Commission on new provinces

The public debate whether the call for new provinces is politically motivated is now behind us. President Zardari has set the ball rolling by sending a reference to the Speaker of the National Assembly, asking her to form a commission that should pave the way for creation of two new provinces from the present Punjab. Comprising six members each from the National Assembly and Senate and two from the Punjab Assembly, the proposed commission will 'look into' the whole lot of financial, administrative and democratic issues to ensure their fair distribution. Can such a parliamentary commission with its proven inability to deal with such serious issues do it on its own we are not sure? The issues are too complicated and lack clarity given while there is the demand for new provinces the homework at the level of expert, independent opinion is still missing. Without requisitioning expert advice the whole exercise may prove to be counterproductive. Clinching unanimity when issues involve distribution of economic and financial resources, allocation of seats in legislatures, and a host of constitutional, legal and administrative matters, is certainly very daunting. Without the needed expertise, which can only come from persons with deep knowledge of the concerned population's history and culture, impartial mindset and hands-on administrative experience, the expected 'fair deal' is not likely to materialise. Then one-month is just not enough to deal with a crucial issue. Not only is there the need to induct outside specialists and experts into the commission, but timeline too should be changed. Creation of more provinces is not a new idea. At the time of partition, India inherited 12 provinces, but it did not take long to bifurcate and trifurcate some of its units. The passage of States Reorganisation Act 1956 helped raise that number to the present 29 provinces (states), mainly by redefining boundaries - importantly, on lingual basis. So it would be crass hypocritical to insist that our new provinces should have nothing to do with ethnicity and linguistics. If the proposed commission and follow-up constitutional work will be able to complete its task of creating two more provinces out of the present Punjab one cannot be certain. Just giving a new name to erstwhile NWFP it took us more than half a century. But it is the reality of the snowball impact - hinted by no one less than Senator Raza Rabbani - the formation of the parliamentary commission would unleash that has to be kept in mind. Much before the PPP leadership raised the flag for bifurcation of Punjab from the floor of the National Assembly - to many as a political gimmick - the calls and demands for new provinces in public domain. To name just a few - the demands for Hazara Sooba, provincial status for the Fata, Seraikistan, Thal province, division of Balochistan along ethnic line, Mohajir Sooba, Jinnahabad and a Christian province in Punjab surfacing keep from time to time. Are we as a country in a position to cope with the aftermath the institution of the proposed commission would trigger. That President Zardari had to take the next step of sending references to the Speaker was unavoidable. The question however is: how soon would this commission be set up and be in a position to submit its report? Will the creation of new provinces, in the light of the commission's report, be possible within the tenure of the present dispensation or will it be handled by the next group of elected leadership that comes into office after the forthcoming election.