BAHAWALPUR: Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) and sports Riaz Hussain Peerzada has said it was not surprising that with 2018 election approaching, slogans like the one for “Janoobi Punjab Suba” were being raised by the politicians of different areas and regions.

However, he said he still favoured the demand for the restoration of Bahawalpur province but was also bound by his party’s stance as long as he was in the PML-N fold.

Talking to Dawn by cell phone from Islamabad on Monday, Mr Peerzada, who had been a staunch supporter of Bahawalpur province, was critical of the demand for a south Punjab province.

He regretted that Bahawalpur’s River Sutlej was “sold out” to India, reducing the river to a drain where even fish could not survive. Because of it, he added, Bahawalpur’s farmers were facing an acute shortage of water for irrigation, while the water table in the area had also been lowered, depriving local population of clean drinking water.

He lamented that large swathes of Cholistan desert had been encroached upon and Qabza mafia was depriving the local population of their right to the land.

He said with elections getting closer, new demands would be made by some leaders from Seraiki areas.

He said the Punjab Assembly’s resolutions regarding restoration of Bahawalpur province and creation of south Punjab province should have been taken into account.

Ex-federal minister and pro-Bahawalpur province leader Malik Farooq Azam also termed the demand for a southern province an election stint.

He vowed to launch struggle for Bahawalpur province with a new planning, adding, however, that he harboured no grudge against those seeking a southern province.

He criticised the PML-N leadership for failing to honour its pledge to create a new province in the south.

Published in Dawn, Aprill 10th, 2018