We are told that the new name being planned for North-West Frontier Province is likely to contain a hyphen. The punctuation seems likely to be necessary because of the disagreement between the ANP and the PML-N over the choice of a name. Based on the areas where their strength lies, the ANP has put forward names – such as Pakhtunkhwa or Afghania – which reflect the Pakhtun heritage of many people in the province. The PML-N, whose vote bank lies mainly in the Hazara belt of the province, has suggested names such as Gandhara, Abaseen and Hazara. With committees from both parties failing to agree on a single name, a hyphenated one is now likely to be chosen. We are thus likely to have a province called Pakhtunkhwa-Gandhara, or something along similar lines.
The problems of ethnicity in our part of the world are many. It is fortunate that the same principles involved in renaming NWFP are not being extended elsewhere. In Balochistan, in Sindh and indeed even in Punjab we could end up with names that bear multiple hyphens. Geography lessons of the future could become a nightmare for schoolchildren! It is, however, a good sign that the two parties have apparently arrived at a consensus on a name with two parts. The working out of agreement through dialogue is in many ways far more important than the choice of name itself. In the future it now seems more likely than ever that we will have a new name for NWFP – meeting the longstanding demand of its people who will no doubt watch with pleasure as maps are re-printed and existing text-books altered.
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