PML-Q official triggers controversy

The Pakistan Muslim League's Moazzam Butt, a lawyer who served as the PML-Q's joint secretary has set off a controversy by proposing that the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) be renamed after the late Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan.

Observers note that freedom fighters like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or Haji Sahib of Turangzai would have a bigger claim.

A number of names have been mooted in the past for renaming the province. Pakhtunkhwa is quoted the most because it is backed by an NWFP Assembly resolution, and replaced Pakhtunistan.

Afghanistan half-heartedly backed the demand but never bothered to explain whether it would be an independent state or a fully autonomous province in Pakistan. Afghania, the name given to NWFP by Chaudhry Rahmat Ali when he coined the word Pakistan is popular. The "A" in Pakistan was supposed to refer to Afghania just like "P" for Punjab, "K" for Kashmir, "S" for Sindh and "tan" for Balochistan. Other names proposed for NWFP include Nuristan, Khyber, Bagram and Gandhara.

The debate about giving a new name to the NWFP is primarily based on the argument that the existing one does not convey the identity of its inhabitants, particularly the Pashtun majority whose language is spoken by more than 80 per cent. The NWFP merely explained the geographical location in undivided India. A new name should highlight the identity of its majority nationality.