A “unanimous” recommendation has been tabled by the Awami National Party (ANP) before the special parliamentary committee for deliberations to rename Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s name to “Pakhtunkhwa”, Geo News reported citing sources on Monday.
The ANP submitted the proposal to change KP’s name to “Pakhtunkhwa” — a longstanding demand of the Pakhtun nationalist parties — during the crucial in-camera session of the committee established to debate the contentious 26th constitutional amendment.
Lawmakers belonging to PML-N, PPP, PTI ANP, and others as the special committee comprising opposition and treasury benches’ members.
The sources said that the proposal was not rejected by any political party during the session.
Two days ago, ANP KP President Aimal Wali Khan interacted with journalists and claimed that all political parties were on the same page to change KP’s name to Pakhtunkhwa.
Elaborating on his point of view, the politician had said: “Khyber is our district and our Pass and we value it, but a district’s name is linked to the province’s name.”
“We don’t have any problem with it, however, since we were given an [Pashtun] identity so we should not be identified as KP or KPK,” he added.
Claiming a full consensus on the recommendation, Khan went on to say: “Therefore, I think Khyber should be removed and bring in only Pakhtunkhwa for which we are all agreed,” he added.
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was officially renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2010 in the 18th Amendment passed during the rule of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Centre.
Back then, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not an ideal new name for the erstwhile NWFP at that time but many Pakhtuns under the leadership of the nationalist ANP in and outside the province spontaneously celebrated the name-change, as it was a hard-won victory.
However, the finalisation of NWFP’s new name in agreement with then parliamentary constitutional committee was a result of a compromise.
