Leader of opposition Maulana Abdul Wassey. PHOTO: ONLINE
The Balochistan Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Saturday against the alleged discriminatory policy of the Pakistan International Airlines against the people of the province.
“PIA is denying air travel facilities to the people of Balochistan,” ruling National Party legislator Rehmat Baloch said while speaking on the floor of the house.
“The PIA management has suspended Quetta-Dubai and Quetta-Iran flights and reduced the number of domestic flights from Quetta airport,” he claimed. “We condemn this discriminatory attitude of the PIA.”
Baloch submitted a resolution in the house against the PIA, calling upon the government to call the PIA top management in the next session for an explanation. The house passed the resolution unanimously.
The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) parliamentary leader, Abdul Raheem Ziaratwal, said that the PIA should use wide body aircraft for Balochistan and restore all international flights from Quetta.
National Party MPA Yasmeen Lehri, while supporting the resolution, alleged that the federally-controlled institutions like PIA, WAPDA, NHA and others were biased towards Balochistan. “The establishment mindset has not changed about Balochistan,” she said.
PML-N legislator Rahila Durani informed the house that there were apprehensions that Hajj flights from the province would be cancelled. “After the recent attacks on trains and buses, only air travel is safe. But now the PIA is also reducing the number of domestic flights to and from Quetta,” she said.
National Party legislator Haji Abdul Salam said the PIA did not even have a booking office in Panjgur.
Fateha refused
Leader of the Opposition Maulana Abdul Wassey requested the chair the house offered Fateha for a man killed in the Jungle Pir Alizai incident.
The treasury benches, however, said the house could not allow Fateha for anyone. This triggered an argument between lawmakers from the government and the opposition, both lobbing serious charges against each other. The deputy speaker intervened and said the matter would be debated on August 27.
The opposition members briefly boycotted the session to protest the treasury benches’ behaviour.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2013.
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discrimination - perception is more important than reality
@BetelQ8: PIA is a 'national' carrier and has access to many resources. Of course, it should be efficient, corruption free and minimize costs, improve service and make good profit. At the same time, the resources should be used to serve the areas that are undeserved by other airlines. The objective of PIA is to serve the country without making losses. We all know that the losses of PIA are not due to these kinds of routes but other corruption issues, mismanagement, political issues..
Legislature should understand that PIA is a commercial organization and has to be looked upon in the same context. On one hand we criticize them for losses, and on the other hand expect them to continue with unviable routes.