THE National Assembly and Senate have passed a resolution for a separate province in southern Punjab. Later, PML-N submitted a resolution to carve out four other provinces. …Now the Punjab Assembly under Article 239 will pass a resolution. The PPP as a matter of policy has taken up the formation of a Seraiki or South Punjab province. …However, nationalists and some other saner elements have expressed their reservations. They are afraid it would … threaten the unity of Sindh. The Sindhi nationalists fear that MQM will bifurcate Sindh on linguistic lines. It is a coincident that when the … issue became the main discourse in the country’s politics, wall chalkings appeared in Karachi and Hyderabad and pamphlets were distributed. Overnight some organisation came into existence. The MQM … maintained silence. This caused unrest in Sindh. Though the MQM at the party level as well as publicly has ruled out the bifurcation of Sindh, the people of Sindh still have concerns.

The Seraiki people, due to the political, economic and cultural domination of central Punjab, have been demanding a separate province. …Historically and geographically, a separate province for the Seraiki-speaking people is logical. Sindh was a separate political economic and cultural entity to such an extent that the British did not dare intervene. Therefore, the Seraiki province issue cannot be linked to Sindh. If someone tries to do so, there will be severe consequences. …Javed Hashmi when he was in the PML-N was strong supporter of a Seraiki province. Now the PML-N by proposing four new provinces i.e. South Punjab, Hazara, Fata and Bahawalpur has tried to safeguard its stakes. …In fact, there is need of good governance and administration. The British, though conquerors, had good administration. …While carving out … new provinces the pros and cons should be properly weighed. — (May 5)

Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi