THOSE opposing the proposal regarding new provinces appear to have concerns regarding the sensitivity and emotional attachment of people with the present names of their provinces. They believe that the creation of more provinces with new names is likely to damage the ethnic identity the existing provinces are named after, which, they stress, will be detrimental to the national fabric. A simpler and saner solution to this ‘identity crisis’ lies in just five English words — central, northern, eastern, western and southern. If five new provinces are proposed to be created within an existing province, such as in Punjab, the names of the new provinces can be Central Punjab, Northern Punjab, Eastern Punjab, Western Punjab and Southern Punjab. The same should be the pattern in the other existing provinces.

This can hopefully be a ‘soothing option’ for those who are rightly or wrongly concerned about the identity crisis in the present debate instead of understanding the actual motive and justification that pertain to improving the collapsing governance and service delivery levels.

Waheed Ur Rehman
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026