{"id":14841,"date":"2026-09-08T12:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=14841"},"modified":"2026-09-08T13:01:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T13:01:28","slug":"fazl-warns-against-imposing-new-provinces-demanding-debate-on-restructuring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=14841","title":{"rendered":"Fazl warns against &#8216;imposing&#8217; new provinces, demanding debate on restructuring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Says Pakistan failed to build national unity based on 2-Nation Theory.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Blames ethnic divisions for fuelling unrest and violence in country.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Says Pakistan built its economic foundations on foreign borrowing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has warned against imposing decisions on the creation of new provinces without debate, while accusing successive policies of weakening Pakistan politically and economically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Addressing a Khatm-e-Nabuwwat conference at the Wahdat Road Cricket Ground in Lahore, Fazl said that September 6, 1965, marked an important episode in protecting Pakistan\u2019s geographical boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the state could only be strong if its people were secure and respected, arguing that political divisions had weakened the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are not against creating units on principle,\u201d Fazl said, adding that decisions on new provinces should take into account the prevailing \u201ctime and circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are not against provinces, but the time and circumstances must also be considered,\u201d he said, calling for debate rather than unilateral decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fazl said the provinces controlled mineral resources under the 18th Amendment and political parties needed to play their role in discussions over the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDo not impose any decision unilaterally; there should be a debate on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Criticising major political parties, Fazl said the Pakistan Peoples Party talked about the issue only in the context of Sindh, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz remained silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He accused political and social divisions of preventing Pakistan from developing a unified national identity, saying the country had failed to build one nation based on the Two-Nation Theory and had witnessed violence driven by ethnic divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The JUI-F chief also criticised Pakistan\u2019s economic dependence on foreign lenders, saying the country had built its economic foundations on external borrowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cColonialism has ended, but international institutions decide for our country today,\u201d he said, referring to Pakistan\u2019s dependence on loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf they determine our economic policies, then this is another form of colonialism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cleric said Pakistan belonged to its people and that peace and public security were essential to a strong state, warning that the country was instead facing \u201cdivision upon division\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also accused forces of dividing the Muslim world and said JUI-F wanted to provide Pakistan\u2019s poor with a life of dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe politics of the elite and oppressive politics will not work,\u201d he said, adding that politics based on imposing power on the people would also fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fazl said his party would oppose all movements seeking to repeal Pakistan\u2019s blasphemy laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fazl\u2019s remarks come amid a renewed debate over whether Pakistan needs additional provinces or greater decentralisation through new administrative units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The divide debate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reignited the debate in July, saying the country\u2019s governance system had \u201ccollapsed\u201d and calling for fundamental reforms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He argued that Pakistan should move towards new administrative units, whether called provinces or something else, with greater powers devolved to lower levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naqvi said provinces could be divided on administrative grounds to improve governance and accelerate development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He later stood by his assessment that the system had been \u201ccompletely destroyed\u201d, while clarifying that he was referring to its deterioration over the past 80 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PPP opposed taking the proposal further, saying no concrete plan for administrative restructuring had been presented to the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debate later widened when Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal called for a national discussion on Pakistan\u2019s administrative structure and proposed 12 to 15 provinces.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said an administrative reforms committee should examine possible changes and stressed that any new provinces would ultimately require political consensus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iqbal has also argued that Pakistan\u2019s four provinces have become overly centralised, with authority concentrated in provincial capitals despite devolution under the 18th Amendment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He proposed around 160 empowered district governments, saying it was not administratively possible to effectively govern Sindh from Karachi, Punjab from Lahore, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Peshawar and Balochistan from Quetta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He warned that demands for new provinces could grow if meaningful devolution to districts and local governments were not achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debate has consequently centred on two competing approaches: redrawing Pakistan\u2019s provincial boundaries or transferring greater powers to districts and local governments within the existing provinces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has warned against imposing decisions on the creation of new provinces without debate, while accusing successive policies of..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168.png",800,927,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168-259x300.png",259,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168-768x890.png",768,890,true],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168.png",800,927,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168.png",800,927,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/11111-2026-09-08T175822.168.png",800,927,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a 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