BAHAWALPUR: The leaders of different political parties and bodies in the alliance for the restoration of Bahawalpur province have decided to observe a hunger strike on March 23 in protest against the government for not restoring Bahawalpur province and instead moving towards the creation of a south Punjab province.

This was announced by the alliance leadership after a meeting here on Tuesday.

Earlier, the varying factions demanding the restoration of Bahawalpur province had agreed to form a joint front to gear up the movement for a separate south Punjab province.

The meeting was participated by the heads of various organisations, demanding a separate province, including Haji Muhammad Nawaz Naji, Jam Hazoor Bakhsh, Akram Ansari and Ms Asiya Kamil, besides representatives of PML-N, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and JUI-F, who supported the demand.

The speakers demanded the rulers to honour their past commitment and restore Bahawalpur province in accordance with the Punjab Assembly’s resolution that, they said, was lying in the cold storage.

Rejects south Punjab sub-secretariat

They reiterated that the restoration of Bahawalpur province was their constitutional right that guaranteed a bright future for their coming generations.

They reminded that had the former state of Bahawlpur not been merged with Pakistan on the desire of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, his (Jinnah’s) dream of a “complete Pakistan” would not have materialised. They vowed not to compromise on the demand.

The meeting through a resolution announced that the people of the south region did not agree to any proposal envisaging a ‘Junoobi Punjab Sooba’ or a sub-secretariat in the south, demanding the rulers to announce a separate Bahawalpur province before the next general election.

They warned if their demand was not met, they would stage a sit-in at river Sutlej.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020