Pakistan: State of Federation & New Provinces

Pakistan: State of Federation & New Provinces

By amicus • Apr 30th, 2011 • Category: Lead Story • No Responses Although in the past one did come across various suggestions to redefine Pakistan’s politico-administrative structure by creating new provinces, lately the issue has come in the forefront of political debate with unprecedented vigour.

Division	Typ	HASC	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Azad Kashmir	a	PK.JK	PK06	2,800,000	11,639	4,494	Muzaffarabad
Balochistan	p	PK.BA	PK02	6,565,885	347,190	134,051	Quetta
Federally Administered Tribal Areas	t	PK.TA	PK01	3,176,331	27,220	10,510	Islamabad
Gilgit-Baltistan	a	PK.NA	PK07	910,000	72,520	28,000	Gilgit
Islamabad	c	PK.IS	PK08	805,235	906	350	Islamabad
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa	p	PK.NW	PK03	17,743,645	74,521	28,773	Peshawar
Punjab	p	PK.PB	PK04	73,621,290	205,344	79,284	Lahore
Sindh	p	PK.SD	PK05	30,439,893	140,914	54,407	Karachi

Presently Pakistan is divided into four provinces, two centrally administered areas, one territory, and one capital territory.
1.     The Republic and its territories
(1)     Pakistan shall be a Federal Republic to be known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as Pakistan.
[1](2)     The territories of Pakistan shall comprise: -
(a)     the Provinces of [1A]Balochistan, [1B]Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Punjab and [1C]Sindh;
(b)     the Islamabad Capital Territory, hereinafter referred to as the Federal Capital;
(c)     Federally Administered Tribal Areas; and
(d)     such States and territories as are or may be included in Pakistan, whether by accession or otherwise.
(3)     [2] [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] may by law admit into the Federation new States or areas on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit. Republic & Territory
238.Amendment of Constitution
Subject to this Part, the Constitution may be amended by Act of [255][Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)].
[239.Constitution Amendment Bill
(4) A Bill to amend the Constitution which would have the effect of altering the limits of a Province shall not be presented to the President for assent unless it has been passed by the Provincial Assembly of that Province by the votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership. Changing Limits of Province
Creation of any new provinces, in view of the above scheme of the Constitution require a constitutional amendment, with passage of a resolution by 2/3rd majority of the affected federating unit.
After the partition of India in 1947, the king of Jammu and Kashmir (Modern Day Indian Jammu and Kashmir + Azad Kashmir + Northern Areas + Aksai Chin) decided to let Jammu-Kashmir be an independent state. This was soon followed by a tribal invasion of Kashmir backed by regular Pakistani troops. Fearing the might of Pakistani Forces, Kashmir sought military help from India and in-turn decided to accede with India.
India accepted this and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 was fought to send Pakistani forces back. However, the war was not decisively complete and a cease-fire was called in 1948.The end of the war saw India (occupying) gaining most of Kashmir, including the fertile parts of it.
Part of Kashmir to the west of the ceasefire line or the Line of Control, known as Northern Areas (72,496 km²) in the north and Azad Kashmir (13,300 km²) in the south, was liberated by Pakistan.
A small part, the Trans-Karakoram Tract, of the Northern Areas was ceded to the People's Republic of China by Pakistan in 1963.
Similarly the incumbent government re-named Northern Areas as Gilgit-Baltistan, with the status of a province, on 29th August 2009, Whether or not the elevation of the Federally Administered Northern Areas to provincial status, and renaming as Gilgit-Baltistan, has met the demands of the local population, it has certainly provided India a new battlefield on which it can fight Pakistan, with the added advantage that it also involves India taking on an anti-Chinese posture. Besides, in the event of a plebiscite on Kashmir, under UN resolution, the creation of this entity within Pakistan may pose serious problems for the people of Kashmir.
This further involves the USA, which sees India as its future regional counterweight against China, in a position where it works against Pakistani interests. According to a report in this newspaper, Indian attention is already moving in this direction, intercepted messages have shown that the so-called Balwaristan National Front, or BNF, will attempt to disrupt the Pakistan-China trade, which is an important part of the economy of the area, through demonstrations.
Expatriates from the area in the USA are to play their role by supporting a certain Imtiaz who is playing a role for the independence of the area. This is evidence that the USA is involved in the Indian machinations, and wants to foment trouble in the area, where it fears the growth of Chinese influence. Apart from its opposition to China, India is also only too happy to involve the USA in a covert operation that puts it in opposition to Pakistan in the disputed territory of Kashmir, of which Gilgit-Baltistan is a part, the former Gilgit Wizarat of the old state, which broke away from Indian control in 1947. Danger in Gilgit-Baltistan
That said, the agitation for Hazara province had hardly subsided that the Pakistan People’s Party announced its support for the creation of a Seraiki province without defining its boundaries. The movement for Seraiki / Bahawalpur province is quite old but it got fresh impetus as a result of the PPP’s support, particularly because Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hails from the Seraiki region.
Perhaps the PPP, ostensibly, aims at undermining the strength of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and weakening the hold of Punjab on the federation and it seeks to revive its dwindling popularity before the next general elections and is in no mood to leave the field open to the PML (N) in Punjab. However, in reality it runs contrary to Mr. Zardairi’s claim of “Pakistan Khappay”.
The proponents of the creation of more provinces contend that such a step would increase the efficiency of administrative machinery, redress the people’s long-term grievances, promote the development of backward areas, impart to the people a sense of participation in governance and break the monopoly of a single province in the affairs of the federation.
Notwithstanding the benefits that are likely to ensue, the creation of new provinces is not an easy task. One must look into the history of Pakistan’s federation to understand the complexities of the situation.
•    Under the Indian Independence Act 1947, which also amended the Government of India Act 1935, Pakistan emerged as a dominion on 15 August 1947 comprising Sindh, NWFP, (West) Punjab, (East) Bengal, Sylhet (Assam) and a part of Balochistan region that was under the Chief Commissioner. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas enjoyed special status.
•    On 16 August 1947, the Princely State of Bahawalpur applied for accession to Pakistan and on 17 October the same year it became a part of Pakistan.
•    On 11 October 1947, the Princely State of Khairpur announced its accession to Pakistan and was duly incorporated.
•    However, the Princely States of Kalat, Kharan, Lasbela and Makran in Balochistan region were reluctant to join Pakistan.
•    In fact, on 15 August 1947 the State of Kalat announced its independence. In September the same year both houses of its newly formed parliament rejected the proposal to accede to Pakistan.
•    On 17 March 1948, Pakistan Government declared that Kharan, Lasbela and Makran were identities separate from Kalat and annexed them.
•    Simultaneously Kalat was given an ultimatum to decide about its accession latest by 1 April 1948. With other options virtually closed, the Khan of Kalat announced on 27 March, four days before the due date, that his State was acceding to Pakistan.
•    The Princely States that acceded to Pakistan were granted special status and representation in the First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan individually or in the form of groups.
•    The First Constituent Assembly failed to frame a constitution, inter alia, largely due to conflict between Punjab and Bengal over the size of representation in the parliament. The Constituent Assembly was dissolved in October 1954.
•    On 23 September 1955, the Second Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed a resolution for creating ‘One Unit’ i.e., a single province of West Pakistan comprising Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan and the Princely States of Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Kalat, Kharan, Lasbela and Makran.
•    This was done to frame the Constitution of Pakistan on the principle of parity i.e., equality of representation between East and West Pakistan in federal legislative assembly. The province of West Pakistan came into existence on 14 October 1955 with Lahore as its capital.
•    The Constitutions of 1956 and 1962 were based on the principle of parity between the eastern and western wings of the country.
•    On 28 July 1969, the Princely States of Chitral, Dir and Swat, which hitherto enjoyed special status, were annexed to the province of West Pakistan on what was called popular demand.
•    There was resentment everywhere except in Punjab against ‘One Unit’. One of the popular demands during the agitation against Ayub Khan was to restore the former provinces. Effective 1 July 1970, Yahya Khan Administration abolished ‘One Unit’ without fully reverting to status quo ante.
•    Bahawalpur was merged into Punjab, Khairpur and the former capital city of Karachi into Sindh, the States of Swat, Dir and Chitral into NWFP (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and the States of Kalat, Kharan, Lasbela and Makran into newly formed full-fledged province of Balochistan.
•    Seen in this background, the creation of the province of Bahawalpur would amount to recognizing that Bahawalpur’s merger into Punjab was unjustified. It may tempt other such entities to demand provincial status; especially Kalat’s case would become very strong because it was forced to accede to Pakistan despite the fact that both houses of its parliament had rejected the proposal of accession to Pakistan.
•    Although the population of what was formerly the Princely State of Bahawalpur is predominantly Seraiki-speaking, the Seraiki people in sizable numbers live in provinces other than Punjab also.
Hence, it would be unjust to create a Seraiki province in the areas of Punjab only just to break Punjab’s hegemony in the federation.
If a Seraiki province is ever to be created, it should comprise the areas of southern Punjab, northern Sindh, eastern Balochistan and southeastern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where Seraiki language is spoken as mother tongue. Multan deserves to be its capital.
In case the demands for creation of Seraiki and Hazara provinces are conceded, this may over time encourage the Potoharies in Punjab to claim a separate province. Trickier would become the issue of Balochistan where there is a large population of Pakhtuns in the north and northwest and they may call for bifurcation of Balochistan. The Makranies in the south of the province may also aspire for separate status.
Potentially the most dangerous situation is in Sindh. The Urdu-speaking people of Karachi have ethos those are quite different from the natives. For present the Muttahida Qaumi Movement wants to have city governments in urban Sindh but this posture is tactical and may not last long. In the past it had not ruled out demand for Karachi province.
Any redrawing of provinces on the basis of language and ethnicity is fraught with risk of accompanying violence. There may be displacement and transfer of population on a large scale if the situation turns nasty.
The creation of new provinces may strengthen centrifugal forces. It may enhance the role of regional or separatist groups at the cost of national parties. If the process of unravelling of the federation started, it may not be controlled.
We have before us the example of Yugoslavia where ethnic diversities led to internal wars culminating in the break up of the country. It is advisable to be cautious and discreet to avert disaster.
One suggestion often made is that instead of creating provinces that conform to ethno-lingual lines, the country should have a number of smaller provinces that disintegrate nationalities.
For example, one blogger on the website of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has proposed division of Punjab into Cholistan, Ravi, Gandhara and Panjnad provinces; of Sindh into Sindh Uttar [northern] and Sindh Dakshin [southern] provinces; of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa into Khyber and Abaseen provinces and of Balochistan into Bolan and Makran provinces. He has further suggested that FATA should be renamed as Khorasan province and Gilgit-Baltistan as Karakoram province.
But the questions are: first, what would be the administrative cost of having twelve provinces and a federal capital with respective executives, legislatures and judiciaries?  Secondly, how much autonomy should these provinces enjoy? Lastly, are the Council of Common Interests and National Finance Commission capable of resolving inter-provincial and province-centre differences / disputes if the number of provinces increases?
The concurrent list having been abolished under the Eighteenth Amendment, the constituent units of the federation have already become considerably autonomous and if twelve provinces are created, the federation may not remain manageable.
Finally, the question is; ‘is the present parliament constitutionally authorized and morally justified to take the vital decision of creating new provinces?’
The Second Constituent Assembly, a body duly authorized to frame the constitution, although it is doubtful it had the right to amalgamate the Princely States into the province of West Pakistan, created the ‘One Unit’.
A military ruler who was afterwards declared usurper by the Supreme Court undid the province of West Pakistan; however, for various reasons the actions of Martial Law Administration were validated.
Subsequently, the Constituent-cum-Legislative Assembly elected in 1970 under Martial Law Administration’s Legal Framework Order when it framed the Constitution of 1973, legitimated the break up of the ‘One Unit’.
Interestingly, the same Assembly, which had completed its task of framing the Constitution, considered itself authorized to recognize Bangladesh after amending the Constitution (First Amendment).
If the then parliament could amend the Constitution to recognize secession of a territory designated as a part of Pakistan in the Constitution, the present parliament cannot be barred from creating new provinces through amendment to the Constitution.
However, morally it would not be appropriate for the existing parliament to do so because no such promise was made at the time of elections held in 2008. Either the political parties supporting the creation of new provinces should make the proposal a part of their manifesto for the next general elections or the federal government should hold a referendum on the issue to ascertain the people’s opinion.
All said one must realize that presently Pakistan is passing through an extremely critical phase of its history. It is advised that no Pandora’s box should be opened at present juncture that might endanger the country’s security and territorial integrity.
The purpose of this paper is to generate an informed. If that was to happen the author may be vindicated.
Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.Lao Tzu
Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.  Lao Tzu