An angst-ridden route

The debate on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) keeps raging on, sharpening the political divide further. While all political parties believe that the scheme has the potential to herald a new era of development, the acrimony stems from a widely held view that the ruling PML-N is keeping its focus firmly on the eastern side of the project that covers the citadel of its political power — Punjab. After howls of discontent from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over its neglect, parties in Balochistan have also spoken out vociferously to stake a fair and just claim in the CPEC pie. An all-party confab convened on January 10 asked the prime minister to give preference to the CPEC’s western route and honour a commitment he had made at an earlier APC held last year. The call came despite a lengthy briefing given by Ahsan Iqbal to kill the perception that smaller provinces are being ignored or that the corridor route was being tinkered with. His robust defence of the government’s standpoint and efforts to placate concerns of the APC participants fell flat, though.

Akhtar Mengal made some biting remarks that showed that the fears being expressed have some basis in reality. According to him, the MoU of the CPEC had talked about the setting up of industrial zones in Balochistan. Nothing appears to have been done on this front so far. Additionally, he quoted the province’s former chief minister, Abdul Malik Baloch, as saying that Balochistan’s energy projects have been transferred to other areas. These concerns must be addressed. Mr Mengal was bang on target when he said that injustices fuelled separatist tendencies in Balochistan. As the dispute lingers, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad has urged all quarters to resolve their differences. The embassy emphasised that the CPEC faces “Pakistan as a whole”, a phrase that rightly captures the essence of the scheme. One hopes that the government heeds the call of the opposition parties to pursue the project in a transparent manner and checks the impulse to ride roughshod over its rivals.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2016.

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