After renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, there have been loud protests throughout the Hazara division, especially in its administrative headquarter Abbotabad. ANP was in such haste to rename the province that it completely failed to foresee all the other problems new name will create in the province which is already preoccupied with fighting militancy . ANP was adamant that no matter what, the new name of the province will have to be Paktunkwa.
The mainstream media got onto the ANP bandwagon without properly investigating the very apparent issues when it came to naming the province. Everybody felt that ANP was just in demanding the province to be named whatever it wanted to be. Media portrayed as though ANP owned the province—and was the only party representing the province.
When PML-N tried to create hurdles in the new name of the province, the party was heavily criticized in the mainstream media. It was this media pressure that compelled PML-N to back down on its stance. In coming days PML-N stance will appear more appealing to lots of people.
The whole issue could have been dealt with much better. ANP should have gotten into consultations with all the political parties representing different interests in the province, and matter should not have been linked to 18th amendment. ANP should have paid more attention to the views of partied directly affected by the issue.
There are not too many options available now. It is very unlikely that Hazarans will accept Pakhtunkwa as the new name of the province, and demands for new province will continue to grow. ANP is not likely to accept any name which does not include the word Paktunkwa in it. If ANP agrees to recognize some other name, it will be political suicide for the party. It has been demanding Province to be named Pakhtunkwa for decades.
ANP victory could turn sour in future. Although it has succeeded in renaming the province based on an ethnic group, it may very well lose the areas of the province which do not want to be recognized by that name alone. All of this could have been avoided with little more sensitivity and care.
As protest banner headlines in Hazara are showing—it is already too late—people are demanding nothing less than a new province. Did ANP really wanted all this, or it completely failed to see it coming?
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After renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, there have been loud protests throughout the Hazara division, especially in its administrative headquarter Abbotabad. ANP was in such haste to rename the province that it completely failed to foresee all the other problems new name will create in the province which is already preoccupied with fighting militancy . ANP was adamant that no matter what, the new name of the province will have to be Paktunkwa.
The mainstream media got onto the ANP bandwagon without properly investigating the very apparent issues when it came to naming the province. Everybody felt that ANP was just in demanding the province to be named whatever it wanted to be. Media portrayed as though ANP owned the province—and was the only party representing the province.
When PML-N tried to create hurdles in the new name of the province, the party was heavily criticized in the mainstream media. It was this media pressure that compelled PML-N to back down on its stance. In coming days PML-N stance will appear more appealing to lots of people.
The whole issue could have been dealt with much better. ANP should have gotten into consultations with all the political parties representing different interests in the province, and matter should not have been linked to 18th amendment. ANP should have paid more attention to the views of partied directly affected by the issue.
There are not too many options available now. It is very unlikely that Hazarans will accept Pakhtunkwa as the new name of the province, and demands for new province will continue to grow. ANP is not likely to accept any name which does not include the word Paktunkwa in it. If ANP agrees to recognize some other name, it will be political suicide for the party. It has been demanding Province to be named Pakhtunkwa for decades.
ANP victory could turn sour in future. Although it has succeeded in renaming the province based on an ethnic group, it may very well lose the areas of the province which do not want to be recognized by that name alone. All of this could have been avoided with little more sensitivity and care.
As protest banner headlines in Hazara are showing—it is already too late—people are demanding nothing less than a new province. Did ANP really wanted all this, or it completely failed to see it coming?
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