Saida Fazal
It is election season, and a time for migratory birds to move to new nesting grounds. This past Monday the first flock of eight PML-N legislators from southern Punjab quit their party, predicting another 20 legislators would join them soon. Their mission, they claimed, is to carve out a new administrative unit from Punjab under the banner of South Punjab Province Front. They, of course, needed some excuse to justify the move. What could be a better pretext than raising an issue that deeply resonates with the people in that part of the country? But to that subject later.
The desertions could be the thin edge of the wedge as another 35 Nawaz Leaguers are said to be getting ready to take flight. That has given rise to a recurring question in media conversations, why now? The lurking suspicion behind the question is that some sort of political engineering is underway. The forces that in our past murky political history helped Nawaz Sharif come to power may now be at work to push him out in the cold. The suspicion may or may not have a valid basis to it. What is obvious is that all signs suggest Sharif is getting nearer to be found guilty as charged in the ongoing corruption references in a NAB accountability court, and exact a political cost in the upcoming general elections. That seems to have spurred the activity. Constituency politicians are trying to position themselves with an eye on the elections. So far as the present group of defectors is concerned, they have all been shifting loyalties with the shifting winds of political change. Previously from the king’s party, the PML-Q, almost all of them contested the last general election as independent candidates and joined the PML-N after it won majority of National Assembly seats to form the government, and now are weighing their future options. In her angry reaction to the development the Minister of State for Information, Maryam Aurangzeb, acknowledged as much saying these people are “habitual turncoats who had never been in the PML-N.” In that case, it should not be surprising if they have fled. The other prospective desertions should not be surprising either considering that many of the prominent faces in the party had happily served PML-N Supreme Leader Nawaz Sharif’s bête noire, Gen Pervez Musharraf.
As for the demand for a new province, it makes eminent sense in theory. Although there is reluctance to act, the idea is supported by all major parties, including the PML-N. The last Punjab Assembly even adopted a unanimous resolution in its favour. The demand for bifurcation of Punjab, in fact, goes back a long time. A veteran PPP leader, the late Taj Mohammad Langah, had made a career out of leading a movement for the creation of Seraiki province. His effort did not receive serious attention because he made his case on the basis of language. Those who followed him were shunned too for fear it could encourage similar demands in the Hindko-speaking northern region or Hazara in KP. Renaming of the proposed entity as South Punjab Province takes care of that apprehension.
Two key arguments advanced in support of bifurcation call for a closer look. One is that the province constitutes more than half of this country’s population. Those living in its vast southern region have to travel long distances to get to the provincial capital for all sorts of reasons. Hence a new administrative unit is needed to create ease of access for the people. A justified reason, indeed, for a new province.
The second argument is fair too as it arises from a genuine feeling of deprivation, but the solution sought would be of little practical value as long as all else is to remain the same. Southern Punjab is the least developed part of the province. There is growing discontent, and the reason repeatedly pointed out is that it arouses indignation when the people there see a sizeable chunk of their share of financial resources spent by the ruling party leadership on the construction of fancy projects in its home base of Lahore. That is indefensible. Yet for the ordinary citizens there is hardly any improvement in access to important services. That though is not to deny regional disparity, but to draw attention to the real problem, which is the ruling elites’ view of governance rather than a bias towards one or the other region. It needs to be recalled that barring the Sharif brothers rule, traditionally, chief ministers and governors of Punjab as well as many federal ministers have been coming from southern Punjab. A president also hailed from the south. They have little to show for their efforts by way of development in the region they belonged to. If and when South Punjab Province comes into being, the same elites will come to power there and concentrate authority at the new centre. That will expand the circle of beneficiaries, but is unlikely to address the ordinary people’s sense of deprivation. What is needed therefore is devolution of power in letter and spirit to local governments. Most importantly, the inter-provincial resource distribution formula ought to replicated at the third tier of government so people can address local problems with local solutions. Unless and until that is done, creation of South Punjab Province will make little difference for the majority of its population. Disparity will continue to exist as it does between different areas of central and northern Punjab.
[email protected]
