BAHAWALPUR: The present Government would under no circumstances concede the demand for the creation of a new Bahawalpur or a Karachi Province, as emergence of new provinces militated against national integrity. … A categorical declaration in this behalf was made by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto while addressing a … public meeting … here this afternoon [Nov 8]. The [PM] also declared: “No adjustments to the existing boundaries of the provinces would be made, because these are the Provinces which have a history behind them”. … He said the demand for a Bahawalpur Province … could never be accepted as long as he was in power. … He said the Constitution … had given the Provinces their ultimate shape and determined their complexion. Any change in the complexion of provinces would be disastrous for the country. …

Thumping the rostrum … and raising his voi­­ce, the [PM] … said: “Let everybody be cle­ar … that the Bahawalpur Province would In­­shallah never come into being, nor will there be a Karachi Province as I consider them to be against the national interest”. … The [PM] re­­minded the people that Pakistan had been achieved for Muslims and not for having Pro­vinces here and there.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2024