'Seraiki' province: President asks Prime Minister to begin consultative process

President Asif Ali Zardari has called upon Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to immediately begin a consultative process with all the political parties with a view to making a separate Seraiki province in south Punjab, said a press release on Saturday.
Media was not allowed access to the meeting and strict security measures were taken in and around the Prime Minister's Multan residence where the President made his stay. The president said this during his meeting with a delegation of Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Lawyers Forum at the Prime Minister's House, Multan.
Presidential spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar, while giving details of the meetings held on Saturday, said the president maintained that the demand for the creation of Seraiki province was not politics but was meant to respect and honour the aspiration of the people of south Punjab.
"Similarly we gave rights to our Baloch brothers and the people of Gilgit-Baltistan." Now, the President added, the PPP-led coalition government had made a promise to the people of this belt to cater to their aspirations. He said that the people of this area had every right to demand and have their own province and the party leadership respected their wishes and aspirations.
He added that this was the right time to give what people had been asking for so long. "If giving rights to the people is a crime, we will continue to commit such crimes," Senator Babar quoted the president as saying. Zardari is on his first visit to Multan where the Prime Minister House is his temporary residence. Strict security measures have been taken and Multan has been declared a red alert zone for the president's arrival. All political leaders of PPP southern Punjab were called to Multan for the final decision on the Seraiki province.
According to sources, PPP has completed the constitutional framework and all paperwork for the creation of a Seraiki province. Earlier, PPP southern Punjab President Makhdum Shahabuddin said the President would be announcing the creation of a Seraiki province after the Senate elections, adding that he would be doing so in person. President also met a delegation of PPP (women wing) from Multan, Vehari, Khanewal and Lodhran and exchanged views with them.