Abbasin Division Before Hazara Province

Viability of Hazara Province. (Abbasin Division)

The total population of Hazara Division is 5.3 Million, which is behind Peshawar and Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, both having populations exceeding 7.2 Million. The Area, Population and level of natural resources are much lower than many other division of the Country, let alone provinces, therefore, creation of Soba Hazara, which is the demand of Hindko Speaking of the country, not viable. 

As per Census 2017, the total Hindko speaking people of Pakistan stands at 4.7 Million, which includes Hindko speakers not only from KP but also Kashmir, Punjab and the rest of the country, while the census data reveals that there are 3.5 Million Hindko speakers in KP. Therefore a reshuffle is suggested i.e. creation/reshuffling of  a divisions in the northern KP by reducing the size of Malakand and Hazara Divisions and creation of Abbasin Division

Area before Reshuffle		Area after Reshuffle
Hazara	17,194	Hazara	6,692
Malakand	29,872	Malakand	26,421
		Abbasin	13,953

Pakistan Districts by Predominant Language

Around 38 Pakistani districts have Pashto majority, followed by 21 Sindhi, 20 Punjabi, 19 Balochi,  13 Seraiki, 8 Urdu, 4 Potohari, 3 Brahvi and Hindko each, 2 Koistani and 1 Chitrali.

Impact of Merger and Census on Demography of Pakistan

The demographic information regarding provinces of Pakistan presented to general public is usually pretty off and in some cases do not even make any mathematical sense.  Subsequent to the merger of FATA with KP the demographic miscalculations in KP becomes more profound. For example some publications state that 18% of the population of KP is Hindko speaking, however, upon research not one recent empirical study was found where global Hindko speaking exceeds 3.7 million worldwide (rounded to 4 million) i.e. including Hindko speakers of Pakistani Kashmir, Punjab and other areas outside KP. If we impose that number on 30.5 million and 35.5 million we get 13% and 11%, respectively.  Even if we consider entire population of Hazara Division to be Hindko speaking then Hindko speakers would represent 15% of the merged province. It may, however, be noted that out of 7 districts of Hazara Division, only Abbottabad is overwhelmingly Hindko, while Ghazi Tehsil of Haripur District, and Ogai Tehsil of Mansehra District is Pashto speaking. Districts of Torghar and Battagram are also Pashto speaking, while Kohistan upper and lower have Kohistani as majority language.  

Keeping the above example in our analysis, it is ascertained that KP is the most homogenous province having 82% population being Pashto speaking, followed by Punjabi's in Punjab at 75%, 60-62% Sindhi's in Sindh and around 50% Balochi & Brahvi combined in Baluchistan. 

Finally, the interesting fact is that around 38 Pakistani districts have Pashto majority, followed by 21 Sindhi, 20 Punjabi, 19 Balochi,  13 Seraiki, 8 Urdu, 4 Potohari, 3 Brahvi and Hindko each, 2 Koistani and 1 Chitrali.

Sindhi and Muhajirs in Sindh (Census 2017)

Sindhi's and Muhajir's in Sindh (Census 2017)

Pakistan Census 2017 (Pashtun Population)

Below is the approximate Pashtun population of Pakistan. The population of FATA has been grossly understated in Census 2017 (IDPs during operation in South Waziristan exceeded 1.5 million). According to my calculation the population of FATA has to be around 8-10 million. Furthermore, the percentage in my estimation of Pashtuns in non-Pashtun areas has also been very conservative, however, i am of the opinion that the below numbers give us some idea of the population of Pashtuns in Pakistan.

I have come across many studies that puts Pashtun population solely in Karachi at around 7 million. Furthermore, in case of Punjab, there is Pashtun indigenous population in Attock and Mianwali district, in addition to the migration of Pashtuns to major cities of Punjab due to economic reasons. Finally, war on terror has pushed many pashtuns to Sindh and Punjab which has to be considered. 

Pashtuns In KPK (Census 2017)

Even though many ethnic pashtun parties have stated that the pashtun numbers have been grossly understated, attached is the break down of pashtun population in KPK, as per 2017 census.