Balochistan Unrest: PM Ashraf calls for implementing SC orders

PM assured chief secretary that federal government would extend every bit of assistance to the Balochistan government.


Our Correspondent September 01, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


Amid escalating violence, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has directed Balochistan’s chief secretary to take every possible step to improve law and order in the troubled province.


Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, the top bureaucrat of Balochistan, provided a detailed briefing on the province’s security situation to the premier during a meeting at the PM House on Saturday.

The prime minister also called for all Supreme Court orders, regarding the Balochistan situation, to be implemented in letter and spirit.

The apex court had directed authorities to take immediate measures to restore the law and order in the restive province.

Incidents of violence in Balochistan are on the rise despite tall claims by authorities on improving the situation.

After coming into power, the incumbent Pakistan Peoples Party government announced the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package for the province – but it failed to deliver on most counts.

Prime Minister Ashraf has constituted a cabinet committee regarding the situation in Balochistan, while another parliamentary committee, tasked with compiling recommendations, is yet to finalise its reports.

The Balochistan chief secretary apprised the prime minister in detail about the steps being taken by the provincial government to improve the situation. The premier assured the chief secretary that the federal government would extend every bit of assistance to the Balochistan government.

“The prime minister has also directed the Balochistan chief secretary to take all possible measures for further improving the situation so that people can feel the difference in their daily lives,” the statement read. In a report released earlier this week, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that the situation in Balochistan had not changed.

It mentioned that the Supreme Court hearings in Quetta certainly had a positive impact, although it remained to be seen if the impact would endure. The mission found that youth and political activists were more willing to engage in efforts to resolve the crises.

“Forced disappearances continue in Balochistan as is the case of the dumping of bodies,” the report claimed on the basis of observations of its fact finding mission.

The government has offered to hold talks with disgruntled Baloch leaders but it has been turned down by the nationalists, who claim that it lacked sincerity.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2012.

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