ISLAMABAD: The demand for creation of the south Punjab province once again echoed in the National Assembly on Monday as Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf allowed lawmakers to deliver speeches on points of order on the last day of the autumn session of the lower house of parliament without taking up the 10-point agenda.

The demand for the creation of the new province was first made by newly-elected MNA from Multan, Syed Ali Musa Gilani, in his first speech after taking the oath and was later forcefully endorsed by a couple of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) dissidents and a JUI-F lawmaker from South Waziristan Jamaluddin, who also called for the creation of a new province in Khyber Pak­h­tunkhwa comprising tribal areas which were a part of the erstwhile Fede­rally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

Every lawmaker began his speech with condemnation of the brutal killing of senior TV anchor Arshad Sharif in Kenya and called for a proper investigation into the incident.

The house also passed a resolution condemning the killing of the senior journalist after the reporters covering the proceedings of the assembly staged a token walkout.

At the outset, the speaker administered the oath to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNAs Ali Musa Gilani and Abdul Hakeem, who won the Oct 16 by-elections in Multan and Karachi, respectively.

In their speeches, both the MNAs thanked their constituents for supporting them despite a severe propaganda campaign against them by the PTI.

Mr Gilani said the prevailing sense of deprivation among the people of south Punjab could only be removed through the creation of a new province.

“The people (of south Punjab) are demanding a separate and an autonomous province. They want their right on their resources,” said the newly-elected MNA from Multan in his brief speech amid slogans of “Jeay Bhutto” and in the presence of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

The MNA from Multan also hit out at the PTI for what he called causing political polarisation in the country through hate politics.

Taking the floor, PTI dissident Rana Qasim Noon criticised his own party for making “false” claims about the creation of Seraiki province. He attributed the defeat of Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s daughter at the hands of Mr Gilani to the false promises which they had been making with the people of Multan for the past four years.

Another PTI dissident Afzal Khan Dhandla regretted that every party in the past had made promises with the people of south Punjab that they would get a new province, but these parties took no practical step in this regard.

Mr Jamaluddin of the JUI-F was also of the opinion that creation of new provinces in the country was need of the hour for resolution of problems of the people.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar informed the house that as of June 30, 2022, the total debt of Pakistan was around Rs49.2 trillion, out of which domestic debt stood at Rs31.04tr and external debt at Rs18.16tr.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022