Sindh Parties Reject Plan for New Provinces
The new provinces plan was rejected on Tuesday by political leaders in Sindh, Dawn reported, who warned that any move to divide the province would threaten its unity, autonomy and resources.
Sindh United Party (SUP) President Syed Zain Shah and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders in Larkana spoke out on Tuesday against the plan, which envisages 12 new provinces across the country.
SUP calls it a conspiracy against Sindh
Speaking at a press conference in Sukkur, Shah rejected the creation of new provinces, particularly any move to divide Sindh. He described such initiatives and possible constitutional amendments as conspiracies against the province’s historic and geographical unity.
He said there would be no compromise on Sindh’s unity, provincial autonomy, resources or coastal belt.
Shah said any constitutional amendment or action in the name of creating new provinces or administrative units was contrary to federalism, provincial autonomy and democratic rights. The debate over new provinces, he added, was not an administrative necessity but an attempt to weaken provincial autonomy and the stability of the federation.
He was accompanied by Roshan Buriro, Advocate Fayyaz Khamisani, Eidan Jagirani, Majid Dhanwar and others.
Accusations of double standards
Shah also criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the JUI-F, accusing both of double standards on the issue. If they were speaking the truth, he said, they should take practical steps and come out on the streets, and millions of people would stand with them.
They should not ask for concessions but demand their rights, he said, and urged the PTI likewise to struggle for its rights rather than seek concessions.
Answering questions, Shah called for transparent elections, strict accountability of local government and a commission to investigate alleged corruption worth billions from the union council level upwards.
He said his party had launched a campaign on Sindh’s rights and national affairs, and the struggle to protect the province’s unity, resources and coastline would continue.
JUI-F Larkana joins the rejection
Separately, JUI-F Larkana emir Maulana Nasir Mahmood Soomro and general secretary Mohabbat Ali Khuhro expressed the party’s concern over proposals to create 12 new provinces in Pakistan.
In a press statement issued in Larkana on Tuesday, they said no one would be allowed to tamper with Sindh’s unity, historical identity, geographical position, natural resources and the basic rights of its people in the name of new provinces.
Sindh was not a laboratory for administrative experiments, they said, and the rulers should not keep raising the issue of dividing provinces to divert attention from their political and administrative failures.
The public was already grappling with inflation, unemployment, poverty, lawlessness, poor education and healthcare, a lack of clean drinking water and power shortages. Instead of drawing up maps of new provinces, the rulers should provide people with their constitutional rights and basic facilities, they said.
Cost and governance questions
The JUI-F leaders said more provinces did not guarantee good governance or prosperity, and new assemblies, offices and institutions could burden the national exchequer.
What was needed, they said, was an end to corruption, fair distribution of powers, empowered local governments and development of backward areas.
Sindh’s unity was not merely a matter of geographical boundaries but part of its historical, cultural and civilisational identity, they said, and any division imposed without taking the people of Sindh into confidence would be unacceptable.
The JUI-F was not opposed to administrative improvement, they said, but would not allow Sindh’s unity, autonomy, resources and rights to be harmed under the guise of such goals. Any constitutional change should be decided on the basis of public opinion, democratic principles and national consensus rather than political interests.
The leaders said the party would use every democratic and constitutional forum to protect the rights of the people of Sindh.
New provinces plan: where the proposal stands
The new provinces debate has gathered pace in recent weeks. A full plan to create 12 new provinces, including a nationwide referendum, has been reported, and former minister Muhammad Ali Durrani has launched a movement for a Bahawalpur province and 11 other units.
The PPP chairman has already rejected the idea outright, and one estimate has put the cost of new provinces at Rs730 billion. The MQM-P has marched in support of new provinces.
Tuesday’s statements add two voices from Sindh to the opposition, between parties that see new provinces as a route to better administration and those that see them as a threat to the federation’s balance.
Frequently asked questions
Who rejected the new provinces plan?
Sindh United Party President Syed Zain Shah rejected the plan at a press conference in Sukkur, and JUI-F leaders in Larkana also rejected it in a press statement.
How many new provinces are proposed?
The proposals under discussion envisage 12 new provinces across Pakistan.
Why do Sindh leaders oppose the plan?
They say dividing Sindh would threaten its historic unity, provincial autonomy, resources and coastline, and that new provinces would add a financial burden without guaranteeing better governance.
What did Shah say about the PPP and JUI-F?
He accused both parties of double standards and said they should take practical steps and come out on the streets instead of asking for concessions.
What do opponents say is needed instead?
They call for an end to corruption, a fair distribution of powers, empowered local governments and development of backward areas.
