South Punjab Province

South Punjab (Urdu: جنوبی پنجاب[3][4]) or Saraikistan (Urdu, Saraiki: سرائیکستان[5]) is a proposed[6] new province of Pakistan, comprising the areas which has a majority of Saraikis in the southern part of Punjab province. Made up of Bahawalpur Division, Multan Division, Dera Ghazi Khan Division and Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Province, and 5 other districts of Punjab with total of 22 districts that are Saraiki majority areas. Few districts can also be taken from Balochistan province. The proposed South Punjab or Saraikistan forms about 52 percent of the total area and almost 40 percent of the population of Punjab province.[7] South Punjab or Saraikistan has a population of around 40 million as of 2017 and is estimated to be around 50 million in 2023.[8]

Saraikistan
or
South Punjab
سرائیکستان
جنوبی پنجاب
Proposed Province
Map of proposed Saraikistan (Red) and Punjab (White). The map is made up of Bahawalpur Division, Multan Division and Dera Ghazi Khan Division.
Map of proposed Saraikistan (Red) and Punjab (White). The map is made up of Bahawalpur Division, Multan Division and Dera Ghazi Khan Division.
Country Pakistan
CapitalMultan
Largest cityMultan
Government
 • TypeSelf-governing administrative secretariat subject to the Federal government
 • BodyAdministrative Secretariat of South Punjab[1]
 • Chief SecretarySaqib Zafar[2]
Area
 • Total102,301 km2 (39,499 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total40,043,590
Time zoneUTC+05:00 (PST)
Main Language(s)
  • Urdu (national, official)
  • Saraiki (proposed provincial)
Notable sports teams
List:
Divisions03
Districts14
TehsilsN/A

History

In 2012, Punjab Provincial Assembly and the National Assembly passed resolutions for the creation of new province in Punjab. These resolutions were supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN) and was passed.[9]

In 2013 election the PPP tried to mobilize the Seraiki voters over the Saraikistan province creation. But they got only one National Assembly seat from the Saraikistan region.[9]

In 2018 the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) promised to create a new province in South Punjab within the first 100 days of taking office, if they win.[10] PTI won the election and won 30 out of 50 seats of the National Assembly seats in South Punjab.[11] On August 15, 2018, the PTI MPA of Punjab Assembly, Mohsin Leghari tabled a resolution for the creation of a new province in South Punjab.[9]

In 2022 the Senate accepted a bill seeking creation of South Punjab province on 18 January, and was supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[12]

Establishment of Civil Secretariat

In 2020, a separate civil secretariat was established for southern areas of Punjab (Saraikistan). The secretariat is made up for Dera Ghazi Khan Division, Multan Division and Bahawalpur Division. It became officially operational on 15 October 2020.[13] Initially the departments of Services and General administration (S & GAD), Home department, Health, Education, Agriculture, Planning and Development, Live stock and dairy development, Local government and community development, Housing, urban development and Public health engineering, Irrigation, Forest, Communication and works, Revenue[14] and Police are included in the separate Administrative Secretariat of Saraikistan region with following officers:

  1. (i) Zahid Akhtar Zaman, June 30, 2020, to March 3, 2021[15] (ii) Saif Anjum, March 10, 2021, to April 11, 2021 (iii) Captain Retd Saqib Zafar, April 12, 2021, to till now,[16] Additional Chief Secretary, South Punjab
  2. (i)Captain (Retd) Zafar Iqbal,[17] September 2020 to March 2022 (ii) Dr Ehsan Sadiq [18] March 15, 2022 to December 27, 2022 (iii) Sahibzada Muhammad Shehzad Sultan, December 27, 2022 to January 29, 2023 (iv) Maqsood-ul-Hassan, January 29, 2023 to till now, Additional Inspector General of Police, South Punjab

Geography
Different proposal province to the extent of the South Punjab

The Saraikistan Qaumi Council demanded the creation of Saraikistan province by merging 24 districts in South Punjab and 2 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts, there 70 percent of the people speaks Seraiki).. Other Saraiki districts include Sahiwal, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh. Roughly 22 districts could be included in South Punjab province. Few districts can also be taken from Balochistan province bordering Punjab.[19]

The Main Political parties PTI, PPP and PML(N) have difference on the geography of Saraikistan. The PPP supports the formation of the South province by merging 14 districts of Punjab and 2 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PTI supports the formation of the South Punjab province by merging 11 districts of South Punjab only. The PML(N) does not much support the division of Punjab in to two separate provinces.[10]

Administration Division

The province would have four or more administrative divisions and 22 districts:

Name of Division Name of District Headquarter
Multan
  1. Multan
  2. Khanewal
  3. Lodhran
  4. Vehari
 Multan
Bahawalpur
  1. Bahawalpur
  2. Bahawalnagar
  3. Rahim Yar Khan
 Bahawalpur
Dera Ghazi Khan
  1. Dera Ghazi Khan
  2. Muzaffargarh
  3. Layyah
  4. Rajanpur
  5. Jampur
  6. Kot Addu
  7. Taunsa Sharif
 Dera Ghazi Khan

Demographics

Language
The proportion of people with Saraiki as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census.

The major native language spoken in the South Punjab is Saraiki and spoken in most parts of South Punjab,[20] Punjabi is also popular in the eastern part of Bahawalpur Division. Urdu is widely used as a lingua franca in official.[21]

Religion

Saraiki, Punjabi and Baloch people in South Punjab believe Islam, most are Sunnis.[22]

See also

References
  1. "SECRETARIAT BEING ESTABLISHED IN SOUTH PUNJAB". Government of the Punjab.
  2. "SAQIB ZAFAR APPOINTED AS ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY SOUTH PUNJAB". ARY News.
  3. "پاکستان تحریک انصاف جنوبی پنجاب کی محرومیوں کا ازالہ کرنے کیلئے پرعزم ہے،پنجاب کابینہ نے جنوبی پنجاب سیکرٹریٹ کی خودمختاری کیلئے تاریخ ساز فیصلہ کیا ہے". Office of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
  4. "Hopefully, govt will end injustice towards South Punjab: PM Imran". Aaj news. February 2022.
  5. "South Punjab province or Saraikistan; what do Saraikis demand?". News Desk. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. "Body formed for creation of South Punjab province". The Express Tribune. 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  7. "South Punjab: larger in size, less in population". Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  8. "Pakistan Population (2023) - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  9. "What lies behind demands for a separate province in south Punjab". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. "A province for Seraikis". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. "A province in the making". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. "BILAWAL, SHEHBAZ'S SUPPORT SOUGHT FOR CREATION OF SOUTH PUNJAB PROVINCE". ARYNEWS.tv. 20 January 2022.
  13. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (September 5, 2020). "South Punjab secretariat becomes operational on Oct 15". DAWN.COM.
  14. Malik, Mansoor (September 1, 2020). "15 full-fledged depts created for south Punjab secretariat". DAWN.COM.
  15. "AIG, ACS appointed for South Punjab Secretariat on merit: CM Buzdar". www.radio.gov.pk.
  16. "Additional Chief Secretary | Jassaraftab.com - A Veterinary Information Hub". April 13, 2021.
  17. Capt. Zafar Iqbal appointed Additional IGP, South Punjab
  18. https://www.facebook.com/100007096123093/posts/3141527316093775/
  19. Wasim, Amir (2022-10-25). "Demand for south Punjab province echoes in National Assembly". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  20. "Saraiki, a Language of Pakistan". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  21. Robina Kausar; Muhammad Sarwar; Muhammad Shabbir (eds.). "The History of the Urdu Language Together with Its Origin and Geographic Distribution" (PDF). International Journal of Innovation and Research in Educational Sciences. 2 (1).
  22. "Information on Sunni-Shia conflict". Pakistan - Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre.

Bibliography


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