QUETTA - Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal yesterday said multibillion CPEC project is not meant for the progress of Balochistan; instead, it will transform the Baloch nation into a minority on their own soil.
Addressing the oath-taking ceremony of Balochistan National Party’s newly elected office bearers at Baba-i-Nushki Cricket Ground, Sardar Akhtar Mengal strongly criticised the multibillion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) uplift schemes, terming them a conspiracy against the Baloch nation.
“We are not seeing any development. Even our people do not have access to hospitals for treatment, not to speak of development,” lamented Mengal. He also expressed reservations over the CPEC and the census which he termed a conspiracy to convert the Baloch nation into a minority.
The BNP chief smelt plots against the Baloch people in Balochistan to expel them from their native soil, adding conspiracies were being hatched in the province since the inception of Pakistan in 1947.
Nothing else was being done on the pretext of development for the people of the province. Only new employment opportunities were being created for the Punjab by building railway lines, infrastructure and power projects to offer new vistas of job opportunities for the people of the biggest province, former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Mengal said.
He alleged the Punjab rulers were exploiting the resources of other units for their own interest. “The Punjab is looting resources of the small provinces for its own interest,” claimed Akhtar Mengal. He said: “We do not ask anything from the Punjab, but want ownership of all the resources of Balochistan.” He added the people of Balochistan, and not Sardars and Nawabs, deserved and owned these resources.
The BNP chief urged the people of Balochistan to forge unity in their ranks and make all-out efforts to end injustice to the province. BNP District President Nazir Baloch, Mir Sanaullah Jamaldini and others also addressed the ceremony.
