Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
As long as the name change does not invite Pakhtuns from Afghanistan into Pakistan thinking “this is our land” I am okay with the name change :k:
2 decades too late aren’t we?
Attock is predominantly a Punjabi/Hindko speaking area. The only Pakhtuns in the district of Attock are in the Chach plains and Khushalgarh on the border of Kohat. Most of the Pakhtuns live in Chach and even there they would be lucky to number over 30% of the population. Many Pakhtuns no longer speak Pashtu there and nor would they be interestd in joining a Pakhtun province.
150 years ago that Chach area was roughly half Hindu and half muslim most of which were Pathans (does nt state if they spoke Pashtu). Khushalgarh hd smaller population and who knows if Pashtu is spoken there anymore.
The most numerically superior tribe in Attock is the Awans/Maliks who not only are the majority around FathJng, Attock city, Pindi Gheb, Hassan Abdal but there are good numbers in the Chach too.
If the boundary was changed which I think would be a better idea so as not to cause resentment :-
chitral would be free to join in with the Gilgit Agency which it has ties with now and historically.
Hazara could join the Gilgit Agency, Punjab or even Potohar province if Punjab is divided. Hazara should be allowed to vote to opt out and if it did so it would take half of the Terbela Dam with it which is fair enough.
The eastern section of D I Khan speaks Seraiki and that could join the Punjab or a future Seraiki province.
Zhob, Qila Saifullah, Ziarat, Loralai excluding the eastern part, Pishin, Quetta - exlcuding southern section, are the prodminantly Pashtun areas of Balochistan and they could join the new Pakhtun province.
The problem with Pakhtun nationalists is that they believe they have the right to take everything they want to without giving anything up. Yes a name change is desireable but surely the Pakhtuns are not that secure about their ethnic identity that they have to impose it on other people? What will they get out of a name change? Will the common man in NWFP suddenly become a millionaire? Why are nt the ANP bothered aabout real issues? Sadly because to be in politics you need to have money and you dont feel what the poor feel. The name change is a need/necessity for middle class and upper class politicians and people but for the poor it is a luxury - something they can do without.
The ANP were not voted in on the name change alone - in fact more than half of the population did not even vote for them. If they lost the next election does that mean people want the name to change?
Th ANP really has nothing in common with the local Pakhtun population as they are secular liberals and in some cases very extremly secular and very extremely liberal. If they had the freedom to behave as they want to within NWFP then you would see a totally different view. Their would be many things introduced which would be alien to Pakhtun, Pakistani, Muslim society.
The ANP and Pakhtun values would be totally different things in reality.
When you use Sindh and Punjab as examples your forgetting that thse a NOT just recently imposed names but names with centuries of history behind them especially Sindh.
The muslims who immigrated into Pakistan from India to sacrifice their homes for a new home knew they were coming into Sindh. Sindh had been there for centuries as a name, region and cultural identity.
Pakhtunkhwa is different because someone decided on a new name promoted it through poetry and songs bringing nationalistic feelings out whilst the significant majority is REJECTING the idea.
If an idea is being rejected and still it will be carried through then it is IMPOSED. A cultural identity has been imposed upon those rejecting it as a Chitrali will now have to say he is from Pakhtunkhwa and people will assume he/she is Pakhtun. the pakhtuns ar therefore acting as people who are imposing themselves upon the others.
2 decades too late aren't we?
and the (re)naming of province is what, 6 decades late? :)
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
I think a referendum (within the NWFP) should be held to rename the province...
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
^ You should give some reasons because the ANP had a very clear agenda before elections about changing the name to Pakhtunkhwa, and seems like the majority of the people who voted for them endorsed the idea. Plus referendums are unconstitutional with a good political setup, and we all know how they can be manipulated (Zia and Musharrafs famous 95% referendums).
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
The province belong to the NWFP people and not to ANP...political parties come and go...while people stay...
The province belong to the NWFP people and not to ANP...political parties come and go...while people stay...
ANP won the majority, so they can follow through with their party platform.
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
<Okay...I didn"t know that...
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
How about Naming Punjab to NEFP, Sindh to SEFP and Boluchistan to SWFP. That will remove the ethinicity issue.
APDM devided over renaming of NWFP
By Mumtaz Alvi
5/27/2008Islamabad
All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) faces strong difference of opinion on the proposed naming of NWFP as Pakhtoonkhwa, envisaged in the PPP’s constitutional package.
One of the key components of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has fully supported the move, whereas** Jamaat-e-Islami, another major APDM member party, has expressed reservations thereon.**
Similarly, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has also rejected renaming of the province without taking its people into confidence, insisting on doing so after having a referendum in this context.
When approached for his party’s reaction, PkMAP Secretary General ex-Senator Akram Shah, welcomed the inclusion of renaming of the province in the constitutional package, and said that it was a long-standing demand of the Pakhtoons that they should be given identification by changing the province’s name.
“We welcome the move spearheaded by Awami National Party and will support it on all fora,” declared the nationalist leader while talking to ‘The News’ on telephone.The former lawmaker even said that **they would hail bringing Pakhtoon-majority areas of Balochistan and Mianwali and Attock into ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’ fold as a federating unit. **
**Continued…>**The News International: Latest News Breaking, World, Entertainment, Royal News
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
^ aap abhi tak APniDuM ko follow kartay hayn? :)
^ aap abhi tak APniDuM ko follow kartay hayn? :)
No actually it's about Imran Khan's PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami's opposition . And also that the Nationalist parties would prefer a greater area with Mianwali, Attock and Pashtu speakers of Baluchistan.
What are you talking about? I don’t think that you are remotely attuned to the ‘Pakhtun’ opinion. Whether ANP is a liberal or conservative party is not relevant here. The fact that they have a democratic mandate with an explicit renaming platform matters a lot more. Sure I can grant that many people who voted ANP may not aware of their fullplatform however the Pakhtunkhwa renaming issue was certainly important enough in their minds. This is democracy.
Returning to the ANP issue, you try make assertions that are simply ill informed.
the PPP, PPP(S), JUI-F which with the ANP form the largest parties in NWFP all support the renaming and in fact the resolution passed in its favour was tabled by the PPP.
You must be joking when think that NWFP is some type of historic name when it was a purely British creation. It has been less than 100 years since Pakhtunkhwa has been named NWFP, whereas there is thousand year history of Pakhtuns living in the land.
As for the much repeated minority issue: If Urdu speakers in Sindh, Sereiki speakers in Punjab, and Pashto speakers in Baluchistan all accept the names of the provinces of their residence, what makes Chitralis, Hinkians and other so special and different? Nothing except for the irrational fears of separatism. How much moe do Pakistani Pakhtuns have to prove their loyalty? Our ancestorsvoted for Pakistan, died for Pakistan, and to this day believe in the Pakistani State.
If you think that names don’t mean anything then I hope you encounter a ‘dirty Paki’ or 'porkistani’comment sometime.
NWFP has to go. It is an abhorrent vestige of colonialism that has denied the true indegenious, historical identity of the land.
How about Naming Punjab to NEFP, Sindh to SEFP and Boluchistan to SWFP. That will remove the ethinicity issue.
Sorry but thats a bad solution. Why should we deny the historical identities of the other provinces with ridiculous directionals when we can do the right thing and change NWFP to Pakhtunkhwa.
^ You should give some reasons because the ANP had a very clear agenda before elections about changing the name to Pakhtunkhwa, and seems like the majority of the people who voted for them endorsed the idea. Plus referendums are unconstitutional with a good political setup, and we all know how they can be manipulated (Zia and Musharrafs famous 95% referendums).
Precisely. I would be hard pressed to find a Pakhtu speaker who supports the status quo, NWFP. If a fair referendum is conducted, Pakhtunkhwa wins hands down.
All the minority,redrawing provincial boundaries, and other arguments are weak and baseless in stopping this positive change in renaming NWFP.
No actually it's about Imran Khan's PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami's opposition . And also that the Nationalist parties would prefer a greater area with Mianwali, Attock and Pashtu speakers of Baluchistan.
If you noticed Imran is asking for a "referendum" on this issue, though ANP won the majority but how many votes were actually cast in the NWFP?
Re: NWFP to be renamed Pakhtoonkhwa: Zardari
It is a Pashtun province. They should call the province whatever they want to.
Sorry but thats a bad solution. Why should we deny the historical identities of the other provinces with ridiculous directionals when we can do the right thing and change NWFP to Pakhtunkhwa.
historic identities have no value. Shun them, if you want unity.