3-pronged strategy to resolve issues of Balochistan

ISLAMABAD (APP) - Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Reconciliatory Committee on Balochistan has announced a three-pronged strategy comprising reconciliation, rebuilding of national institutions and reallocation of resources to resolve the long-standing issues of Balochsitan. Announcing the strategy at a press conference here on Sunday, Dr Babar Awan, Secretary of the Committee, said the strategy was being announced after the approval of the Chairman of the Committee President Asif Ali Zardari. "Reconciliation would be made with all the political forces of the province for resolution of all the long-standing issues of the province. Secondly, rebuilding and rehabilitation of all the national institutions, and the confidence of people of the province which had been shattered in past nine years. Thirdly, reallocation of resources would be made, and for the purpose, all necessary lego-constitutional provisions would be adopted taking all the political forces on board," he said. He said for prompt implementation of the strategy, the President had also okayed a five-point roadmap. Under the roadmap, he said, a jirga of intellectuals from across the political divide would be convened on 30 or 31 this month in the federal capital. "President Zardari would attend the jirga while all the intellectuals, educationists, journalists, poets and writers from Balochsitan would be invited to attend the moot," said Dr Babar Awan. "Later, an All Parties Political Jirga would be convened which would be attended by all the political forces of the province. We would seek policy guidelines from the jirga members to ensure the unity of federation and resolution of issues," he added. Awan said this would be followed by a roadmap for resolution of issues from all parliamentary parties of the province. He said after the province, the committee would convene an all parties national parliamentary roadmap. "In the end, we would go for necessary lego-constitutional amendments so as the entire nation back the strategy," he added. "We want to assure the people of Balochistan that PPP-led government sincerely aims at resolution of all their issues without any delay. For this, we are ready to go to any extent," he added. He said the vision of President Zardari was to resolve all the issues of the country through political consultation and not by confrontation. "The era of individual dictatorship is over and now the government believes in making all the decisions through consultation on the forum of parliament. The government would take prompt measures to rehabilitate the displaced people of Balochsitan. We would take the people into confidence before implementing the joint strategy of the parliament to resolve all the issues," he said. To a question, Awan said during the talks with different nationalist forces of the province, there was no proof of any anti-state element. The Balochistan issue is of political nature, and not of terrorism or separatism. Today, there is no political prisoner in the country, which is a major achievement of the PPP government, he added.

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