New provinces a dream till proper legislation, says policy brief.

LAHORE -- Before the creation of new province(s) in the south of Punjab, a number of issues - such as the number of provinces, their names, demarcation of boundaries, financial viability and water sharing etc - need to be resolved, states a policy brief, titled 'South Punjab: why still a dream?'

Launched here on Friday by the Centre for Governance and Policy at the IT University, the brief covers history, current status and future issues concerning creation of one or more provinces in the south of Punjab.

It points out that unless proper legislation is introduced and passed by the National Assembly, Senate and Punjab Assembly, new province(s) will always remain a dream.

Exploring roots of the movement for new provinces, the brief says the inception of Seraiki language movement in Pakistan, beginning with the standardisation of the language in the 1960s and 1970s, gave the first hint of the demand.

'Initially, Seraiki was simply a dialect of Landha (western) Punjabi, but following the work of several activists, it was separated from Punjabi, and by 1981 was recognised as a separate language. Many Seraiki journals, and especially the Jashn-i-Farid, played a major part in making Seraiki a recognisable and different language.'

The Seraiki province movement, in fact, originated as a demand for the restoration of the Bahawalpur State in 1970 after the dissolution of the One...