Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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As one side celebrates it looks like the other is disgruntled. The reality is the 4 provinces are a huge burden to Pakistan. If you truly believe in change and betterment for Pakistan and that local people should have more say over their affairs then you would believe that this current system is not the most efficiet one.

There appears to be some backlash to the renaming. I do hope that the people of Hazara will get their own province. I do not know if the ANP/PPP or shall I say “the establishment” in NWFP will accept it. After all they will lose half the royalties over the Terbela Dam.

Rallies in Hazara against renaming today
Rallies in Hazara against renaming today

Friday, April 09, 2010
Our correspondent
ABBOTTABAD: Leaders of the action committee demanding creation of Hazara province on Thursday announced to observe ‘black day’ and stage protest rallies against the renaming of NWFP today.
Addressing a press conference, head of the action committee Sardar Haider Zaman said that creation of Hazara province had become necessary after renaming the NWFP on linguistic and ethnic basis.
Other leaders of the action committee including former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan, former federal minister AmanullahKhan Jadoon, former deputy speaker of National Assembly Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, former Mansehra district nazim Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, MPA Qalandar Lodhi, ex-ministers Shehzada Gustasap Khan and Tariq Khan Swati, ex-MPA and provincial general secretary of Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, Nisar Safdar, ex-tehsil nazim Junaid Qasim and Dr Azhar Jadoon also spoke on the occasion.
They said their movement for the establishment of Hazara province would be taken to its logical end at all costs. “If there are 28 provinces in neighbouring Afghanistan, 27 in India and 32 in Iran then why not create more provinces in Pakistan,” Gohar Ayub argued, adding that Hazara had an immense geo-political and historical importance that cannot be ignored.
The leaders of the movement said it were the people of Hazara who had voted in favour of Pakistan during the referendum. They condemned the police excesses against the peaceful protesters and said they were holding non-violent rally but, according to them, the law-enforcers at the behest of provincial government resorted to use of brute force.
They urged the government to quash the FIRs and release the detainees otherwise they would be compelled to go to the extreme. They said if the administration did not meet their demands the responsibility of any unpleasant incident would rest with the authorities.
They said that would not allow officials to display number plates and signboards of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on their vehicles and buildings at any costThey alleged that people of Hazara were deprived of their identity by renaming the province on the insistence of only one ethnic group. They said they would not accept the new name, as the people of Hazara had no representation in it.
They said that resolutions had been submitted in the provincial and national assemblies, seeking creation of a new federating unit with the name of Hazara. They said that committees would be formed at the district and tehsil levels to sustain the movement. They said ulema, lawyers, traders and leaders of other organisations would be invited to join the movement.
The Hazara leaders criticised the leaderships of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) for their bias and prejudiced role and their own MPs for the indifferent attitude during the whole episode.
Meanwhile, protest against the renaming of the province continued on Thursday. Leaders and workers of Anjuman Talaba-i-Islam (ATI) and civil society organisations held protest rallies and criticised the leadership of various political parties and government for its partial role on the renaming issue.
The rally started from Government Postgraduate College and later turned into a big public meeting at Jinnah Square. The speakers including ATI provincial chief Asad Khan, Adnan Khan, Malik Naveed, Waqas Sadiq and Tauseef Ahmed lambasted the rulers for their prejudiced role and warned that the situation will go out of control if the decision was not reversed. They feared that ethnic violence might flare up if the leaders did not heed the seriousness of the prevailing situation. Later, the protesters peacefully dispersed after staging a rally outside the Abbottabad Press Club.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Walk out staged in Senate over renaming NWFP

ISLAMABAD: The wave of violence that has emerged within the Hazara division on the renaming of the NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, echoed on the floor of the Senate on Friday.
ANP assured the house that no discrimination would occur on the basis of race or language in the province.
Senator Afrasiyab Khattak of ANP told the upper house that provincial government was trying to stop the violence in the Hazara division. He said no arrests had been made as it was the democratic right of the people to protest.
Senator Talha Mehmood said that a name should be suggested for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which should be acceptable to all as the new name has given rise to a separatist movement in the Hazara division.
Senator Saleem Saifullah staged a walk out in the senate over the renaming of NWFP, while the opposition members walked out over the issue of load shedding. Mir Hassan Bijenjo said that load shedding was affecting the farmers adversely in Balochistan.
The Sacked Employees Reinstatement Ordinance 2010 was also tabled before the Senate.
The Senate is due to meet again on Monday at 5 pm.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Whiny SOB. Someone shut him up.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

wasnt Khyber in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa proposed by someone speaking on behalf of the hazarawal?

they leveraged a national party to solve a local issue, or atleast a national party tried to use its clout to speak for the local issue of another province. the national party did it idiotically without realising that khyber is a pashtun area with no connection for the hazarawal. they complain now.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

i am in abbotabad, people r protesting against new name n r demanding hazara province.

i think we should listen to wishes of hazara people.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Oh cr@p. This is just a name.

Why we must behave like Afghanis and destroy our beautiful country using the ethno-fascism.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Marwati frankly they can shut it. They didn't care about it before. Now all of a sudden they want a province? Looks like politicking of the highest order.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

I demand my Muhajiristan. Jiye Altaf Bhai!

edit: im kiddin'! - May Allah curse Altaf and his goons!

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Dont drag both the legitimite wishes of Pashtuns and the people of Hazara down to the gutter level MQM style politics.

Burqa you supported the renaming without probably having any knowledge of the Hazara division and what the peopl wish.

As the ANP has always stood by wishes of minorities and have always protested the dominant majority I dont see why they would not be willing to discuss a new province.

CM they have always been against reaming ot Pakhtun.. but now that it has actually happened this is therethe protest starts.

What are the protests like Marwati?

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

@joke
Protest rallys are peaceful, only protest at wednesday turned little bit violent, i watched that protestors started throwing stone at a hostel building of UET, when some boys on its roof say some thing down on protestors. The angry protestors then also threw stones in the direction of our college (ayub medical college) and i had to run for safety

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When the bill was ready to be presented then at that time Nawaz ne topi apne sar li hi iss liye thi k Hazara people had objections on the name Pakhtunkhwa. Later he agreed on the present name of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
So why the objection now? Didn't Nawaz consult Hazara representatives when he agreed on present name?

Secondly, if Hazara people are protesting the name then they should ask for renaming the province to Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa, instead of demanding a separate province. Renaming is more likely to happen rather than their "outrageous" demand of dividing the province. This will open up a can of worms. Many minority groups in other provinces will then demand division of those provinces. This can destabilize the status-quo which everyone has learned to live with.

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Word.

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How can it destabilise anything? The minority groups have a right to demand new provinces and if there is support for it then the demand should be accepted. Why should the dominant nations such as the balochis, Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis have a control over smaller groups?

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Who says they have the right? Just because you are a minority does not mean you deserve another province. That is just retarded. Next the MQM would want their own province :rolleyes:

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Why should people accept the 4 provinces which were created by the British solely for their own benefit as a colonial power?

The provinces in fact play into the hands of Ethnic Nationalists. The Balochis, Sindhis, Pashtun nationalist base their demands on the province.

Minority groups in the 4 provinces get little benefit. They need a more equal platform to play on.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

See this is a problem I have always had with the whole system of ethnicity in Pakistan. A simple question what benefit would the Hazara get if they get their own province?

Do they all of a sudden get a better education? Nope.
Do they all of a sudden get a better health care system? Nope.
Do they all of a sudden become better Muslims? Nope.

What tangible benefit do they get?

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What are you talking about?

Hazara would get a huge benefit if split from Pakhtunkhwa. If you look at the Terbela Dam it splits Hazara from the Pakhtun areas. As it would be the natural boundary Hazara would automatically get 50% of the Dam money. The other side would get the other 50%

Hazara would in theory be receiving more money. Pakhtun nationalist have used the Terbela Dam royalties issue to embarass the central government but under true nationalism they would receive less benefit than they claim.

Some parts of Hazara are more developed in the sense of education, health facilities and many Hazarawal feel they are held back by the rest of NWFP.

Decisions are made in Peshawar. If the ANP dont like decisions being made in Islamabad for peopel from NWFP, Balochistan, Sindh then what gives Pesahwar control over Abbottabad.

Hazara lost a lot of money last year because of the troubles in NWFP. Hazara itself probably had no terrorism related issues. Tourists ddi not visit the Kaghan Valley, Galiyat and ddi not use the KKH to the equally peaceful North Areas.

I got the feeling Hazara people were angry because the media would keep going on about troubles in NWFP yet their division and especially the main tourist areas were totally trouble free. I get the feeling the people of Hazara no longer want to be lumpd with Pashtuns because the negative media publicity certain Pashtun areas got last year.

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A few points here, while hydel rights has been a long standing issue for NWFP, if you check the deprivation index Haripur and abboatabad the main areas of protest are actually some of the richest districts in NWFP

In HDI terms Haripur has some of the best human development indicators in the country let alone the province.
http://www.un.org.pk/nhdr/nhdr-pak-2003.pdf

In political terms, out of 15 odd CM’s of NWFP 5 were from Hazara ..so to say there has been no representation from Hazara is wrong. Pakhtun dominated party’s like the PPP, JUI and ANP have never objected to the appointment of someone from Hazara as CM.
Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finally if the renaming was taken badly by all minorities in NWFP , why hasn’t there been any protests in Peshawar city, Kohat, Chitral, DI Khan, Kohistan or even in hazara in places like Battagram?

The argument that the people of hazara are unhappy with being lumped together in the eyes of the world with pakhtuns is also an odd argument. The Northern areas were hit hard as well because mountaineers assumed what was happening in Pakistan from peshawar to lahore is happening in Gilgit..will making a new province change geography.

I for one believe if there is a proper demand which is expressed democratically to form a new province it should be considered. I don’t agree that street protests and violence should be the means to do so however..

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I am reading a lot of hatred being dumped on the Pakhtuns on this thread, when the reality is that your claims of provincial disharmony are not well supported. You speak of Hazara as a monolithic entity when we both know that this is not the case.

If there is a true movement to create a new province, then let's see them come forward in the democratic process. This name change to Pakhtunkhwa is not an ANP or PML issue, but rather righting a colonial wrong.

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Re: Wave of Violence in Hazara?

Hazara was part of NWFP since partition. You did not have objection then, why it creates pain you know where by just changing of its name now? Grow up man. This is done deal and you have to move on.
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@ pakone - if my words come across as that storng that it appears to be hatred then that is definitenly not my intention. I have absolutely no objection to any of the areas west of the Indus being named Pakhtunkhwa. That is indeed the right of Pakhtuns. No one can deny them that right. That area should not be up for debate even. However, I object that the name is imposed on Hazara a predominantly non Pashto-speaking area - had there been no objection then I would not object.

Had Hazara been surrounded by Pashtun areas such as the centre of Peshawar which is or was predominantly Hindko speaking then it would have been futile to resisit. However, Hazara can form its own province as it is a separate geographical entity.

The identity of Pakhtuns should not be comrpomised at all but it does not mean others should bcome the sacrificial lamb for them. In this context there is a very easy simple solution

*There are many colonial wrongs to be righted - including the current provincial system. Many people complain that central government have too much control over Pakistan but by giving control too Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore and Karachi it does not make life any better for those already at a disadvantage. Balochistan could be a next hot point - the provincial boundary needs to be altered here. *

Hiindko speaking peopel do belong to different tribes - Awans, Gujars, Abbasis,Sardars, Sattis and even Pashtun origin tribes such as Tareens, Tanolis, Jadoons, Swatis but even in the portion west of the Indus there are many non-Pashtun settlers and former Hindko speakers who have adopted Pashto.

@ lonerangerm - Hazara was part of NWFP since partition - NOT a part of Pakhtunkhwa.

@Zakk - sure they should do it democratically but do you think the Hazarawal will be listened to by the ANP-PPP establishment in Peshawar? Its a bit hard to find democratic solutions when the 4 main "democratic" parties in NWFP ie PML-N, PPP, PML-Q, ANP are family parties based around 1 figure/name or family or in the case of 1 formed by a dictator.

Can you imagine how the situation in Hazara would improve if they were given autonomy?

Hazra does have very powerful families but having leaders and CM's from an area does not mean actual benefit for the people. The case of Jamali comes to mind.

I can only judge my observations based on travelling there last year and just speaking to people involved in tourism. I am not syaing that in anyway its the Pakthuns fault for whatever has happened. I blame the media for inaccurate coverage but the people over there will just hear "we cant visit because the situation is bad in nwfp".

Anyway I dont object to Pakhtunkhwa although I do support the separation of Hazara from Pakhtunkhwa, which there is obviously some demand for.

*A question to all people here on this forum especially Pakhtunkhwa - how many of you support the separation of Hazara from Pakhtunkhwa? Simply answering yes or no will do. *