Abstract
Historically, the centre-province relationship in Pakistan has remained
problematic. However, the federation has made an effort to satisfy the
numerous autonomy demands of smaller provinces through the 18th
amendment in the constitution. This development has underpinned the
mobilization of minority groups in certain provinces for the creation of new
provinces in their respective regional bases. The majority groups of related
provinces seem reluctant to endorse such demands. Equally, the provinces of
Sindh and Balochistan have discarded the creation of new provinces for
certain reasons. Sadly, the issue has been politicized for the petty
constituency politics by certain political parties.
The federation seems hesitant to fulfil the demands as it might open the
Pandora’s Box of representation and distributional issues that would be
unaffordable for the turbulent federation which is already experiencing
numerous problems. However, the demands for new provinces that have
considerable popular support should be materialized. This paper suggests that
the issue should be resolved rationally through dialogue and consensus.
The analysis reveals that many demands are difficult to be fulfilled by the
federation. However, it appears that the demand for a new province in south
Punjab is relatively reasonable. It seems that the division of Punjab would
dilute the perception of Punjabi dominance in politics of Pakistan. Therefore,
this paper contends that the division of Punjab on administrative basis will
improve the capacity of federation to manage ethnic diversity.
Keywords: Separate Provinces, Regional Identities, Federation, Pakistan
Muhammad Mushtaq. (2016) Regional Identities in Quest of Separate Provinces: A New Challenge for the Pakistani Federation, Journal of Political Studies, Volume 23, Issue 1.
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