PM confers with BAP senators on Balochistan situation

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan conferred with two senators from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) – an ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – two days after appointing a special assistant to prime minister (SAPM) for reconciliation and harmony in the province.

On Wednesday, Imran appointed Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Shahzain Bugti as the SAPM for reconciliation in Balochistan, in a move seen as laying the groundwork for initiating a dialogue with the ‘disgruntled Baloch elements’

According to an official handout, Imran met BAP senators Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti and Anwarul Haq Kakar and discussed with them the political situation of the province. The overall law and order situation in the province also came under discussion, the handout said.

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The official announcement said that the two senators called on the prime minister on Friday, adding that during the meeting discussion was held on several matters relating to the impact of the government’s development package on the economy and the life of common man in Balochistan.

BAP is a major ally of the PTI, which leads the ruling coalition in the Balochistan. After the meeting, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan issued a statement in Quetta, saying that it was for the first time that a local leader had been given the authority to hold talk with the people.

“A son of province has been given the authority to talk to the people sitting abroad, for the first time. I hope they will play a positive role,” Kamal said. He added that the “angry Baloch are those who are sitting in Balochistan and do not have drinking water, electricity, roads and basic facilities”.

According to the chief minister, both the people, those in the country and those outside, were “important for us”. He added that many people inside Balochistan were also angry over the policies and plans. “We should also work for their betterment.”

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Kamal also referred to the recent remarks from Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal, who expressed reservations to the appointment of Bugti. “By making statement about the angry Baloch sitting inside the country, Mengal has supported what I said three years ago," Kamal said.

Several politicians from Balochistan as well the major opposition parties have been expressing their reservation to the appointment of Bugti, and appeared sceptical about the initiation of any dialogue with the angry Baloch segments, as indicated by the prime minister earlier this week.

However, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry stressed that the prime minister first announced his intention to initiate talks with the angry Baolch segments, then he appointed Bugti for reconciliation in Balochistan and now the government would decide with which groups the talks could be initiated.

Chaudhry insisted that the there would be no talks with those groups, who had links with India. The India-linked groups, he said, had already been excluded from talks process. “It will be hard to engage with those who have taken money from India for terrorism in Pakistan,” he said.

“In the third phase, we will determine which groups we can talk to and which ones we can’t. Then we will have to see what can be talked about, as well as what concessions can or can’t be offered by the state,” he added.

Chaudhry also rebutted claims of BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal and National Party (NP) leader Dr Abdul Malik in overnight interviews with a private TV channel, saying that certain segments claimed that the government and the military were separate but they were not.

In the interviews, both Mengal and Baloch were sceptical about the appointment of Shazain Bugti as the SAPM on Balochistan, claiming that the current government lacked the authority to resolve the issues of the province.

“No political government has ever been given the powers to resolve the issues of Balochistan,” the BNP chief said. “Let me tell you frankly, the political leadership does not have the solution for this [Balochistan’s issues],” added Dr Malik.

Chaudhry stressed that Prime Minister Imran Khan took all the decisions. “There is a tradition among certain segments to say that the government and the army are separate. [But] there is no such problem in the current government,” the minister added, according to a private TV channel report.

(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)