MANSEHRA: Tehreek-i-Sobah Hazara (TSH) has strongly opposed the Awami National Party’s proposal to change the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to only ‘Pakhtunkhwa’, arguing that such a possibility could be considered only after a separate province was created for the people of Hazara division.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, TSH chairman Sardar Mohammad Yusuf said that the people of Hazara were united in their demand for a separate province. “The people of Hazara will never accept a change in the nomenclature of the KP province until their demand for a separate province is met,” he underscored.

Mr Yusuf, who served as federal minister of religious affairs and was elected as an MNA for the fourth time in the February 8 general elections on PML-N ticket, said that their demand for a separate province was solely for the rights of the people.

Leader says separate Hazara province right of people

“The KP Assembly has passed resolutions in favour of the Hazara province twice, and we have now moved the resolution to the National Assembly Secretariat as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Yar Khan, ANP district president, while talking to reporters here on Sunday said: “We are going to call a grand jirga of as many as 15 Pakhtun tribes to demand that the government shorten the name of our province to just Pakhtunkhwa.”

“The federal government has promised our central leadership that the name of KP will be changed to just Pakhtunkhwa through a constitutional committee, which will be formed following the passage of the 26th Amendment from both the upper and lower houses of parliament,” Khan said.

He declared that in the current situation, the creation of more federating units would cause chaos and political instability, and parties demanding more provinces were acting against the unity of this country.

The ANP leader claimed that his party was fighting for the identity of the people, just as the people of Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan.

SCHOOL BUILDING: The local body representatives on Sunday called on the government to complete the construction of government primary school, Sari Balwayan, in Oghi tehsil, at the earliest.

“Construction of the school building was halted about six years ago over lack of funds, forcing students to receive their education in a local mosque,” Javed Sikandar, a peasant councillor, told reporters in Oghi.

Accompanied by other councillors, he said that parents had raised the issue with local lawmakers and education department officials’ multiple times in recent years but to no avail. “The education of the schoolchildren has severely been affected as separate classes cannot be held due to the limited space in the local mosque,” Mr Sikandar said.

He said that people were frustrated with the situation and wanted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to ensure the early completion of the school building. “The KP government admires its educational reforms across the province, yet young children are being deprived of basic schooling opportunities,” Mr Sikandar said.

The peasant councillor warned that people would take to the streets in protest if the construction of the school, which was stalled for six years, didn’t resume within a week.

Published in Dawn, October 21th, 2024