It has taken me few days to write on the topic because I wanted the noise and chatter to settle down a bit. While we have a war like situation in the newly named Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, it was interesting to see how all political parties came together for and against renaming of the province and ended up creating a new war zone within a war zone. The parties for it got it all settled within 2 weeks and those against it are still battling it out on the streets of Hazara Divsion.
Renaming of old NWFP has been at fore and back of ANP politics since atleast 1980s but the speed with which it got passed this time baffled even its supporters. My opinion on this issue is ‘fine!’ If the majority of people want this name for the province then why not? However, what is happening in Hazara for the past two weeks has been more a muted reaction. Just yesterday several people lost their lives.
What I have not completely understood yet and I am sure our readers will have a lot to say about it in comments below is why renaming a province has been such a polarizing issue in Hazara? May be my views are very simplistic but naam mein kia rakha hai yaar? Naming a province to one ethnicity or group doesn’t give or take anybody any extra rights. I however still think that a decision like this should’ve been taken by referendum where majority of people could have voted on the issue rather than few people deciding on it.
Another dimension of last few days’ events, and it appears quite obvious is that PML(Q) seems to be exploiting the situation in the area which has been the vote bank of PML(N) in the past.
Looks like what started with just renaming of the province may actually end up creating a separate province – Which by the way, may not be a bad idea either. At ATP we’ve discussed the idea of creating more provinces in Pakistan few times. See here and here. Yesterday PML(N)’s Javed Hashmi gave a very strong statement in favour of a separate province of Hazara region. Today PML(Q)’s Chaudhry Shujat has also called for a separate Hazara province.
Urdu newspaper Jang reported that in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s assembly two resolutions have been submitted – by two ANP members – to carve out Hazara province. So this appears to be another dimension of the conflict. The news cutting is to the right.
While the streets of Mansehra-Abbotabad simmer with burning tyres the usual blame game is also going on in full swing. So much so that it appears to be a league tournament – where everybody takes on everybody else. I’ve seen on-record news items where PTI has blamed ANP, PML(N) has blamed PML(Q). PML(Q) has blamed PML(N), local PPP guys have blamed ANP and ANP has blamed every body mentioned above for creating the chaos in Hazara.
This is time to rise above petty politics, because I think all parties want good in the end – It is just their inflated egos which they can’t seem to overcome. The name Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is fine. Congratulations to all those who wanted it. Those who want separate province called Hazara, I hope they lobby and arrange for public referendum on the issue and measure their support by ballot and not by burning public property.
I was especially saddened to see an Edhi ambulance burnt by the mob protesting for Hazara rights two days ago. Photos of this burning Edhi ambulance were published in news media all over – see our title photo above which captured this sad moment. Which cause teaches anybody to burn an ambulance? It is a shame. An excerpt from Dawn news of April 12 goes like this:
The protesters blocked roads, pelted police with stones, torched two police vehicles and an ambulance of Edhi Foundation, smashed billboards and also set a police station on fire.
On the ground – just by renaming the province, nothing changes in terms of rights of people, creating more jobs, better sanitation, more electricity, more schooling etc – Those issues still remian where they were before North West Frontier province was renamed as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
whats the problem with ANP if hazara becomes a province?
salm
wt i see this day in pakhtunkhwa,is realy shocking,i don no why the people of hazara r aginst the naming of pakhunhkwa,wt i know even majority of hazara r pashtoon ,their tribes r pashtoon,any hw wt is happng now should be changed ,if we compare balochistan there abt 50%of pasthun bt it is called balochistan,also in punjab punjabis r only about 54% and pashtun r 20%,in sindh sindhis is about 45% and 30%r pashtun ,bt in pakhtunkhawa if we remove FATA
then pashtun r 80% if we add FATA it comes 92%,and also this hazara whom too r pasthun bt speak hindko,why they r against the name,wt i feel tht it is the political party wnt to achieve political issue throgh this way ,they want to gain their power thrugh the dead bodies of hazara,hazra people should notices this,if hazara want sperate province then sure tht pasthun will ask fr sperat province in punjab,balochistan and sindh,the gvt has to know, by this way pashtun will ask fr indepence as wt bangladesh did, also if the re unite pashtun from all pakistan then everyone should know tht pashtun province will be larger then any other,by this way there would be a sperat pasthunistan in the world map as independence country soon,inshallah ,this will happen due to the wrong policy of pakistan govt.
I belong to mainly Non-Pushto speaking Pushtoon tribe of Mansehra-Hazara. I consider myself as Pushtoon. However untill and unless I get to speak accent-less Pushto I will not be accepted as equal by my cousins across the Abbasin/Sindh river.
My father generation who fought for creation of Pakistan reminded me that in historic refrendum at time of creation of Pakistan it was votes of Hazara which made NWFP part of now Pakistan. Baccha Khan and his party was in favor of annexation of NWFP with India, instead. They always knew that Hazara being inhabited by non-Pushto speaking people will not let them fulfill their dream of Pukhtoonkhwa, even through geographical barrier of river Sindh can be conducive in creation of their separate homeland. Here I want to acknowledge services of Baccha Khan in teaching militant Pushtoons non violent political methods of achieving their goals.As recognized by one of leaders of Hazara Province movement Dr Azhar Jadoon in his recent speech. People of Hazara should learn from their example and use non violent political methods for achieving their desired province.
There was a time when I stood next to late Wali Khan on stage in MRD rally in Abbottabad. I remember he asked me to remove my ANP red cap as respect to solidarity of MRD against martial law. When I mentioned this event to my late father who was noted jurist but apolitical (after he helped Quaid e Azam in creation of Pakistan) person said to me something which I still remember. He said “these ANP guys have certain values, no doubt, they have secular outlook , they opposed massacre of Bengali muslims at hands of Pak Army and have choosen a woman to be head ( even though she belonged to ANP ruling family-she was after all a woman). However the have not done any meaningful, measurable work for uplift of even Pushtoon (forget about Hazara-wals) besides raising catchey slogans. First and enduring work for betterment for generations of Pushtoons was done by Late Khan Abdul Qayum Khan who was their arch rival. Qayum built Peshawar University. After telling me this long story my father smiled and said yes! yes! Baccha Khan’s political family has done something about education of Pushtoons–tehy have built an elementry school in their own village and are still charging rent for it’s usage.
In summary, slogans and name changes will not yield much.
I think everybody is missing the point. Renaming NWFP will bring peace, prosperity, education, health, safety, happiness to the people of the province. If only the common man had the vision of our politicians we would see an end to this bickering and protests. I think we should rename Pakistan to something like Zardaristan or Bhuttoistan or Bilawalistan or something even better like “PunPukhSinBalKashistan”. Renaming provinces, roads, airports & buildings, has given so many benefits to the country we near sighted people cannot envision. It’s a liberating experience just like the 18th amendment.
I think those who are protesting in this disgusting manner should really be punished. It is the province of those who live there. If they want to change the name they should. Hold a referendum and let them decide.