November 22, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: An uproar in the National Assembly on Friday before the house was prorogued after a 12-day session pointed to a steep road for the name of ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ to be given to the NWFP as planned by the present PPP-led coalition government.

Some members of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) briefly set aside sharp differences and aligned against even mentioning the NWFP as ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ (land of Pakhtuns, or Pashtuns) in parliamentary proceedings until exponents of the idea could get the Constitution amended to give the province the new name that has a controversial history.

The row marred the last day of the assembly’s autumn session, which began on Nov 10, with shouting of insults between some members of the PML-N and the NWFP-based Awami National Party (ANP) before Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi read out an order from President Asif Ali Zardari proroguing the session. The ANP’s demand to rename the NWFP got a big boost when President Zardari formally endorsed the idea on behalf of the PPP in his address to a joint sitting of parliament on Sept 20 and called for the change to be made by amending the Constitution, which is yet to come.

Since then the name of Pakhthunkhwa has been used more frequently in both houses of parliament -- with the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) also joining the PPP and ANP’s bandwagon -- and was inserted with the NWFP in a joint resolution passed by the joint session of parliament held last month to discuss the security situation in the province.

But Friday’s outbursts indicated it would be very difficult for the ruling coalition and other supporters of the idea to muster the required two-thirds majority in both the 342-seat National Assembly and the 100-seat Senate for a constitutional amendment on this point, though it was not immediately clear whether the strong stance taken by one member each of the PML-N and PML-Q reflected the considered views of their respective parties.

The advocates of the name change argue that the North-West Frontier indicated only the geographical direction of the region under the British rule rather than being a name of the province.

But opponents of the idea say it ignores the identity of non-Pakhtun linguistic groups of the area and some even brand it a separatist idea linked to once Afghan-sponsored concept of Pakhtunistan.

Friday’s row erupted when a young PML-N lawmaker from the NWFP, Mohammad Safdar, a son-in-law of party leader Nawaz Sharif, objected to the use of “Pakhtunkhwa province” by MQM deputy parliamentary leader Haider Abbas Rizvi in a speech on Thursday and use of the description “Pakhtunkhwa government” by Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Raza Rabbani while referring to a reported missile attack in Bannu district of the NWFP, calling its usage a violation of the Constitution.

PML-Q president of NWFP Amir Muqam supported Mr Safdar’s argument and, like him, said their parties would accept the new name if the Constitution was amended by the required two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.

Mr Raza Rabbani, a strong advocate of the new name appeared incensed by Mr Safdar’s allegation of the Constitution being “torn into pieces” by those using the word, joined the fray and reiterated his party’s commitment to get the NWFP’s name changed as had been demanded by the provincial assembly twice through unanimous resolutions.

Mr Safdar had also talked of an attempt to foist the view of what he described as “40 per cent (Pakhtun population of the province) over 60 per cent” (non-Pakhtuns).

ANP member Pervez Khan added fuel to the fire by making some remarks about Mr Nawaz Sharif, which the chair expunged at Mr Rabbani’s request, with Mr Safdar responding with a greater gusto recalling what he called his party leader’s political favours taking it in a PML-N government in the 1990s and bringing it in the mainstream politics and suggesting that the ANP member should have done ablutions before uttering Mr Sharif’s name.

Without specifying, the deputy speaker said all un-parliamentary remarks would be expunged from the record of the proceedings.