Journey to a Godforsaken place with Prime Minister and chief minister: ordeal of a Press party

Press Information Department had taken a group of twelve journalists to Duddur, a godforsaken place - 106 kilometers off Winder, a town in Lasbela district of Balochistan, to cover the groundbreaking ceremony of Kunraj-Winder Road on Tuesday, March 29, 2005. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz performed the groundbreaking. The Prime Minister was scheduled to arrive at the 3 pm to perform the groundbreaking and to address a public meeting. He flew in two hours late and straight from his helicopter drove to the shamyana where elite of the area and government officials were seated in sweltering heat.
The audience was brought from far-off towns and villages under the instructions of Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammed Yousuf, as Kunraj has no population of its own. Not even wild animals, birds and reptiles can be found in this area. It is drought-ridden wasteland and at places sandy and at places pebble-strewn and rocky. Barren mountains surround Kunraj to give the entire area a weird look.
The journalists were transported there from Karachi. They were asked to reach PID office at 9:15 am. The party started its journey at about 11-30 am After travelling about 90 km the party reached Winder, a small town on the main RCD Highway.
From here the search for Kunraj began, as the PID official did not know the exact location. The wise thing to do was to follow the whitewashed stones freshly fixed along a dusty path and to look for Muslim League's flags pitched at different places to welcome guests. This decision proved effective.
The thirsty and hungry press party, after about six-hour journey from Karachi, reached the site of groundbreaking at 5-15 pm. It was time for the Prime Minister to speak. He addressed the captive audience and promised all comforts to the people who had gathered there from distant places. They were not the locals in strict sense of the word and had little interest in what the Prime Minister wanted to emphasise upon.
Locals of the adjoining areas said that they did not belong to Kunraj and all those who were present were mostly from Lasbela, Winder and Hub. Many people had come from Quetta, and a few busloads from Karachi. A few guests who talked to newsmen said that the Prime Minister had promised basic amenities of life to those who did exist. "To say the least we are in our villages and towns that are deprived of electricity, water, roads, schools and health facilities. It is better to improve the condition of life of the people who are in existence rather than promising something to those who do not exist." Their reference was clearly to the deserted Kunraj.
They said that the construction of roads was primarily aimed at facilitating Chinese in mining zinc and lead and transporting it to China for value addition and exporting it to other countries. The 20:80 percent profit sharing between the Pakistan Government and the Chinese contractors and 2 percent royalty to the provincial government from the $70 million Chinese investment would in no way bring relief to the people of the area. It would take more than a decade before any change could take place.
The journalists were taken there to cover the event. They were all hungry, thirsty and tired and wanted to cover the event at all cost. Their prime objective was neither to meet the Prime Minister nor to share a table with him for Hi-tea. They wanted to do the job for which they were transported there. But they were cheated.
The Prime Minister or his staff played a trick with them. At the end of the function the APP man was chosen by the press secretary to the Prime Minister Javed Akhtar from amongst the press party that was taken there by the PID. The APP man was airlifted to Karachi. In one of the two helicopters of the Prime Minister's team the official media was provided place. He reached Karachi in about an hour and filed the story which was taken by all the newspapers and electronic media. The others who had gone there to cover the event helplessly saw their bad luck smiling on them. The pressmen from Karachi and elsewhere and even the PID official accompanying the newsmen felt insulted. The helpless newsmen looked at the Prime Minister's press secretary scornfully and kept quiet. All those newsmen who had gone there - representatives of prestigious newspapers - and wanted to write about the event in their own way for their readers. They were the invitees and guests of the PID Karachi. The Prime Minister's press secretary, oblivious to his act of irresponsibility did not realise the sensitivity of his irresponsible action. He did not spare a moment in tarnishing the image of the Ministry of Information and Prime Minister's secretariat.
On the same day the Prime Minister had visited Kashmore. The official television had already aired the Kashmore story and there was no immediacy to telecast the road construction in Kunraj the same evening. Today, no one remembers the event.
Some of the newsmen wanted to talk to the Prime Minister as they had travelled all the way from distant places in Balochistan and Karachi. The press secretary could have obliged them by asking the Prime Minister to delay his return journey to Karachi where his itinerary included a ghazal programme at the Karachi Art Council.
A short meeting with the Prime Minister would have brought some solace to the newsmen who could have developed some other story for their newspapers. Nawab Akber Bugti could have been the focus of all discussion. It would have been a timely discussion and an opportunity for the government to project its point of view on Balochistan issue. But the press secretary and other officials of the information department were unable to see that far.
The return journey from Kunraj began at about 5-30 pm. The entire team was hungry and thirsty, as the PID officials were unable to plan the journey properly. They did not bother to carry enough water and tidbits for their guests to nibble during the journey. From Karachi it took six hours to reach Kunraj. During this time five bottles of water were distributed among fourteen people. After one serve the quota of water exhausted and the rest was a water-less journey.
After the departure of the Prime Minister the newsmen from Karachi talked with Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf for about 10 minutes and at the end of the discussion one of the newsmen asked the Chief Minister for a glass of water. The Chief Minister found it difficult to arrange water for the media men. He asked his minions to fetch a glass of water from the drums kept at a distance. It was a hopeless order. The lack of this kind of hospitality on the part of the most hospitable people of Balochistan is yet to be understood.
Before beginning the return journey the thirsty and hungry party of newsmen told the PID official that they would not move any further without having food. On realising that the PID official was reluctant to listen to them the party decided to pool money to buy water and food. Probably this hit hard the PID official who might have thought "enough is enough" and the hungry should now be fed and given water to moisten their throats.
The ordeal of the newsmen was because of the lack of co-ordination between the PID, Prime Minister's press secretary and the organisers of the programme at Kunraj. What happened to the people who were guests of the Balochistan Government is another story.