Renaming NWFP - Referendum
I and many more like me are of the view that no one has the right to change the name of our province without our consent, especially, those whose forefathers had first opposed the very creation of Pakistan and then were against our province forming a part of the newly born country. The parliamentarians are essentially legislators and should confine themselves to framing of the laws only. Even there they cannot legislate anything that alters the basic concept of the federation and the NWFP is very much a part of the federation of Pakistan. How can they expel it out of the federation and introduce the so-called Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa into it. All those presently sitting in the assemblies and the senate, with a possible exception of the ANP, never asked for such a mandate from their electorates. How can they do something that their voters did not authorise them to do? If the name is to be changed at all it is only the people who can do it. And, the most acceptable norm and practice throughout the civilised world for a matter of such national import is REFERENDUM.
So, let there be a referendum again like the one held in 1947 to decide the change in the name of the NWFP, if at all and once for all.
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
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