In June 1947, the Afghan government laid its claim on the British India's province of NWFP. Mr. Jinnah had protested against an alleged statement made by Mr. Nehru at Hardwar on 23 June 1947 that in the event of one-sided referendum, the NWFP ministry will resign and fight elections afresh on the issue of Pakistan versus Free Pathanistan. However, despite problems created by the NWFP congress government, the referendum was held and won. The Afghan government still holds the claim. This explains the pursuit of the agenda to change the name of NWFP to "Pakhtunkhwa". The adoption of the name is the first step. The referendum was held under the auspice of the British government and the name was appropriately upheld as NorthWestern Frontier Province. The name is consistent with the criterion of other provinces i.e. related to geographical reference. Some writers have suggested some names. In the first case, no change is warranted. Secondly the word Pakhtunkhwa holds no bonafide as the province is multi-linguistic and the non-Pushtuns enjoy a majority. To change a name honoured for more than a century, just for pleasure of a minority, is no great wisdom. Thirdly, and more importantly, to change the name to Pakhtunkhwa will invite further volatility to the region. Columnist Selig S. Harrison, who is covering Pakistan since 1951, has said so, "The Taliban, primarily a Pashtun group, exploits secessionist sentiments among the 41-million Pashtuns who live on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan frontier". The implication is writ on the wall. -BRIG (Retd) A.Q. ANJUM, Rawalpindi, via e-mail, April 16.