Raisani stresses upon de-escalation

Former CM also slams NAB for being partial, laments lack of development

QUETTA: Former chief minister of Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani has said that Kahsmir remains the prime cause of escalating tension between Pakistan and India but they should understand that war is not the solution of any conflict.

Talking to media in Dera Murad Jamali on Friday, the Raisani urged Islamabad and Delhi to sit across a table to resolve their issues including the crisis in Kashmir.

Speaking about the current political landscape and the ruling party’s accountability drive, he lashed out at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), alleging that the anti-corruption watchdog was being used to suppress opposition parties,

“NAB has been being used as political tool against opponents. Their one-sided actions are damaging morale across the board,” Raisani said while underscoring the need for neutral accountability.

He also criticised the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ‘for lacking vision and for delivering absolutely nothing’ since coming to power. “The development process in Balochistan has stopped. The provincial government is sinking in a financial quagmire and provincial debt has reached Rs100 billion.”



The former chief minister, speaking about the Reko Dik copper and gold project, said that successive governments have failed to developed the project at the desired pace. He said that during his tenure, the provincial government took charge of the Reko Dik project and declared Gwadar the investment capital of Balochistan. “However, the provincial regime in 2013 handed over Reko Dik to other powers and removed the states of Gawadar as investment capital of the province.”

Raisani claimed that he had been offered billions in bribes to withdraw from Reko Dik but he refused to do so as it he didn’t want to compromise on the rights of people of Balochistan. He added that it also resulted in a suicide attack on his convoy.

Replying to a query regarding the last general election, the chief Sarawan said that while there were some attempts to rig the election against him, with his votes disappearing from Mastung, the people showed that they had trust in him and elected him as their representatives in the provincial assembly.

When asked about rumours regarding his nomination as the next chief minister of the province, Raisani said he was not privy to any such information. He said that he is going abroad due to medical reasons, while adding that he had plans to shake the political environment upon his return once his health is restored.