Peace in Balochistan hinges on implementation of National Finance Commission Award (NFC), Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package (AHBP) and 18th Constitutional Amendment, encompassing provincial autonomy. This was the unanimous view of the leaders of mainstream and nationalists parties of the province at the national conference on the problems of Balochistan organised by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) here on Tuesday.
They were of the opinion that wind of change was visible in the shape of ongoing discussion centering on Balochistan, some elements were suspicious about the implementation of these important steps, but it can easily be seen that things were changing for the better. Senator Abdul Malik Baloch tracing the political history of the province in his paper said that exploitation of the ruling elite portrays how rulers marginalised people in Balochistan.
He said people of this underdeveloped province remained victims of many insurgencies like the one in 1948, 1958, 1960 and the last one in People's Party era in 1973 when the then governor launched operation against his opponents. Malik said there are two distinct schools of thoughts in the politics of the province.
One wanted to be part of mainstream national politics for achieving the goals of desired uplift while the other encompassing nationalist politicians exploit the masses when development resources are not judiciously distributed among the provinces.
He further said against this background the use of force several times in sixty years has been whipping up anti-centre feeling, which has used the stick without the carrots of development. Since the killing of Bugti, Baloch Marri and others the insurgency has been getting out of hands, he added. "The aspirations of the Baloch people are genuine as no one from outside is creating discontent. It is center's policies, which are responsible for estrangement among the people.
Twenty nine out of thirty districts have serious levels of poverty, Rs 20 per person per year is being spent on education and Rs 10 on health per person per annum which shows the kind of life the Baloch people are leading. Balochistan is agricultural province but it has no share in water distribution. If Balochistan is allowed to use its resources it will not need any funds from the centre", he maintained.
Syed Ehsan Shah, provincial minister for Industries, elaborating the revenue generation potential of the province gave a detailed picture of economy highlighting the major indices of backwardness such as absence of infra-structure and 95 percent dependence on the centre for revenues. He further said that corporations also contributed very little to the provincial economy as the share of the province in foreign investment was also next to nothing.
"A very serious concern is the poor level of human resource development, which can be gauged from the fact that the first university was established in Balochistan in the 70s whereas other universities of the country were celebrating their centenaries", minister said, adding that there are four areas which have great potential for development, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and minerals. If attention is given to the development of these sectors, Balochistan can achieve prosperity without waiting for long", he added.
In his inaugural address Mir Baz Khan Khetran, member PPPP CEC and senior vice President from Balochistan said that the centre is maltreating the provinces since independence. He said that the Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package launched by the PPP would face problems of implementation and in this connection mentioned the machinations of same hidden hands, which he did not identify.
Anwar ul Haq Kakar who was to speak on development of natural resources dwelled upon the dichotomy that could be seen between the aspirations of the people of Balochistan and the negative way they have generally responded to their fulfilment by ever being complainants.
Abdul Basit Mujahid, lecturer in History, presenting his paper on Federalism and Centre-Province Relationship traced the history of the development of federalism in the advanced countries and attributed the weakness of Pakistani federation to the crisis of identity in Pakistan. He said the ethnic diversity of the province must be appreciated and consultations must be held with all stakeholders.
Colonel F Maqbool Afridi (Retd) presented a picture of the vast potential Gwadar Port has for the overall progress of the country and Balochistan in particular. He suggested that the provincial headquarters should be shifted to Gwadar for achieving desired results.
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