Former Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani Saturday deplored the 'negligible allocations' in the Federal and Punjab budgets for Southern Punjab saying the rebuff of even a single mega-project reflected the 'commitment' of the ruling elite towards the plight of the ignored and underprivileged people of the Southern Punjab. He also demanded to give status of province to Bahawalpur.
Addressing 'Meet The Press' here at Ahmadpur Sharqia Press Club, Senator Durrani said the fact of ignoring the people of the southern Punjab by the rulers was not only unacceptable for the people but also was a huge question mark over the performance of the elected representatives of the area.
He said there should had been allocations for employment opportunities for the youth of the Bahawalpur division and the continued ignorance by the successive regimes reflected the fact that the resolution to the issues of the people of the area lies in a new province.
"The history reveals that it was the state of Bahawalpur which contributed resources from its exchequer for the salary payments for the government officials of the newly created Pakistan, gave arms to the armed forces, and helped the new state to develop and grow in the comity of nations.
The Senator said the provincial status to Bahawalpur would not only bring about the decentralisation of powers but also would result into the resolution of management issues. He called upon the lawyers and youth segments of the Bahawalpur division to lead the movement to reverse the decision of a dictator General Yahya Khan who had denied the provincial status to Bahawalpur.
Urging Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to fulfil the commitment made by the state to the people of Bahawalpur and announce Bahawalpur Province through an executive order. This would not only redress the plight of the people but also would be healing touch to the woes of the people of the area who had been deprived of their rights since long.
"The people of my area are being called terrorists and the madressahs of my area are blamed as 'terrorist producing factories'. If no new university, colleges, schools and other institutions are formed, the youth have no other options but to go to madressahs which are 'safe heaven for poverty'," he added.
He vowed to table a motion in the Senate to form new provinces in the country on the pattern adopted by India - which does not need a Constitutional amendment and rather the legislation was undertaken through a simple majority so as Bahawalpur was made an independent province with a simple majority.
"However, if someone has reservations, we are also ready for a referendum over the issue as no political force can even think of opposing the aspirations of 95 percent of the people of the region and this would redress a mischief to the people of the region," he added.
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