National Party Rejects New Provinces in Balochistan, Says Solution Lies in People’s Rights
Quetta — National Party leaders have rejected any policy of creating new provinces in Balochistan, saying the province is not merely an administrative unit but the historic land, culture, identity and collective struggle of the nations living there.
Addressing a rally on Alamdar Road, Central Secretary General Mir Kabir Ahmed Muhammad Shahi, Senior Vice President Mir Shawas Hasil Bizenjo, Vice President Dr Ishaq Baloch, spokesman Ali Ahmed Langau, MPA Kulsoom Niaz Baloch, central committee member Dr Ramzan Hazara, Mehrab Baloch, BSO central secretary general Abrar Barkat Baloch, provincial labour secretary Mir Ahmed Baloch, Aslam Baloch and Comrade Rahmatullah Parkani said Balochistan’s problems would not be solved by administrative division but by recognising people’s rights on political, democratic and constitutional grounds. Riaz Zehri conducted the proceedings.
They said the Hazara community had played a prominent role in the province’s social, political, educational, commercial and economic progress, and that its sacrifices could not be forgotten. All nationalities living in Balochistan were partners in shared development, they added, so mutual respect, political equality and democratic values should be promoted instead of division.
The 17 points of National Party president Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, they said, were a comprehensive political roadmap for the federation. If the federal government treated Balochistan’s crisis as a political, constitutional, economic and human issue rather than only a law-and-order problem, serious progress on those points could help restore trust.
They said the people wanted constitutional and democratic rights, including sovereignty over their coast and resources, water, jobs, health, education and political authority, and that the benefits of provincial resources must reach the public.
Speakers claimed national highways were unsafe while the government presented a picture that all was well. They also rejected what they called a negative policy of displacing people and cutting orchards in areas including Mastung, Khad Kocha, Khaliqabad, Mangochar, Kalat and Nushki, saying trees grown through years of labour amounted to an economic assault on the public.
They condemned reports that Turbat in Kech had been “held hostage” and shut for five days, and accused authorities of bringing selected media representatives to show that everything was fine.
The Alamdar Road rally, they said, showed people were united for basic rights, political freedom, economic prosperity, peace and development. National Party would continue organising that struggle and bringing together all classes, nationalities, youth, women, workers, students and intellectuals on a democratic platform.
Participants included people from Alamdar Road, Hazara Town, Kuchlak, Nawan Killi, Killi Alamo, Shabo, Killi Ismail, Arbab Karam Khan Road, Essa Nagri, Sariab, Geu and Brewery Bypass, as well as delegations from Mastung, BSO-Pajjar leaders and a large number of women.
