ISLAMABAD: Talal Bughti, son of Nawab Akber Bughti, Sunday said discussing the issue of Balochistan was the wastage of time because bodies of Balochs were found daily.
Talking to The News, he said the solution of Balochistan was that the army should be pulled out immediately. He said it would be better if Pakistan Army operated in four segments; Punjab regiment, Sindh regiment, Baloch regiment and KP regiment; so that Baloch people could have a sense of security. He alleged corps commanders and FC IG were involved in deteriorating problems of Balochistan.
“It is the time to take concrete steps to save Balochistan otherwise it will be lost forever,” Talal said. He added first mutilated bodies were found in East Pakistan and now, the same practice was happening in Balochistan. “Our country has everything, there are four seasons, five rivers, fertile lands, reservoirs of gold and coal, sea and four provinces which represent a bouquet. But a few people are busy in disintegrating Pakistan for their personal gains,” he added.
“These people first overthrew the government of Nawaz Sharif and then killed Nawab Akber Bughti. Then they raided Lal Masjid and now they want red carpet welcome,” he added.
Syed Nasir Ali Shah, PPP MNA from Balochistan, said it was the first and foremost duty of the parliamentarians to raise the voice and to sit together to find solution to the Balochistan issue. “The government and the state should be pressurised to solve the issues pertaining to Balochistan,” he added.
Nasir Shah said during the last 64 years, the issue of Balochistan had never been considered a serious issue and things had deteriorated to the level that US Congress had been moved to resolve the issue.
He said he had been fighting for four years for the rights of Baloch people, but not a single Baloch leader came to express solidarity with him. “If we get united on a single point agenda, we can solve the issue.”
Nasir Shah said the US wanted to use the Balochistan card against Pakistan because Iranian and Afghan presidents had expressed willingness to bring peace to the region. “We are asked by Americans not to get anything from Iran, while we are badly in need of petroleum products,” Nasir said.
“My brothers in Balochistan who are happy that America is with them should realise that Saddam, Qaddafi and Husn-e-Mubarak were also friends of America,” he said. He said Taliban were also supported by the US and later they were attacked by America.
Food and Agriculture Minister Mir Israrullah Zehri, who also hails from Balochistan, said when the people, who were handling the affairs in Balochistan, would want a solution, all the parties and stakeholders would give their inputs. “First ask those forces, who are handling Balochistan, whether they want a solution to Balochistan or not, then we could talk about the prevailing problems,” the minister said.
He said the people of Balochistan wanted justice that they could feel that they were being treated like other citizens of the country living in other provinces. “Such treatment has been meted out to people of Balochistan that they feel that they were being treated unjustly,” he said.
“The people who are handling Balochistan’s affairs should tell the people that whether they want to settle the issue with negotiation or with power, and if power is to be used then there would be no solution to Balochistan issue.”
Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokheil, when contacted, said whenever the federation would recognise the identity of people living in Balochistan, the problems would automatically start resolving. He said torture of people of Balochistan should be stopped at once so that people should sit down and start negotiations otherwise ‘we would move from bad to worst’.
“All institutions should remain within their constitutional ambit otherwise things will never improve.” He said it would take time, but steps should be taken on a war footing from today so that Balochistan could be saved. “The distribution of reserves and wealth of the country should also be just,” he maintained.
