The Creation of New Provinces in Pakistan: Implications for an Integrated Country
1. Issue
Creation of new provinces in Pakistan is necessity as well as a popular demand. The issue, at the same time, brings political controversies and raises questions about its impacts on the national unity thus blurring the entire scheme.
2. Voices and Movements for the Creation of New Provinces in Pakistan
- Voice for Creating Saraiki Province in Punjab
- Demand of Creating Mohajir Province in Sindh
- Demand for Creating Pashtun Province in Baluchistan
- Hazara Province Demand in Khyber Pakhtunhawa
3. How Creation of New Provinces can Integrate Pakistan?
- Smaller provinces - Better Administration
- Better administration - National Cohesion
- Giving the People their Territorial Recognition
4. How Creation of New Provinces can Disintegrate Pakistan?
- Politicizing the Issue for Politically motivated objectives
- Creating new provinces on the base of ethnicities
- Resurgence of provincialism
- Divergent provincial priorities
5. The Middle Way
Creation of new provinces should be on administrative grounds not ethnic basis
7. Conclusion
Creation of new provinces remains an important subject of politics in a developing country which has limited available resources. Pakistan is no exception in this regard. The country has federal structure of government in which there is a central government and several provincial government depending upon the number of provices. Pakistan is home of four major provinces, one sub-autonomous state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and an administrative unit of Gilgit Baltistan which is not a full province yet.
Amid the said scenario, there are demands for the creation of new provinces in Pakistan. These demands are based more of ethnic outlooks rather than political and administrative grounds. The demand of new provinces in Pakistan become apparent in the form of several movements destines to attain provincial autonomy.