The voices for dividing Punjab province recently are getting louder and louder. But do we really need to do it, what will be the consequences for this and what will be the advantages. I dont see any sane discussion going on the bigger picture. My personal view is that many people are calling it for their own personal petty agenda and they are not voicing it in the interest of Pakistan.
But if we think with anunbiasedview and above our petty self interest, and truly for the well being of Pakistan than we can come to this conclusion that,
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Pakistan has definitely developed but not uniformly, many smaller cities got over looked (not only in Punjab but in all provinces).
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Facilities were not provided equally to the people of all regions,
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Lot of potential is getting wasted.
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The politics of language, color, breed is still strongest in Pakistan and we have not been able to go above and beyond, punjabi, pakhtoon, sindhi, balochi nationalism.
Dividing Punjab on linguistic basis will add one more nationalism (“saraiki”) to the already afore mentioned list of nationalisms, which is destructive for our unity & development.
Also Pakistan has at least 32 languages. Punjabi is spoken by 44% of Pakistan (almost 90 million) and chitrali is spoken is in just one district (less 0.5 million). So this will not only further divide as a nation, but will give rise to more Big Brother, small brother politics & economic growth will be further hampered, as many of the linguistic based provinces will not be economically viable.
But i think if all the provinces are divided in the best interest of Pakistan, then many benefits can be achieved.
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More provinces means more cities will be developed and all the population load which is coming into either Karachi or Lahore can be reduced.
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More provinces means more people will be empowered to choose their destiny.
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Better distribution of resources of Pakistan.
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It may give rise to Pakistani nationalism then the punjabi, sindhi, pashto, balochi nationalism, if the division is not based on languages.
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It probably will allow the politician to seriously work for their people, once they dont have big brother “Punjab” to blame for everything.
These are the reason which compelled me and my friend (more work done by him) to come up with a new provincial division for Pakistan. This is a suggestion and all and every input which comes with the sole interest of betterment of Pakistan will be appreciated.
We divided Pakistan into 12 provinces and federal capital Islamabad. Mostly the existing districts are not divided except for in couple of places. apart from above mentioned reasons, railway links, road network, rivers and canals flow were also considered while recommending these new provinces. Although we are not experts on these fields so we put lot of common sense and and more importantly the interest of Pakistan while making these divisions.
Also the name of the new provinces are not based on cast, language or one identity in most of the cases. These names have some historic or geographic perspective. Present names of all the provinces except Sindh do not have much historic background.
Many critical issues of Pakistan like Kalabagh Dam are not resolved due to the Sindhi-punjabi politics. Once new proposed provinces are made, many of these issues will be resolved amicably as indus river would not be under “takht-e-Lahore” rule. Most of the proposed provinces are linguistically heterogeneous & geographically strongly bonded. Many smaller languages will also get chance to flourish because majority languages will not be in absolute (2/3rd) majority to over shadow minority languages as in the present provinces.
Below are the suggested new Provinces for Pakistan.
Now a bit details about these Provinces:
Cholistan Province
Capital: Bahawalpur
Linguistic Composition: Saraiki, Punjabi, urdu
Districts:
Bahawalpur, bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan
Current Estimated Population: 10 million
Logic: Geographically on the right side of the Satluj river. Linguistically heterogeneous. Currently under developed & under utilized. Much farther from the existing capital Lahore. New capital Bahawalpur will be in the middle of the province. It is already linked with N5 National Highway and main railway line and has a high court bench.
Ravi Province
Capital: Lahore
Linguistic Composition: Punjabi, urdu
Districts:
Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Nankana sb, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad (partly)
Current Estimated Population: 36.4 Million
Logic: Right side of Chanab
Gandhara Province
Capital: Joharabad (District khusaab)
Linguistic Composition: Potohari, saraiki, punjabi, pashto,
Districts: Rawalpindi (partly), jehlum, attock, chakwal, gujrat, mandi bahuddin, Sargodha, Khusaab, Jhang, Mianwali, bhakkar, laiyya, DG Khan partly
Current Estimated Population: 24 Million
Logic: under developed western punjab area, would get great benefit from developing new cities, like Joharabad. Joharabad is in the center of Province. North of Joharabad is potohari, East is Punjab and South is Saraiki dominant districts. Therefore the new provincial capital will be the meeting point of all three rich culture and hence will be the torch bearer of development and homogeneity for this province. The new capital city Jauharabad will not face water shortages as river Jehlum passes by it.
Panjnad Province
Capital: Multan
Linguistic Composition: Saraiki, Punjabi, urdu, Balochi
Districts: Multan, Lodharan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Vehari, Pakpattan, Faisalabad (partly), TT Singh, Muzaffargarh, DG Khan Partly, Rajanpur
Estimated Population: 24M
Logic: Multan is already the hub of cultural and political center for southern Punjab. Panjnad Province will become focus of agriculture and dairy products. Multan is also in the middle of the proposed Panjnad province and is well connected with near by towns and cities and rest of Pakistan. Proposed Panjnad Province will have significant punjabi province in north eastern districts, urdu in the urban areas, Balochi in western districts & Saraik in central & western districts.
Bolan Province
Capital: Quetta,
Linguistic Composition: Pashto, Balochi, Brahvi
Districts: Quetta, Ziarat, Mastung, Qila Abdullah, Pashin, Lora Lai, Barkhan, Musakhel, Qila Saifullah, Zhob, Shirani, Harnai, Sibi, Kolhu, Dera Bugti, Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Jhal magsi, Kacchi (Bolan)
Estimated Population: 6 Million
Logic: The Bolan province will approximately be same as British Balochistan of Colonial era. veteran leaders from balochistan, like ex-Prime Minister from Balochistan, Mir Zafar Ullah Khan Jamali, Mehmood Khan Achakzai has also once expressed their approval in dividing balochistan in Quetta & Kalat division of 1970s. The heterogenous Bolan Province is amalgam of Pashtun, Balochi & Brahvi culture. Quetta has representation from all three cultures.
Makran Province
Capital: Khuzdar
Linguistic Composition: Balochi, Brahvi,
Districts: Khuzdar, Kalat, Noshki, Chaghi, Kharan, Washuk, Panjgor, Turbat, Gawadar, Awaran, Lasbela
Estimated Population: 3 M
Logic: Khuzdar Province is one of the richest areas of Pakistan with minerals resources. It also has Gawadar Port, Gadani ship breaking yard. Saindak & Rekodek are also located in this province. Proposed Provincial Capital, Khuzdar, is already well connected with Quetta, Karachi, Larkana through RCD road & M8 Motorway. Within proposed Province all major cities like Lasbella, Turbet, Gawadar & Kalat are also connected with khuzdar.
Khyber Province
Capital: Peshawar
Linguistic Composition: Pashto, Saraiki
Districts: Peshawar, Noshera, Charsadda, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Laki marwat, Bannu, DI Khan, Tank
Estimated Population: 9.75 Million
Logic: Proposed Kalabagh Dam will benefit southern districts of proposed khyber Province, Tank & DI Khan at the cost of some land of Noshera District. Royalty from the Kalabagh & Munda Dam & also the natural gas resorvoir of Karak will make the province economically viable.
Abaseen Province
Capital: Mardan
Linguistic Composition: Pashto, Hindko, Kohistani, Chitrali
Districts: Mardan, Sawabi, Haripur, Abottabad, Manshera, Torghar, Batagram, Kohistan, Shangla, Sawat, Bonair, Dir bala, Dir payin, Malakand, Chitral
Estimated Population: 13 M
Logic: Comprosing of the northern areas, this province have the potential to truly exploit tourism industry. Tarbella & Bhasha Dam would provide substantial revenue stream for the development of the province and has high potential to generate hydro-electricity. Mardan is chosen as the capital, because, firstly it is in planar district and is accessible all year around from both Hazara & Malakand divisions.
Khorasan Province
Capital: Torkham
Linguistic Composition: Pashto,
Districts: Bajur, Mohmand, Torkham (Khyber Agency), Kurram, Orakzai, North waziristan, South waziristan
Estimated Population: 5 Million
Logic: Making FATA as a province will start the era of economic growth and amalgamation of the region with the rest of the country. It will also help to remove the sense of depravity in the people.
Sindh uttar Province
Capital: Sukkar
Linguistic Composition: Sindhi
Districts: Sukkar, Ghotki, Khairpur, Noshero feroz, shikarpur, Larkana, Kambar, Kashmor, Jacobabad, Dadu, Jamshoro (partly)
Estimated Population: 13.5 M
Logic: Other than Hyderabad, interior sindh is also one of the most deprived areas of the country, which even after having potential in many different fields is backward and under developed. Sukkar is already the economic & cultural center of the northern sindh and have full potential to become one of the key economic city of Pakistan. Also it is well connected with Karachi, Quetta & Northern Pakistan through road, air & railway.
Sindh Dakshin Province
Capital: Hyderabad
Linguistic Composition: Sindhi, urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, balochi, gujrati, marwari
Districts: Karachi, Jamshoro (partly), Hyderabad, Matiari, TM Khan, Tandu alayar, mirpur khas, umar kot, tharparkar, badin, thatta, nawabshah, sanghar
Estimated Population: 26 Million.
Logic: Third largest city in 1951 & the historic capital of sindh in pre-colonial era, has lost its glory by being overshadowed by Karachi. Also it is the convergence point of Sindhi & Urdu cultures, two main cultures of the proposed province. Also Karachi is over burdened by being the port & only industrial city in southern Pakistan. By shifting capital to hyderabad will allow Hyderabad to flourish & reduce population inflow in Karachi.
Karakoram Province
Capital: Gilgit
Linguistic Composition: Shina, Burushaski, Balti
Districts: gilgit, Diamir, Astor, skardu, hunza-nagar, ghanchi, girghiz,
Estimated Population:1.8 M
Logic: By making the current Gilgit-Baltistan as a Province will give them equal rights as the rest of the pakistan & start new era of economic & cultural development in the area.
Federal Capital,
Islamabad + Rawalpindi City.
Current Estimated Population: 2.5 Million
Logic: Rawalpindi city is already surrounded by Islamabad from 3 sides. So making it part of Islamabad is a natural choice.
Benefits:
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The biggest benefit from these new provinces will be the development of new cities. Currently the population inflow is only in Karachi and some cities of central Punjab. Cities like Multan, Bahawalpur, Sukkar, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sahiwal & others, while having potential to become a modern cities, remains under developed as the economic growth is polarized on Karachi & central Punjab. By developing new provinces many cities will get chance to flourish.
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The proposed provinces do not have large population difference like currently between Punjab & Balochistan.
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Smaller provinces will help people to reach provincial capital easily. Also it will ease the management of the province.
