THIS is apropos of I.A. Rehman’s article ‘Ask the people first’ (May 17) in which he pointed out that under the original 1973 text, the National Assembly could pass a bill affecting a province’s boundaries only after the provincial assembly concerned had adopted it.
Now the question of the provincial assembly’s approval arises only when the bill is presented to the president for assent, i.e., after it has been adopted by the National Assembly and the Senate.
He is of the view that the Constitution needs to be amended. He says “the changes should be spelt out, as done in the Indian constitution, the final decision should lie with parliament but subject to prior consultation with the people to be affected either way.”
The writer wrote “Pakistani lawmakers also made the mistake of omitting the possibility of having autonomous areas lower in status than governors’ provinces – chief commissioner’s provinces in the Act of 1935 and union territories in the Indian constitution.”
One wonders Pakistanis are one nation but the writer is trying to divide the country into autonomous areas and loose federation.
In another article written by the same writer ‘Don’t vilify parliament’ (April 1, 2010), he shared his idea regarding the debate on a new name for the frontier province. He wrote “…this in a country where the other three provinces are named after the majority of the nationalities/nations inhabiting them, betrays not only ignorance of democratic principles but also contempt for them.
“No outsider has any business to deny the Pakhtuns their right to give their land the name of their choice. Those who do not wish to be counted with the Pakhtuns have a right to be heard but no right to veto the aspirations of the majority. This right is not being conceded to the Seraikis and Potoharis in Punjab, to the non-Sindhis (if any person living in Sindh can claim this status) in Sindh, and to the non-Baloch in Balochistan.”
The writer is forgetting that in so-called Seraiki area majority of the people are those who migrated from Indian Punjab and other places. One wonders if follow the principle we would deprive 50 per cent population from their rights.
A relevant paragraph from the original document titled Pakistan’s Fundamentals of Freedom approved and issued by Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly in March 1949 and presently part of construction of Islamic Republic of Pakistan as preamble have been reproduced for comparison.
“Wherein the territories now included in or in accession with Pakistan and such other territories as may hereafter be included in or accede to Pakistan should form a federation, wherein the units shall be autonomous with such boundaries and limitations on their powers and authority as may be prescribed…”
One needs to understand that India is still a subcontinent of nationalities but Pakistanis are one nation.
Afshain AfzalRawalpindi Cantt