KARACHI, Jan 7: Speakers at a forum here on Monday urged the Baloch people to unite to face the new challenges being faced to their national integrity in the new millennium.

They also criticized the role of political leadership in the country and lamented its failure to solve the socio-economic problems faced by the people.

They said the political leadership had always betrayed the people and instead of addressing the people’s grievances, they preferred to serve their own interests.

This situation, they argued, had caused a general frustration among the people and as a result of this the people had lost faith in democratic institutions.

The forum was organized here on Sunday night by the Baloch Rabita Ittefaq Tehrik (Brit) at Baloch Hall in Chawkiwara. The subject was: “The plight of Balochs in new millennium.”

Speaking about the plight of Balochs in Balochistan, Karachi and elsewhere in the country, they said there had been no change so far as the Baloch people are concerned and everywhere they faced the conditions of poverty and illiteracy.

They maintained that the Baloch people had voted for every party and fully participated in the struggle of democracy, but the political leadership had always betrayed their trust and failed to deliver the goods.

They said a vast majority of people still lived in abject poverty and deprived of basic necessities of life in the new millennium and those who had been elected by their votes had never made any serious attempts to solve their problems.

They also discussed the fast changing situation in Afghanistan and expressed the view that it would have far-reaching impact in Balochistan.

The forum was addressed by the Brit chief Prince Mohyuddin Baloch, provincial chiefs of Balochistan and Sindh Yahya Jan Baloch and Rauf Baloch, Zafar Baloch, besides others. A large number of political workers and NGO activists attended the forum.