PILDAT event: Dialogue encouraged to solve Balochistan crisis
The speakers also suggested free and fair general elections in the province as a means to uplift morale.
ISLAMABAD:
A resolution to the issue of missing persons and bullet-riddled bodies in Balochistan should be set as a precondition for talks between the government and the Baloch people, leaders of the Baloch community suggested on Tuesday.
The views were expressed during a dialogue forum titled ‘Balochistan: Objective Dialogue’, organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
A number of politicians, analysts and media persons spoke at the event. The speakers also suggested free and fair general elections in the province as a means to uplift morale in the troubled province.
“If the government and agencies can resolve the issue of missing persons and bullet-ridden bodies, things can improve. This is a pre-condition for dialogue,” said Baloch Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo.
The senator was optimistic, and believed that youth in Balochistan could still be taken on board to resolve the issues in the restive province, adding that the prevalent mindset that the Baloch people were still a ‘tribal society’ was deeply flawed.
Central Information Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Qamar Zaman Kaira, also present at the event, said that Punjab also needed to be respected as a province and it should not be blamed for all the problems plaguing the country.
Senior analyst and column writer Mujeebur Rehman Shami believed that the dominant discourse on Balochistan was one that blamed the military and security agencies for making things worse in the province.
“There is a complete and total absence of a counter narrative from the federal government and the establishment,” Shami said, adding that even the people of Balochistan shy away from presenting their views openly.
On the other hand, former interior minister Lt Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider believed that the provincial government and assembly in Balochistan were not taking responsibility for resolving the issues of the province.
“The real issue facing the province is more a case of efficient management of resources rather than the inadequacy of them. There is infiltration in the province and the FC has got to do its job,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2012.
A resolution to the issue of missing persons and bullet-riddled bodies in Balochistan should be set as a precondition for talks between the government and the Baloch people, leaders of the Baloch community suggested on Tuesday.
The views were expressed during a dialogue forum titled ‘Balochistan: Objective Dialogue’, organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
A number of politicians, analysts and media persons spoke at the event. The speakers also suggested free and fair general elections in the province as a means to uplift morale in the troubled province.
“If the government and agencies can resolve the issue of missing persons and bullet-ridden bodies, things can improve. This is a pre-condition for dialogue,” said Baloch Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo.
The senator was optimistic, and believed that youth in Balochistan could still be taken on board to resolve the issues in the restive province, adding that the prevalent mindset that the Baloch people were still a ‘tribal society’ was deeply flawed.
Central Information Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Qamar Zaman Kaira, also present at the event, said that Punjab also needed to be respected as a province and it should not be blamed for all the problems plaguing the country.
Senior analyst and column writer Mujeebur Rehman Shami believed that the dominant discourse on Balochistan was one that blamed the military and security agencies for making things worse in the province.
“There is a complete and total absence of a counter narrative from the federal government and the establishment,” Shami said, adding that even the people of Balochistan shy away from presenting their views openly.
On the other hand, former interior minister Lt Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider believed that the provincial government and assembly in Balochistan were not taking responsibility for resolving the issues of the province.
“The real issue facing the province is more a case of efficient management of resources rather than the inadequacy of them. There is infiltration in the province and the FC has got to do its job,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2012.