27 April 2005	Wednesday	17 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD April 26: The 38-member parliamentary committee on Balochistan, scheduled to meet on May 2, has an uphill task ahead of it in the face of boycott by its members from the province’s nationalist parties. The parliamentary committee was constituted in the Senate on October 7 last year on the proposal of the then prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain with a mandate of 90 days to settle the problem.

It was assigned the task of finding ways and means to end the fear of a military operation, to satisfy the Baloch nationalist parties on constitutional changes and dispel their apprehensions about Gwadar sea port and other mega projects in the province.

Later its Chairman Shujaat Hussain, who had by then relinquished the charge as prime minister, left the country a medical check-up for a long period after constituting two sub-committees, one headed by Mushahid Hussain Syed and the other by the leader of the house Wasim Sajjad.

While the sub-committee headed by Mushahid Hussain had completed its work and drafted a report containing 31-point recommendations, the sub-committee under Mr Sajjad remained inconclusive.

Chaudhry Shujaat had disclosed after discussing the said report with the president that the president had accepted 27 out of 31 recommendations of the committee.

The sub-committee headed by Wasim Sajjad failed to reach a consensus on a host of recommendations on provincial autonomy, concurrent list and other constitutional issues.

There are 16 members from the treasury and 22 members from the opposition parties on the parliamentary committee.

The proceedings of the committee were suspended after its 22 members, belonging to the opposition, refused to participate in its proceedings on March 25 when its chairman Chaudhry Shujaat declined to dilate on the details of his meeting with Jamhoori Watan Party.

Chaudhry Shujaat and the party Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Syed had informed the committee that they were committed not to disclose the details of the deal with Nawab Bugti before it was implemented.

The government had, meanwhile, accepted the recommendations of the committee and started implementation of the accord under which the security forces were withdrawn from the precincts of Dera Bugti in lieu of which Bugti tribe provided assurance to protect Sui installations.

However, now the committee is faced with a real challenge from its Baloch nationalist members who have outright rejected the government’s appeal to attend its proceedings and to put forward their point of view to be incorporated in the final report.

Mushahid Hussain, who spoke in detail during a debate in the Senate on Tuesday, also mentioned three rounds of talks with Nawab Akbar Bugti as a result of which the government had achieved a breathing space.

He said the dialogue with the Baloch leader were initiated on the advice of Ataullah Khan Mengal during a meeting with him at Karachi as he said “you better go to Dera Bugti to seek a durable accord with Nawab Bugti”.

A big question mark, however, remains whether it was the federal government’s efforts that started pushing things to normalcy after Shujaat-Mushahid visits to Dera Bugti and whether the government had been bailed out from taking other decisions involving constitutional changes.

Responding to Mushahid’s appeal in Senate to end committee’s boycott, Senator Sanaullah Baloch said: “First of all the committee’s mandate of 90 days has lapsed and needs renewal by the Senate. Secondly the government needs to take steps to allay their reservations vis a vis handling of Balochistan affairs”.