Zehri rules out talks with those who reject Pakistan

CM Balochistan accuses media of glossing over events in the region

QUETTA: Elements recognising Pakistan and its Constitution will be welcomed back, but holding dialogue with elements that rejected both will benefit no one, Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri said on Friday.

He was addressing the participants of the 20th senior management course at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.



Zehri said that talks were under way with disgruntled Baloch leaders abroad but they should realise that it took two hands to clap.

“We will carry out dialogue along established principles, but the continuing RAW-funded bloodshed in the province is not tolerable,” he added. Criticising the media, the CM lamented that the media was not giving proper coverage to Balochistan.

Highlighting the province’s rich mineral resources and low population, he said that if the resources of Reko Diq were properly utilised, every family in Balochistan could earn between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 every month.



Zehri said,“we are the heirs of Pakistan … It is our country … It is our motherland … We can never even think about committing treason,” he asserted. Terrorists, he said, were killing “my children but they cannot break my resolve”.

Separatists, he said, targeted teachers, women, labourers and innocent people, but the incumbent government’s efforts had ended the reign of targeted killers.

CM Zehri said, “We are in a state of war and living in a conflict zone … We have porous borders, therefore, completely eliminating suicide attacks is not possible.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2016.