Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Frontier should be named Pakhtunkhawah.
FATA must be made into a province. Call it New Frontier Province, or Khattak province or something.
We need out of the box thinking and let go of the garbage collected in the name of history.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Province?
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
The region is always known as Pakhtunkhwa. I think NWFP is a stupid name. FATA should be included, as well as the Pashtun areas of Baluchistan and Punjab. Attock and Mianwali districts are Pashtun, and should not be in Punjab. Similarly, Dera Ghazi Khan and Ranjanpur are Baluch, and should be given back to Baluchistan.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
'Pakhtunkhwa' sounds better than NWFP to me.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Anything is better than NWFP. That name is a colonial relic. Pakistan has already disposed of so many colonial relics in renaming cities named after British officers and officials. It's time that the NWFP is renamed as that name is a relic of how our colonial overlords viewed the province.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
NWFP doesn't belong to Pashtuns. It belongs to the people of Pakistan, I think they should leave the name as it is.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
its almost 2 years later
why has the name not changed yet
the people there want the name changed
govt says okay
so whats the holdup?
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
they dangle the bait before anp every so often to keep them happy.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Legally the renaming needs to be approved by parliament and a 2/3rd majority. Most other nations tend to have simple mechanisms for renaming but in pakistan it needs the whole constitution altered..
the main stumbling block in the consitutional committee is from the PML..the committee consists of a single representative from all partys and all the other representatives support the renaming (JUI, MQM, Balochis etc) but because it seeks consensus they are hoping to get it changed unanimously
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
NWFP was not called Pakhtoonkhawa before. The British did not call it such. The Sikhs who ruled this area did not call it such. If Ahmed Abdali called it that when he raided India many times does not change it name.
Prior to Abdali's raids the Mughals ruled this area for 100s of years and it was not called that. Also Turkish Ghanzavi or Ghauri never called it that. Nor did the Mongols and Timur who came afterwards.
There are Kiyanis, Awans, Gujjars, Syeds, Kohistanis, Hazarawals, Peshawaris, Kohatis living there who don't accept such an ethcno centric name. And before you mention Punjab or Sindh both are not not Ethnic but geographic names as well.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Basically the PML is being a **. Someone hang the mother*ers.
I dont actually agree with Punjab's interfering in the name process although the PML as a political party have every right to object as they represent a SIZEABLE MINORITY there.
At times I think it should only be up to the perople of NWFP to decide and no others should have a say BUT at the same time the sizeable minority in NWFP objects to renaming on ethnic grounds and considers it against their interests.
I personally dont agree with renaming it to pakhtunkhwa or pakhtunistan. I think something like Abasin is more suitable.
If ethnicity and identity are important to supporters of Pakhtunkhwa then why is nt the ethnicity and identity of those minorities being taken into consideration.
The one problem I have with the ANP is that they complain that the Pakhtun culture and rights are ignored in Pakistan but at the same time they do the same to minorities within their domain. The whole reaming issue has een turned into a conspiracy from all sides.
I get very annoyed when people from other provinces than nwfp say that the name should remain nwfp because there are other minorities living there in addition to the MAJORITY. Why does this same principal not apply to all the other provinces? Why is for example baluchistan called baluchistan when we all know that there is a significant pashtun population there(in chamman, sibbi, quetta, makran etc etc)?
Would any sindhi like the name SEHP(south east harbour province)?? i bet no.
NWFP is such a stupid name and worse of all it is british name! we should be proud enough on our culture and language to give it a local name.
Lastly, it causes tension in pakistna because people of nwfp feel they are deprived of a fundamental right. This could endanger the fedral state of pakistan when things get worse and worse day by day.
I get very annoyed when people from other provinces than nwfp say that the name should remain nwfp because there are other minorities living there in addition to the MAJORITY. Why does this same principal not apply to all the other provinces? Why is for example baluchistan called baluchistan when we all know that there is a significant pashtun population there(in chamman, sibbi, quetta, makran etc etc)? Would any sindhi like the name SEHP(south east harbour province)?? i bet no. NWFP is such a stupid name and worse of all it is british name! we should be proud enough on our culture and language to give it a local name. Lastly, it causes tension in pakistna because people of nwfp feel they are deprived of a fundamental right. This could endanger the fedral state of pakistan when things get worse and worse day by day.
I am sorry your sensibilities get annoyed. I am not from other province I am from Peshawar. I am Qazalabash. I have personally seen racism by Pashtoons against non-Pashtoons. Anyone not a Pashton is called Punjabiyan and treated as a foreigner while we have been living here for much longer.
Punjab or Sindh is NOT an ethnic name. If Punjab was to be renamed 'Alaqa-Jaat' or 'Rajputana' because most landowners are Jats or Rajputs in Punjab the Arains,Gujjars,Syeds,Kashmiris, Awans and everyone would resist it.
Same as we would resist this being called Pakhtoonkhawa. A name like Abaseen or Khyber is fine. Both are not ethno-centric.
Balochistan name is also wrong. It shoudl be called Kalat as it was called before. If we change name of Frontier to Pakhtoonkhawa it will become another Balochistan very soon.
Safar
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
Safar bhai,
Again your are only concentrating on just one clinicality that is that there are other people than pakhtuns living in nwfp. why should this rule only apply to one province only? When you saying that punjab and sindh is NOT an ethnic name doesn't change the facts. Because it IS an ethnic name. In punjab the majority of people say they are punjabis and they are proud of their language and culture. In sindh and baluchistan it is not much different.
One can easily find your true motives in your earlier reply where you say to have encountered racism from pakhtuns! People who discriminate against you are ignorent and wrong. But your wish as an individual(or maybe thousands others) doesn't weigh against the RIGHT of millions.
Safar bhai,
Again your are only concentrating on just one clinicality that is that there are other people than pakhtuns living in nwfp. why should this rule only apply to one province only? When you saying that punjab and sindh is NOT an ethnic name doesn't change the facts. Because it IS an ethnic name. In punjab the majority of people say they are punjabis and they are proud of their language and culture. In sindh and baluchistan it is not much different. One can easily find your true motives in your earlier reply where you say to have encountered racism from pakhtuns! People who discriminate against you are ignorent and wrong. But your wish as an individual(or maybe thousands others) doesn't weigh against the RIGHT of millions.
You are wrong to say Punjabi is an ethnic name. Punjab is a geographical name meaning 'land of five rivers'. Interestingly it is a Persian name.
'Alaqa Jat' or 'Rajputana' would be an ethnic name like 'Pakhtoonkhawa'.
There are millions of US, not a few thousand. Peshawar, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohistan, Hazara. There is already too much racism by Pakhtoons against others in Frontier. Similar to racism by Pashtoons in Afghanistan which has broken up Afghanistan. One can easily see the Pakhtoon-centric policies of ANP which are blatantly racist and that is their agenda. They have always been against Pakistan even when it is the 'Dal Khor' Pakistan army which is saving them right now.
It is the right of the federation to protect us from becoming local ethnic fiefdom of AnP.
I am sorry your sensibilities get annoyed. I am not from other province I am from Peshawar. I am Qazalabash. I have personally seen racism by Pashtoons against non-Pashtoons. Anyone not a Pashton is called Punjabiyan and treated as a foreigner while we have been living here for much longer.
Punjab or Sindh is NOT an ethnic name. If Punjab was to be renamed 'Alaqa-Jaat' or 'Rajputana' because most landowners are Jats or Rajputs in Punjab the Arains,Gujjars,Syeds,Kashmiris, Awans and everyone would resist it.
Same as we would resist this being called Pakhtoonkhawa. A name like Abaseen or Khyber is fine. Both are not ethno-centric.
Balochistan name is also wrong. It shoudl be called Kalat as it was called before. If we change name of Frontier to Pakhtoonkhawa it will become another Balochistan very soon.
Safar
Pakhtoonkhawa issue has a lot of historical baggage, and your assessment is correctly based on that baggage.
ANP was one of the main propoents of this issue. and based on ANP leadership (or parents of this leadership)'s role, Pakhtoonkhawa issue was linked with anti-Pakistan or at least anti-non-Pashtun.
However times have changed.
ANP and Pashtun nationalists have turned out to be the saviors of Pakistan in the recent debacle with Talibots.
Thus we should give the Pashtun nationalists a lot more than just the name. Instead of questioning their loyalty, we should given all of them Hilale Pakistan.
Federal government should wave taxes for Peshawar and Swat area for few years.
And the rest of the country should send flowers and thank you notes to the residents of Peshawar.
That's the only way, as a nation, we can say "Thank you" the residents of Pakhtunkhawa, you are the true patriots.
p.s.
However while we are at, we must remove the status of FATA. It is not good to keep the people there under draconian yoke of tribalism and jahiliya. It is unfair to them, and unfair to Pakistan. We cannot and should not have lawless areas if we think they are our brothers and fellow Pakistanis.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
^ all true.
It shouldnt be PML's business to meddle in the first place. the provincial assembly decided it, if it is a law thats being unfair to minorities, the courts can look into it. NOT a party that mainly has a role in the provincial govt of another province.
those making the oh it should be called this or that, you dont get to decide. the people running the province get to decide. they can call it Qatar if they wanted. You would object. Qatar is already a country. Who cares what you think.
nonsense.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
i think burqa you are mixing the Pakhtunistan issue with Pakhtunkhwa...there is a lot of historical baggage with the word Pakhtunistan(the PPP prefers Pakhtunistan and even Nawaz Sharif in 1997 suggested it)..so ANP is very cautious about using the word pakhtunistan.
As I've mentioned before the term Pakhtunkhwa was not introduced by the ANP into popular debate, if anything they originally tried to avoid using it..the resolution to rename the frontier Pakhunkhwa was introduced by the PPP and has been supported by the JUI as well as Aftab Sherpao. The ANP has since appropriated the renaming as it's key electoral issue probably in the early 1990's.
Historically the ANP's predeccessor the NAP, dropped renaming the province Pakhtunistan in 1973 as it didn't want to cause more controversy at a time when the country was struggling to make a new constitution and was recovering from the 1971 war.
It is also simplistic to look at things in purely ethnic terms, the party's which support the renaming like the PPP, JUI and ANP all have representation from other ethnicities in the frontier. The ANP has many hindko speakers and kohistanis in the party some at very senior levels, the PPP in frontier is led by a hindko speaker and has significant support in DI Khan, Kohat and Chitral.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
PML-N is big obstacle in renaming.
A very minor demand of us is not fulfilling in pakistan, it will lead to further mistrust.
we pashtuns have become joke in pakistan.