Claim: PPP’s Abdul Qadir Gillani raised the slogan of Saraikistan and advocated for the creation of a separate Saraiki province during a speech in the National Assembly.
Fact: Abdul Qadir Gillani did not make a speech particularly to advocate for the creation of “Saraikistan”. He did suggest the creation of a separate Saraiki province, but only as a rhetorical statement to demand that the PML-N give southern Punjab its due rights. The creation of a separate province did not figure in his set of demands at the end of his speech either.
On 1 February 2025, a post on Facebook showed a video of Abdul Qadir Gillani, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), giving a speech before the National Assembly. The caption of the post reads as follows in Urdu:
جیو سرائیکی جیو”
ایم این اے سید عبدالقادر گیلانی کی اسمبلی دھواں دھار تقریر
“Saraikistan#سرائیکستان #
This reads as follows in English:
“Live Saraiki Live
MNA Syed Abdul Qadir Geelani’s speech in the Assembly
#Saraikistan #Saraikistan”
The video contains two embedded captions as well, which read as follows in Urdu:
“قومی اسمبلی میں سرائیکستان کی گونج”
“تخت لاہور سے ہماری کب جان چھوٹے گی؟”
According to Google Translate, this reads as follows in English:
“Saraikistan echoes in National Assembly.”
“When will our lives be freed from the throne of Lahore?”
The video appears to be composed of four disparate parts from Gillani’s complete speech that were pieced together, with visible transitions in between:
In the first part from 0:00–0:47, Gillani begins by saying, “Make the Saraiki province, and take the credit for yourself”
(“سرائیکی صُوبہ بنا دو، کریڈٹ آپ لے لو”).
However, it is unclear who he refers to by saying “yourself”. He goes on to say that if he presents the bill for a separate province, those who oppose it will not be welcome in Saraiki-speaking cities. Furthermore, he adds that if the current government wishes to do better, Punjab should be given its right (“حق”). However, he clarifies that he is not talking about separating the country (“ہم ملک الیدہ کرنے کی بات نہیں کر رہے”), but is only asking for their right.
Then, at 0:47, the video immediately cuts to Gillani asking, “When will our lives be freed from the throne of Lahore?”
(“تخت لاہور سے ہماری کب جان چھوٹے گی؟”).
He goes on to detail the unfair treatment meted out to the people of South Punjab as compared to the people in Lahore. Development projects like Orange Line, Metro buses, and Ring Road are made in Lahore, Gillani adds, but the workers and laborers of South Punjab are left with nothing.
At 1:15, the video transitions to Gillani saying that the budget of Lahore exceeds the combined budgets of Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Multan.
The frame transitions again at 1:29, when Gillani recalls that when he advocated for the creation of a separate province during the tenure of the PTI government, they responded by creating a secretariat for them, which they appreciated. However, he complained that the current PML-N government has bulldozed their secretariat.
Lastly, at 1:51, Gillani can be seen asking the Speaker of the National Assembly if he understands Saraiki, and goes on to recite a few verses in the language that speak to the plight of the people of South Punjab.
The way the video has been edited, along with its selective captions and embedded text, gives the impression that Gillani actively advocated for a separate province throughout the course of his speech in the National Assembly.
The hashtags in the caption of the post, such as “#سرائیکستان #Saraikistan” reinforce this impression and overstate the centrality of Saraikistan in Gillani’s speech. .
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search of keyframes of the video and came across its full-length version that is dated 24 June 2024. After reviewing the complete version, we noted that the caption in the claim is misleading as it exaggerates the importance of Saraikistan in Gillani’s speech.
Since Gillani talks about the budget at various points in the video, we ran a Google search for “Abdul Qadir Gillani budget 2024” to ascertain what this speech was exactly about. The search led us to an article by Associated Press of Pakistan in which Gillani’s statements had been quoted. His speech is mainly about the 2024–2025 federal budget, and the equal division of resources across Punjab.
Unlike the video in the claim, the full-length version does not start off with Gillani saying that a Saraiki province should be created.
For the first minute and ten seconds, Gillani speaks about how his party won seats in the National Assembly legally and that they defeated candidates in the opposition from the PML-N. Then, he claims that though his party has supported the PML-N government in the past and continues to support them now for the greater good of the country, they have not received the same support in return. To demonstrate his point, he proceeds to read figures on the number of development schemes in Punjab and how Lahore receives a majority of these projects whereas a very disproportionate amount is left for the cities in South Punjab.
It is at this point, at 2:37, that he says:
“تخت لاہور سے ہماری کب جان چھوٹے گی؟”
This is immediately followed by him saying that Lahore gets projects like the Orange Line, Metro busses, and Ring Road, while the workers and laborers of South Punjab are left with nothing. It is, therefore, evident that Gillani makes this statement about Lahore to assert the unfair division of resources and not to advocate for separation.
Gillani mentions a separate province only once at 3:42. Here, he talks about how his people desired a province of their own. He recalls that though the PTI-led government gave them a secretariat—a move that South Punjab appreciated—it was “bulldozed” by the PML-N. So now the people of South Punjab still have to travel to Lahore to get their work done (“ہمیں لاہور آنا پڑتا ہے اپنے کام کرانے کے لیے”), he adds. Even at this point he mentions a separate province to highlight the complications that arose after their secretariat was taken away. He does not raise a slogan for separation.
This point emerges clearly when he expresses the sentiment about Lahore being the unfair center of development again at 4:12. Here, Gillani laments that even today the people of South Punjab are at the mercy of Lahore (“آج بھی ہم تخت لاہور کے محتاج ہیں”).
He does not say it to demand a separate province. Rather, he demands justice in terms of having more evenly distributed development projects across Punjab.
Then, between 4:45–5:18, Gillani speaks about the declining popularity of the PML-N in southern Punjab. At 4:55, he says that their popularity is “bottoms down”. Between 4:58–5:10, he says that “PML-N is not a popular party in this country, but still we are supporting PML-N because of Pakistan’s greater national interest,” and follows it up with saying, “But this does not mean that you bulldoze us”
(“اس کا یہ مطلب نہیں ہے کہ آپ ہمیں بُلڈوز کریں”).
It is here, at 5:18, that Gillani says the PML-N need to do something “out-of-the-box” to increase their popularity, and that they can do this by making a Saraiki province and taking all the credit (“سرائیکی صُوبہ بنا دو، کریڈٹ آپ لے لو”). The MNA adds that if he proposes the bill for a separate province himself, those who oppose it will not be welcome in the Saraiki-speaking cities of Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, or Multan.
Gillani’s comment about making a separate province at 5:18 was made in the context of showing the declining popularity of the PML-N in the country. After assessing the tone, we noted that his comment sounded like more of a taunt than an actual suggestion. The MNA was making a greater point about PML-N paying heed to the demands of people from South Punjab than solely focusing its efforts on Lahore.
In the same vein, between 6:03–6:09, Gillani says, “If this government wants to do better, give Punjab its due right”
(“اگر یہ حکوُمت کچھ بہتر کرنا چاہتی ہے تو اِس پنجاب کو اُس کا حق دیں”).
He even goes on to clarify that he is not talking about separating the country, adding that “We are not talking about separating the country, we are only asking for our right”
(“ہم ملک الیدہ کرنے کی بات نہیں کر رہے ہم اپنا حق مانگ رہے ہیں”).
The fact that his speech was about the equal distribution of resources across Punjab, rather than about the creation of Saraikistan becomes more apparent towards the end. At 6:22, Gillani picks up a piece of paper and says that South Punjab’s “rightful share” of 35% from the budget has been reduced to less than 20%. He protests saying, “We do not accept this, we do not accept these cruel regulations!”
(“ہم نہیں مانتے یہ ظلم کے ضابطے ہم نہیں مانتے”).
Furthermore, in his conclusion at 7:03, he presents two main demands—that major cities in South Punjab have an equal budget to that of Lahore and that the South Punjab secretariat is reestablished—the creation of a separate province was not a part of these demands.
In fact, Gillani’s comments about creating a Saraiki province only lasted between 5:28–6:12, which is even less than a minute. The embedded caption “قومی اسمبلی میں سرائیکستان کی گونج” (“Saraikistan echoes in National Assembly.”) in the video in the claim gives the impression that Sarakistan was a major topic in Gillani’s speech. However, after reviewing the complete speech, Soch Fact Check concludes that the mention of Saraikistan lasted less than a minute in the eight-minute-long speech.
While Gillani did mention the creation of a separate province, it was more of a rhetorical statement to suggest that PML-N should pay heed to the demands of the people in southern Punjab and give them their due share in the federal budget. Moreover, Saraikistan did not figure in Gillani’s set of demands at the end of his speech either.
Virality
On Facebook, the video was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: PPP’s Member of National Assembly Syed Abdul Qadir Gillani mentioned the creation of a separate Saraiki province as part of a longer speech on the federal budget in 2024. However, it was in the context of urging the PML-N to increase its popularity and a separate province did not figure in his final set of demands at the end of his speech. The caption at the top of the video is misleading as comments regarding a separate province lasted under a minute in the eight-minute-long speech, and the caption at the bottom has to do with unfairness in the distribution of resources among cities in Punjab.
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Background image in cover photo: Facebook
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