New Provinces and the Call for Justice in the Court of Power
By Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْاِحْسَانِ” (النحل 90)
“Indeed, God commands justice and kindness.” (Quran 16:90)
Field Marshal,
I have had the chance to listen to you, twice, in Washington and Tampa. The memory of that unexpected encounter in Tampa still lingers: the quiet gravity in your expression, the stillness in your tone, the unmistakable sense that a nation’s expectations were resting on your shoulders. That meeting, brief yet revealing, made one truth evident: some conversations must now be directed to you alone, because Pakistan has arrived at a crossroads where no one else can make the necessary decision.
Today, as constitutional amendments are whispered through political corridors, as maps are redrawn and new arrangements debated, the question of new provinces has returned with force. It is no longer a political argument. It is a question of state survival, national cohesion, and the fair distribution of justice.
I live in a country with fifty two states, where the accent of New York differs sharply from the temperament of Texas, where the breeze in California does not resemble the plains of the Midwest. Yet the nation remains one. The United States did not grow strong by concentrating power in the center. It grew strong by distributing authority, by allowing each region to govern its own people. Justice here is not handed down from the sky, but built from the ground.
Field Marshal,
Pakistan now stands at the same decisive moment. The question is simple: will power remain locked in the center, or will it be shared with the people so that justice can be realized? And the honest answer is that this decision no longer lies within the capacity of politicians alone. When the world speaks of Pakistan today, your name is mentioned before that of the Prime Minister. That is not the result of any martial law, but of the credibility and authority earned through performance. You confronted India at a moment of crisis and gave the nation a rare sense of dignity. It is from that dignity that public trust has grown.
Twenty four crore people are not a number. They are a weight. And that weight can no longer be carried by four provinces. Punjab has grown almost to the size of half the country. Karachi carries the load of two million lives on its back. Hazara still waits for its identity. In Balochistan, children play with clay because books remain out of reach.
When decisions are made far away, mistakes multiply. When people remain unheard, deprivation turns into frustration, and frustration into resentment. The Quran addresses this truth with clarity: وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلٰی اَلّا تَعْدِلُوا، اِعْدِلُوا ہُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوٰى” (المائدہ 8)
“Do not let the hostility of any people lead you to injustice. Be just, for that is closer to righteousness.” (Quran 5:8)
Field Marshal,
Creating new provinces is not rebellion. It is an act of restoration. A national healing. A spiritual duty to repair wounds that have been covered for seventy years by promises rather than policy.
If South Punjab becomes a province, decisions will be made in Bahawalpur, not Islamabad.
If Karachi receives provincial status, the imbalance between urban and rural Sindh will finally begin to correct itself, and the suffocation created by quota politics will collapse.
If Hazara gains recognition, it will not create division; it will create fraternity.
If Balochistan is administratively reorganized, progress will not halt; it will accelerate.
These are the principles that have strengthened the United States.
These are the principles that brought China to global prominence.
These are the principles that reshaped India and Iran.
Every successful nation in the modern world has strengthened internal unity by decentralizing authority.
The Quran affirms this model simply: “وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَىٰ بَيْنَهُمْ” (الشوریٰ 38)
“Their affairs are conducted through mutual consultation.” (Quran 42:38)
And yet, Field Marshal,
There is a harsh reality that cannot be ignored. New provinces threaten the political survival of many powerful actors. That is why some politicians employ the Sindhi card, the Punjabi card, the Mohajir card, or the Pakhtun card. They mislead the public with emotional narratives so they can protect their own power. They oppose reforms not in the name of unity, but in the name of their own influence, dressed up as “national cohesion” or “practical limitations.”
Politicians will never take this decision.
Nations are not always strengthened by votes.
Sometimes they are strengthened by vision.
And today that vision rests with you.
History has presented this opportunity before.
Ayub Khan ran the system but never reorganized it.
Zia extended his authority instead of distributing it.
Musharraf recognized the need but hesitated before the moment.
Now, the moment has returned.
And this time, perhaps for the last time.
The Quran states: “إِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلٰی اَهْلِهَا” (النساء 58)
“God commands you to return trusts to those who are entitled to them.” (Quran 4:58)
Power too is a trust. And that trust demands that decisions be made close to those whose lives are shaped by them.
Pakistanis living abroad echo the same message: they want their homeland to advance, to heal, to become fair. Their eyes are on you. And history will ask only one question in the end: You had power. What did you do with it?
If you create new provinces, you will not only redraw a map.
You will reshape the inner spirit of Pakistan.
You will accomplish what Ayub, Zia, and Musharraf could not.
The Quran warns with a timeless truth: “وَتِلْكَ الْقُرٰى أَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ لَمَّا ظَلَمُوا” (الکہف 59)
“We destroyed those towns when they committed injustice.” (Quran 18:59)
Nations do not collapse from lack of resources.
They collapse from lack of fairness.
Field Marshal,
New provinces will heal the wounds of Karachi, Bahawalpur, Hazara, Southern Punjab, and Balochistan. When young people in those regions see that decisions are finally made in their own cities, deprivation will fall, and hope will rise.
And for the first time, ordinary Pakistanis will feel that power has returned to them.
And the Quran reminds us: “إِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ” (التوبہ 120)
“God never lets the efforts of the righteous go to waste.” (Quran 9:120)
If you take this step, the world will write that you transformed power into justice. You restored balance. You delivered Pakistan from administrative stagnation to structural renewal.
This is the moment.
Let power become decision.
And let justice define the boundaries of the state.
