THIS is apropos of Muzaffar A. Ghaffar’s letter, ‘No parochial provinces, please’ (Sept 29). The writer opposed the proposed division of the provinces on parochial lines.

We make an impassioned plea to the people of Punjab from the platform of the first Punjabi National Conference that it is time they rose to the occasion and thwarted all conspiracies against their motherland.

The proposed division of Punjab is a farce and it would, in any way, not be beneficial to Pakistan .

The problems of the people of southern Punjab should be addressed properly to counter the sinister campaign to divide the province . Southern Punjab will never prosper in the presence of imperialists’ remnants -- the feudal lords.

Feudalism is the mother of all evils in south Punjab that must be abolished if we are sincere about addressing the problems of the area. Instead of solving the problems, new provinces will bring in more dangers. The nation needs to change the system and wants reforms, not the new provinces.

The demand for more provinces is not justified. The Seraiki province will prove to be a black spot for all the four provinces as, on the one hand, it will lay foundation for greater Seraikistan and, on the other hand, it will give birth to a Mohajir province in Sindh, Pushtoon province in Balochistan and four provinces, (Hindko, Pukhtoonkhwa, Seraiki and Fata) in the NWFP.

The formation of a Seraiki province is illegal and unconstitutional. A Seraiki province would deprive Punjab of its rivers, canal system, resources, population, area, identity, historic existence, language, literature, arts, culture and civilisation. Similarly, a Mohajir province will deprive Sindh of its roots and will create another bloody Bangladesh .

A Pushtoon province in Balochistan will turn the province into another Rwanda and lay foundation for a greater Pukhtoonistan.

The dreams of Seraikistan, Pukhtoonistan and Mohajiristan can never be realised without the division of Punjab . It’s time the people of Punjab woke up to the danger.

The Punjabi National Conference, held on Aug 8 in Lahore , passed many resolutions against the proposed division of Punjab .

The PNC resolutions said that the formation of new provinces was part of imperialists’ agenda of ‘divide and rule’ to destabilise and break up Pakistan .

Moreover, in future the new provinces will become permanent exploiters, blackmailers and an unbearable burden for the federation, as the fate of all the new provinces will lead to separation.

The best solution to all the problems the federation is currently facing is to abolish the feudal system, give complete provincial autonomy to all the provinces, to end the exploitation of natural resources of Sindh and Balochistan and never to derail the democratic process.

The people of Punjab recognise the rights of Sindh and Balochistan on their resources, and the federation should stop exploiting them.

The Punjabi National Conference resolution said there were more important things in the country to do than formation of new provinces.

The federation, which failed miserably in the past to handle five provinces and is struggling to handle the remaining four, cannot not be entrusted with administering more provinces. We reject the division of Punjab at any level.

The Kalabagh Dam should not be constructed without taking Sindh into confidence as the real beneficiaries of the dam will be generals and feudals of southern Punjab . We demand that Punjabi should be adopted as the medium of instruction and official language of Punjab .

NAZEER KAHUT,
Chairman,Punjabi National Conference

Lahore .