Redrawing The Map |
| Written by Dr. Moonis Ahmar • Region • June 2010 |
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Since its inception as a new state, why has Pakistan not been able to redraw its map on the grounds of new realities and aspirations of the people? Why have those who demand new provinces dubbed as unpatriotic and how can one proceed peacefully to empower backward regions of Pakistan? From 1947-1971 the map of Pakistan was quite different as the country was divided into two regions separated by about 1,000 miles. From 1947-1955, West Pakistan comprised four provinces: Sindh, Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan while East Pakistan, with a distinct demographic identity was the fifth province. However, in order to establish parity between East and West Pakistan, the four provinces of West Pakistan were merged into one-unit in 1955. This was done despite the opposition of smaller provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP. In 1970, one-unit was abolished and the provincial status of the four provinces was restored. The legacy of 1971 war and the disintegration of Pakistan should have led to change in the policy of ruling elites on critical issues of governance, ethnicity, politics and society but no lessons were learnt and those at the helm of affairs continued with their approach of neglecting issues causing resentment in the marginalized sections of society. The debate on creating new provinces in Pakistan is not new and some of the demands for carving out new provinces are based on the following grounds:
However, it is being said that the Pashto speaking parts of Balochistan would certainly join Khyber Pakhtoonkhoa thus moving a step further towards a 'greater Pakhtoonkhoa.'
How far are these demands pragmatic and will have smooth sailing or will the outcome of such assertions result in more bloodshed and instability for Pakistan? As things stand, the most viable and pragmatic solution to deal with the administrative and ethnic mess is to redraw the map of the country on neutral grounds instead of ethnic or lingual lines. If one looks at the neighborhood, two examples are quite visible, i.e. Afghanistan where there are 34 provinces and India with 28 states (provinces) and seven union territories. The Peoples Republic of China has 22 provinces and also claims Taiwan as its 23rd province. Iran has 30 provinces as compared to 1950, when it had only 12. It is strange that Pakistan, which has such a great ethnic and cultural diversity, has only four provinces and there is no change in the provincial configuration for the last several decades. Northern areas of Pakistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Azad Kashmir, although governed from Islamabad, have no provincial status because of 'technical reasons.' Three important factors are responsible for maintaining status quo as far as the provincial map of Pakistan is concerned. First, since it is argued that Pakistan came into being on the basis of religion, ethnicity has no role in its administrative setup. But, the fact that the provinces of Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh were created on ethnic grounds and recently NWFP, which was considered a legacy of British rule, was renamed as Khyber Pakhtoonkhoa, negates the argument that a religious state cannot have ethnic identities. In retrospect, in order to curb centrifugal forces in the pre-1971 Pakistan, it was decided in the 1950s that there will be only two provinces not named on ethnic but on geographical grounds: East and West Pakistan. But such an arrangement was short lived as ethnic nationalism resulted in the creation of Bangladesh and the post-1971 Pakistan recognized ethnic identities on provincial groups. Second, the sub-ethnic identities in the four provinces of Pakistan began to demand their role in governance and power. Since long, the demand for a Siraiki province in Punjab is a reality and so is the demand for a separate province composed of the urban areas of Sindh. The demand for a new province of Hazara composed of the Hindko speaking areas would have not received a boost had the 18th Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan not renamed NWFP as Khyber Pakhtoonkhoa. The ethnic divide in Balochistan on lines of Baloch and Pashto speaking areas is quite obvious as Baloch nationalists complain that in view of the migration of people from outside; they have become a minority in their own province. Similar feelings exist among native Sindhis as they rightly believe that the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 unleashed a process of marginalization for them because of the influx of non-Sindhis from India and upcountry. Third, no serious academic or societal discourse took place in Pakistan on the possibilities of creating new provinces so as to deal with issues which are less ethnic and lingual and more administrative. Strange types of arguments were given to deal with the issue of creating new provinces ranging from liquidating centrifugal forces and reverting to the unitary structure of Pakistan. As a result of lack of serious and pragmatic approach to deal with 'ethnic' time bomb, conflict over resources, culture and sources of power deepened in different parts of Pakistan causing serious crisis and instability. The structure of the state of Pakistan, which remained monolithic and authoritarian and witnessed bureaucratic-military-clergy and feudal nexus, failed to deal with issues which threatened the very foundations of the country. There is no short cut to deal with the prevailing political and ethnic polarization in Pakistan because neither the state nor the society of this country possess the capability to effectively deal with critical issues related to the redrawing the map of Pakistan. It is high time that the state and society of Pakistan follow a coordinated approach on redrawing the map of Pakistan on neutral grounds. The 26 divisions, which were abolished in 2000 during Musharaf's regime, must be restored and upgraded as provinces. When Afghanistan can have 34 and India 28, why cannot Pakistan have 26 provinces? The United States is another example, where there are 50 states not established on ethnic but on neutral grounds. It does not mean that people in the United States, which has remained a very diversified country on ethnic, lingual, cultural and religious grounds, have compromised their identities. Furthermore, by creating 26 provinces in the first phase and in the second phase by also taking into account FATA, Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir, one can expect an end to the debate on the existence of Pakistan because all the regions of Pakistan will feel empowered. If administrative reforms to redraw the map of Pakistan are carried out with utmost professionalism and sincerity, the country will be better able to cope with its enormous economic and social problems in the years to come. Does our present leadership have the courage and capability to take and properly implement such bold decisions?  Moonis Ahmar is a Visiting DAAD Fellow at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt, Germany. He is also Professor of International Relations at the University of Karachi and Director, Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. Comments (0)
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There is a need to redraw the administrative map of Pakistan so that it can cope better with its future economic and social problems - but who will bell the cat? The debate on whether or not to create new provinces in Pakistan must be understood in the context of indifference and mistrust held by some groups who are pursuing a hard line approach in dealing with the issues of governance, ethnicity and politics. Parallel to such forces are those who want a new administrative setup based on the aspirations of people of different regions of Pakistan. Since the renaming of North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhoa, one can observe countless assertions by these forces to draw a new map of Pakistan based on their identities.
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