ISLAMABAD: The wave of violence that has emerged within the Hazara division on the renaming of the NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, echoed on the floor of the Senate on Friday.

ANP assured the house that no discrimination would occur on the basis of race or language in the province.

Senator Afrasiyab Khattak of ANP told the upper house that provincial government was trying to stop the violence in the Hazara division. He said no arrests had been made as it was the democratic right of the people to protest.

Senator Talha Mehmood said that a name should be suggested for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which should be acceptable to all as the new name has given rise to a separatist movement in the Hazara division.

Senator Saleem Saifullah staged a walk out in the senate over the renaming of NWFP, while the opposition members walked out over the issue of load shedding. Mir Hassan Bijenjo said that load shedding was affecting the farmers adversely in Balochistan.

The Sacked Employees Reinstatement Ordinance 2010 was also tabled before the Senate.

The Senate is due to meet again on Monday at 5 pm.

The two factions of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) have joined hands and are making belated efforts to muster support of other political parties to block the renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa in the Senate, The Statesmen learnt on Thursday.

The PML-Q and the PML-Q dissident group led by Hamid Nasir Chattha and Senator Salim Saifullah had a combined strength of 21 senators in the 100-member Upper House, which would debate the 18th Amendment Bill today (Friday), after the National Assembly passed it on Thursday.

According to sources, both the factions had decided to vote against the new name of the province and put up maximum resistance with support of other political parties. The PML-Q and the dissident group have contacted other parties and some independent senators to also resist the issue.

“We are contacting other parties to muster support” PML-Q dissident group leader Kashmala Tariq said without elaborating which other parties they had contacted. However she confirmed that both the factions have decided to vote against the said amendment.

According to sources, the attempts of the PML-Q would go in vain as the government and its allies have the required strength to pass the 18th Amendment Bill through the Senate as well. However the political observers see it as a move to make their presence felt in the parliament especially when they have a noticeable combined strength in the Upper House.

To pass an amendment in the 100-member House by two-thirds majority, the government would require 67 votes, which it should easily get.