DERA GHAZI KHAN: The Seraiki Soba Saang Committee has launched an accountability move through dancing, singing, placing posters, panaflexes, banners and festivals and against those, what the activists say, who made headlines promising that they will make a Seraiki province in the first 100 days of power.

The committee also demanded the tabling of a bill for the creation of a Seraiki province in the parliament.

The Seraiki Soba Sang Committee is a multi-party forum to build a momentum around the issue of the province.

The committee held a meeting in Daira Din Panah to pay homage to the late Seraiki activist, Riaz Anwar, and issued a communique which reads that “we made enormous progress in terms of the recognition of our identity”.

The Seraiki identity today is recognized and it is no longer a question of, “who we are”. We are Seraiki, so is our language, nation, Wasaib, and culture.

“We are Seraiki, Our Jhok is Seraiki” is not just a slogan, but it is the ultimate truth now and the manifestation of our dreams.

The meeting passed these three resolutions.

The first move reads that threeyears tenure of the present government will be ended on July 25, 2021. The day would be observed throughout the Seraiki wasaib as an accountability day concerning the electoral promise of creating a new province in Punjab.

The second resolution read that the land allotments in Cholistan and Thal should be stopped and rights of local indigenous communities over Rakhokh should be recognized.

The final resolution says that like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the resolution submitted in the Punjab Assembly for the recognition of Seraiki as a parliamentary language should be immediately passed.

The communique says from today’s gathering, we declare to seek accountability for those who made headlines promising to create a Seraiki province within 100 days. We demand that the bill for the creation of the province should be brought in the parliament. The parliament should initiate a debate as to determine the name, the geography, and the redistribution of resources for the Seraiki province.

This debate should also involve reassessing and changing the state’s policy of not recognizing linguistic identities. It is Pakistan’s imperative to divide Punjab and create a separate Seraiki province.

“Whether or not the bill is passed in the parliament, but in the end, we would be able to differentiate between our friends and enemies which would help us in the future,” the communique goes on.

The gathering said accountability starts from today and from now on, it would be asked from every street, corner, gathering, festival, and by putting up panaflex and posters that what happened to the promise of making Seraiki province.

“We would ask this while dancing, singing, and holding hands.”

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2021