made part of the bill.

Jamshed Dasti said draft of the bill for new province in South Punjab was being prepared and recommendations have been sent to law ministry.

The controversial 14-member parliamentary commission had been constituted in August of last year by the speaker of the National Assembly and comprises Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senators Farhatullah Babar and Sughra Imam, Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) Senator Kamil Ali Agha and PML-N Senator Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, JUI-F Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, PPP MNAs Arif Aziz Sheikh, Jamshed Ahmed Dasti, Ali Musa Gilani, PML-N MNAs Tehmina Daultana and Chaudhry Saud Majeed, as well as MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar.