LAHORE - Speakers at a two-day conference on Saturday said that the Balochistan was a strategic treasure and integral part of Pakistan which should be integrated and strengthened through joint efforts of political and military leadership.
At the conference, organised by Pakistan Institute of National Affairs (PINA), the speakers said that the largest province was facing serious internal and external challenges of militancy, ethnic and sectarian violence and foreign interference, which could be met by political will, uniform justice and development. The state should protect and encourage the democratic forces, providing an enabling environment for the participation in the coming elections ensuring that they are held in free, fair and transparent manner, they said. The speakers included political leaders from Balochistan and Lahore in addition to intellectuals political scientists, eminent journalists and defence analysts.
Welcoming the guests, PINA Secretary General Altaf Hasan Qureshee said that the conference was meant to evolve a roadmap of peace and development in the disturbed province. He further said that the people of Lahore and the Punjab were deeply involved in the welfare, safety and prosperity of the people of Balochistan.
“We should devise a well-thought out comprehensive policy for the national integration. We see a change in mind set of the military leadership which is focusing on the education, development and employment in Balochistan,” he said.
He further said that hoped that General Ashfaq Kayani would take more confidence-building measures to heal the wounds inflicted by the previous military operations and would rein in the agencies to within limits of law. Faseeh Iqbal said that a hard stance taken by the youth of the province could be softened through dialogue. He said that there was no representation of Balochistan in higher ranks of civil and military bureaucracy.
Tahir Bizenjo said the crisis in Balochistan could be resolved by empowering the people of the province and respecting the current political forces. He added that use of force did not help in controlling the crisis.
The JUI-F’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmad lamented that Balochistan was ignored by federal government as well as the provincial set up. He said that a number of military operations had created hatred among the people against the establishment. He said that general elections of 2008 were hijacked by the agencies resulting in the formation of a fake government.
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