May 4, 2005	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1426

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QUETTA, May 3: The Balochistan National Party (Mengal) has rejected the recommendations suggested by the parliamentary committee on Balochistan and described them as a farce. In a statement issued here on Tuesday night, Senator Sana Baloch, the central information secretary of the party, said that the mandate of the parliamentary committee, which had been asked to finalize its proposals by Jan 7, 2005, had expired and, therefore, all its subsequent deliberations were unconstitutional and unlawful.

“The recommendations of the committee, he said, were aimed at depriving the people of Balochistan of their national rights relating to ownership of their resources. He said that unjustly fixed gas prices, denial to allow the provincial government to run the Gwadar port, insistence to formulate pro-Punjab NFC award, retention of anti-Baloch checkposts of federal security agencies were not acceptable.

Senator Sana Baloch asserted that the parliamentary committee’s perception about provincial autonomy also aimed at safeguarding the interest of Islamabad because important portfolios of administration, economy and trade would be retained by the centre and unimportant subjects would be transferred to the provinces.