The News - Saturday, January 23, 2010
However, sources in both the parties claimed that a possible deadlock could hinder the functioning of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR), as they appeared in no mood to move even an inch from their respective stances on the contentious matter.
The ANP has been pushing for renaming NWFP as Pakhtunkhwa, whereas the PML-N had called for a new name after evolving consensus among all the communities living in the province.
“The experts from the two sides are now looking towards their top party leadership to handle this matter and a meeting between my leader and Mian Sahib is expected within next few days,” said the ANP’s central information secretary Senator Zahid Khan, when contacted for his comment on the issue.
He noted experts from their side had proposed three names, one of which could be given to the province and these were: Pakhtunkhwa, Pakhtunistan and Afghania. On the contrary, the PML-N has not publicly suggested any new name from its side, but sources claimed it could advocate Pakhtunkhwa-Hazara for NWFP on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan, the nomenclature given to the Northern Areas last year.
“We simply don’t want to trigger any controversy on this matter. We are looking forward to the ANP to come up with a name acceptable to all in the province,” maintained the PML-N central information secretary Ahsan Iqbal.
Talking to this correspondent, he pointed out that people of Chitral, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara and a part of Peshawar
When pressed for revealing the proposed names, his party wanted for NWFP, he said it would be premature to say anything at this stage. “Let the appropriate forum tackle this matter and amicably suggest a consensus name for the province,” Ahsan Iqbal said.
He pointed out that no date had been fixed yet for Nawaz-Asfandyar meeting. The PML-N leader is returning home tomorrow (Sunday). He had formed a five-member committee, headed by Sartaj Aziz and after a few days, the ANP also constituted a committee of experts for talks on the issue.
The issue saw the ANP coming out of a PML-N-led coalition government in 1998 after it declined to give a name tag to the province. Again, it could lead to a serious row between the ANP and PML-N if they failed to agree on its new nomenclature, sources in the two parties believed.
NWFP indicates a geographical location of the federating unit, having no reflection of its culture, history and traditions. Therefore, the ANP has risen to give some kind of identity to it and this particular matter is part of its manifesto.
Contrary to it, the PML-N has never raised its voice for renaming of the province, but it has reacted strongly on any such move, calling for a consensus name for it.
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