PPP manifesto committee member and author of the theses on a separate Seraiki province, former senator Taj Haider in a statement said the stand of two separate provinces of Bahawalpur and Multan taken by PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif was an attempt to divide the Seraiki people.
Haider said the Seraiki people wanted to preserve their unity and an identity separate from that of Punjab, and all those who believe in restoration of the rights of oppressed nationalities would oppose the move to divide the Seraiki people.
He also criticised the suggested name of the Bahawalpur South Punjab for the new province. According to Haider, this name negated the demand of the Seraiki people to have an identity different from that of being a part of Punjab and secondly this name did not recognise their distinct Seraiki identity.
He recalled that for more than six decades the province of the Pakhtuns was named NWFP denying the Pakhtun people their identity. The federation had in fact become much stronger and the Pakhtun had become much more integrated with other nationalities after their province had been named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Do the Seraiki people have to wait another six decades to obtain the name for their province that reflects their rich language and culture?
Issues of distribution of resources can be easily resolved if a just course is followed, he added.
The NFC award is after all a mathematical formula, which can be evenly applied to the new province as well. Similarly, the 10 daily schedule of 1991 water accord contains the water requirements of every headwork.
