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Pakhtoonkhwa’
heats up debate in Senate
By Tahir Niaz
ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Thursday witnessed heated arguments between
Senator Ilyas Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Semeen
Siddiqui of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) over calling the
NWFP province, ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’.
“I will continue to call (the NWFP) Pakhtoonkhwa ... you go to the
Supreme Court and get me hanged for high treason [if you want],”
said Bilour in reply to Siddiqui’s objection over calling the NWFP
by an alternative name. “People who [sat] at the feet of a dictator
for six years are now [lecturing us] on the constitution,” Bilour
said in a harsh tone. Senator Siddiqui was of the view that it was
unconstitutional to use Pakhtoonkhwa to refer to the NWFP, without
making necessary amendments to the constitution. It is violation of
the constitution to call a federating unit of the country with any
other name than given in the constitution, she added. She urged the
Senate chairman to take notice of the issue and also sought a ruling
in this regard.
Daily Times:
Friday, June 12, 2009 |
