PTI chairman Gohar warns against dividing provinces without broad public consensus

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday warned that any attempt to divide Sindh and other provinces without the consent of the people would weaken the federation, urging political forces to avoid taking decisions on the creation of new provinces in haste.

Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad, Gohar warned against bringing in controversial legislation, adding, “If you divide Sindh without the consent of its people and its representatives, you will weaken the federation.”

While contending that the issue of creating further administrative units should be deeply deliberated upon and consensus should be built, Gohar underscored that if the government indulged in carving out provinces from Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) without the consent of its residents and representatives, “they will walk from one trouble into another”.

“Such experiments should not be carried out in the country,” he said, adding that the issue of new provinces should be debated within a commission and then taken up by the new parliament that comes to power.

The PTI chairman called for a consultative process similar to the one followed during the passage of the 18th Amendment.

He warned that rushing into the division sans consensus would undermine the unity of the federation.

‘Maryam should apologise’

Barrister Gohar also criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz over her recent remarks concerning terrorism and demanded an apology.

“I condemn the statement of Punjab CM on terrorism,” he said, adding that authorities traced terrorism back to India.

Read: Marriyum defends Punjab CM’s terrorism remarks

“India and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) were found guilty of terrorism in Pakistan,” the PTI leader asserted. He lamented that Maryam’s statement was prejudiced and did not reflect facts, and if anyone besides her had said it, a first information report would have been filed to hold that person accountable.

Speaking to the media, the PTI leader also asked CM Maryam to do away with point-scoring on a serious issue like terrorism.

“Terrorism is an issue on which the national political leadership should adopt a serious approach,” he cautioned.

Speaking on negotiations between the government and PTI, Gohar said previous efforts had largely “remained at the level of mere offers”, and now meaningful progress was required. He warned against unilateral decision-making and said if issues were handled without consultation, “a flood of people will come out [against it]”.

The PTI chairman also thanked the people of Sindh for warmly receiving the K-P chief minister during his visit to Karachi.

According to Gohar, the reception demonstrated that the people were unwilling to accept the status quo.

Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, in a post on X, said his party would not engage in dialogue regarding the formation of new administrative units. 

“We will not participate in the operations of the administrative unit until Imran Khan’s opinion arrives,” he stated.