The renaming of the NWFP as Khyber Pakthunkhwa has gone down badly in the Hazara region and there appears to be genuine grassroots dissent against a name that the non-Pakhtun, Hindko-speaking population of the region does not identify with. Sensing an opportunity, the PML-Q has tried to capitalise on the emergence of the malcontents at the expense of the PML-N.
In the February 2008 elections, the PML-N trounced the PML-Q in the areas which have traditionally been Muslim League strongholds. Now with the PML-N voting in favour of 'Khyber Pakthunkhwa', the PML-Q is trying to portray itself as the real defenders of the rights of the people of the Hazara region and perhaps make a comeback in the region. The alacrity with which the PML-Q has grabbed the opportunity can be gauged by the fact that erstwhile rivals, some might say bitter enemies, in the party have come together to stand up for the 'rights' of Hazara's people.
But the main reason the PML-Q has been able exploit the unhappiness in the Hazara region is the negligence of the ANP-led provincial government. Yes, the demand for the 'Pakhtunkhwa' name is legitimate and has the support of the majority of the province. But the ANP should have taken more care to reassure the people of the Hazara region, and even the Seraiki-speaking population in southern NWFP, that the name change would not impact the rights of the 'minority' ethnicities. The ANP has appeared more obsessed with the renaming issue than the everyday concerns of the people of the province. Identity matters, clearly, but so do things like jobs, reducing inflation and improving public services. So elated has the ANP been at the fulfilment of a century-old demand, that it appears to have forgotten there are more pressing issues that the people of the province care about.
