The decision of the Pakistan government to further disintegrate its provinces under the said agenda of power devolution and administrative convenience keeps erupting every now and then. The proposal to penetrate the administrative restructuring of Pakistan is long held on the tables of the authorities of Islamabad and is long debated. This debate has once again erupted and Abdul Aleem Khan, Federal Minister for Communications has exclaimed that smaller provinces will be carved out at any cost, which is indeed inevitable.
Abdul Aleem Khan further argued that erecting new and smaller provinces will help in power devolution and thereby achieve the agenda of efficient administration, swift service delivery and greater governance. These motives as asserted by the Minister seem to be a good vision for the growth and progress of Pakistan. But the question is, what is the real motive behind the demand to disintegrate the provinces. Is it for administrative convenience or to further consolidate the power and authoritarian actions? Does carving new provinces aim to further strengthen the iron fist of the authorities so that the forces critical of the Pakistan authorities and atrocities especially in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan can be easily curbed?
New Provinces: Tool to consolidate the iron fist of Islamabad & Asim Munir?
The Shehbaz Sharif administration in Islamabad and ofcourse the real ruler Asim Munir is increasingly countering the anti-establishment voices. Civilian liberty, democratic rights and freedom of speech are depleting at a drastic scale across Pakistan and the people are voicing out their frustration against the illicit authoritarian government. In addition to that Pakistan economy is utterly fractured and people are being suffocated from large-scale socio-economic hurdles. Especially in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the civilians have launched a strong rebellion against Islamabad as it is are not heeding to the grievances of the people and are demanding for separation. For example, the cases of abduction, enforced disappearances, targeted attacks on minority community, murders are spiking at a vast pace with every passing day in the provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other regions.
When the country is entangled in this critical juncture of internal instability with civilian aggression against the government peaking, Pakistani authorities have decided to carve new provinces thus raising serious apprehension regarding the true agenda behind the attempt to build new administrative units. The power devolution might aim to catalyse the iron fist of the government at the grassroots, thereby curb the voices critical of the misadventures of the draconian, non-democratic and hegemonic government.
The plan to cut Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid internal rebellion
The plan by the Pakistan government in the path of carving new provinces is to erect three new provinces out of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These are the provinces where severe political backlash is being faced by the government. The aim to cut these provinces thus might be imbibed with a strategy to suffocate the unity and the voices of the civilians of these regions who rise against the atrocities of the government.
However, there are certain internal political bottlenecks to carve new provinces. For example, the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari faction, a bigger group in the Shehbaz Sharif government, is against the division of Sindh. In the month of November, Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah asserted that his party is completely against the bifurcation of the Sindh province. Despite certain opposition, there are also several other factions in the Shehbaz Sharif government who are pro division. For example, Sindh based Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan(MQM-P) has said that it will use all legal means to carve the new provinces.
Experts warn against division
As the fierce debate regarding the division of Pakistan into new provinces goes on, many political experts of Pakistan have warned that further disintegration of the country will only create more chaos and instability. Syed Akhtar Ali Shah asserted that craving of new provinces requires careful constitutional and historical analysis. Unmindful disintegration will only fuel chaos and instability. The previous attempts to create new provinces have only spiked the grievances rather than resolving it.
Syed Akhtar Ali Shah further deliberated that the real problem of Pakistan is weak institutions, non-democratic rulers, poor law & order, red tapism, lack of democratic accountability and corruptive local governance system. Creating new provinces without solving these ground problems will just lead to additional problems and escalate people’s frustration against the government.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, another political expert from Pakistan also exclaimed that the previous attempts to carve new provinces have failed and the same will repeat even in future. Thus, major political and administrative course correction is required if there is any genuine aspiration for power devolution and administrative decentralisation in Pakistan. Elsewhere, the drama of erecting new provinces will be a meagre political stunt to solidify the iron fist of authorities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to seek their hegemonic ambitions. Such an act, will only disintegrate Pakistan in the long-run, the flames of which have begun to burn in Balochistan, Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and other regions.
