Punjab-specific division plan not acceptable: Punjab Forum

Lahore: The Punjab Forum on Monday said the issue of new provinces is brainchild of ruling cabal which wants to divert attention of masses from failures and unprecedented corruption which has put existence of country at stake.

Those who advocate division of Punjab as answer to many problems should not keep other provinces deprived of this honour to get split and start the process of partitioning from Sindh, said Baig Raj, President Punjab Forum.

Terming Punjab the centre of gravity of Pakistan, he said that Punjab-specific division plan is a conspiracy to start process of Balkanisation of country with no end to it.

The plot has been hatched by those who have been using Sindh card since decades to get their unholy objectives met, he added.

Baig Raj said that government should have initiated a move to develop consensus on Kalabagh dam which is more important than dividing Punjab which will result in complications and overburdened public exchequer which will produce poverty.

He said that crook politicians are cheating the poor Saraiki people who don’t need new province but basic necessities. The proposed Bahawalpur Jnoobi Punjab province is not demand of the people but a right to live in this era of double digit inflation.

Baig Raj said that the PPP-led coalition, spoiled with mismanagement and plunder, has no right to play with the future of country for the sake of an election slogan.

Dividing Punjab on ethnic lines will give birth to a chain reaction regarding demands of division of other provinces which will not settle before Pakistan is wiped off the face of map, he warned.

The issue that must also be examined as it has the potential for violence and conflict if new provinces are created without taking into consideration the interests of ethnic minorities and other stakeholders.

Baig Raj said that such a move will provide impetus intolerance, extremism, radicalisation and terrorism in the society and put existence of Pakistan in jeopardy.

Renaming the NWFP for the sake of cheap popularity was a crime of sitting government which led to reactions in various parts of Pakistan that is contrary to the noble cause of solidarity of the country, he said.