Regional Identities in Quest of Separate Provinces: A New Challenge for the Pakistani Federation

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.