Balochs want direct talks on issues

ISLAMABAD - Terming convention of APCs and formation of committees to resolve Balochistan issue as 'futile exercise, Baloch leaders Tuesday opposed the Prime Ministers proposal of convening All Parties Conference on the issue of the province. Senator Shahid Hassan Bugti of Jamhuri Wattan Party while talking to TheNation said that APC could not solve the thorny issue of Balochistan and noted that those tactics were meant to pass time. In the past when the government had announced to convene APC on Balochistan, all nationalist parties of the province had declined to participate in it. APCs and committees are no more solution to the crisis of Balochistan, rather the government will have to take practical steps now, he added. Bugti said that Baloch leaders who were actual stakeholders should be taken on board for permanent solution of the issue. When asked what his partys recommendations were regarding Balochistan crisis, Bugti said when the government would be serious to resolve the issue, all Baloch leaders as well as parties would give their recommendations regarding it. The government first implement those recommendations which were given to it by Parliamentary Committee on National Security a few weeks earlier in which there were a number of suggestions to extinguish the fire in the province, he stated. It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday (July 6) in his meeting with Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani in Islamabad had said that All Parties Conference on Balochistan would be convened soon. Sanaullah Khan Baloch of BNP said that the past experiences had told Balochs that APCs and committees were a useless exercise which hadnt brought any fruit yet. But, if the government announces exact date and the agenda of such conference, nationalist parties of Balochistan could deliberate over participation or non-participation in it, he added. He said that before convening APC, conducive environment should be made so that all Baloch leaders could participate in it with confidence. The government will have to take confidence building measures before taking such an initiative, Sanaullah stated, adding that until now such exercises had been proved just an eye-wash. Such conferences were held in the past to befool international community that the government was serious in resolving Balochistan crisis, he added. BNP opposes the idea that all political parties be taken on board on the Balochistan issue, as there are only two parties involved in the conflict; The Balochs and the Centre, he observed, adding that since the Balochs were the victims of the conflict and the centre was the actor, therefore, the Balochs and Islamabad should directly negotiate to resolve the issue without including irrelevant political parties in the process. Senator Mir Mohabbat Khan Marri of PML-Q also opposed the idea of convening APC on Balochistan, saying that at a time when Balochs were not admitting Pakistan, how they would admit the authority of political parties of the country and give weight to their recommendations. The sense of deprivation is mounting day by day in the province, therefore, the government must take practical measures to redress peoples grievances, he added. He said that some Baloch leaders with the support of India and Afghanistan were engaged in exploiting the situation and were raising voices of freedom. I am fighting against such elements without having any support from the government, he added.