LAHORE, April 12 Upset at the 'unexpected' reaction by Hazara division on the renaming of the NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has decided to propose a new name for the province.
An informal consultative meeting of the PML-N leaders held in Raiwind on Sunday decided to suggest Hazara Pakhtunkhwa as the new name for the NWFP.
The suggestion has been conveyed to the People's Party-led federal government by the leader of opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
The 18th constitutional amendment that also contains the renaming clause has already been passed by the National Assembly with the two-thirds majority and now it is awaiting approval of the Senate to become effective.
Despite reservations shown by some party cadre, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had decided to go for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the Awami National Party, championing the cause of renaming the province, was expecting that the Sharifs would insist on Abaseen Pakhtunkhwa.
Mr Sharif believed that the PML-N was now becoming a 'revolutionary' party and now it would not face any resistance from public circles on any decision it took, a source said.
The party is under attack from Hindku-speaking people of Hazara as well as political parties like the PML-Q and the JUI-F as it made the renaming a two-party affair — the PML-N and the ANP — by opting to hold bilateral talks on the issue away from the proceedings of the Raza Rabbani-led parliamentary committee engaged in drafting the 18th amendment.
Now the PML-Q is taking full advantage of the situation alleging that the Sharifs sold out the cause in a bargain for lifting the ban on running for a third term for prime minister's slot, while JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is sarcastically commenting that the renaming decision has been made by 'Takht-i-Lahore' (the Lahore throne) and not by the people of the province.
Condemning the Abbottabad killings, Nawaz Sharif said he had already warned that the renaming issue was a sensitive one which should not be clubbed with repeal of the 17th amendment.
He said that leaders of political parties represented in parliament, federal and provincial governments and the parliamentary committee should sit together to solve the issue at the earliest.
