ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: Senators from both the treasury and opposition benches on Friday criticized the government’s policy on Balochistan and demanded increase in provincial autonomy and provinces’ control over natural resources.

Amanullah Kanrani of the Jamhoori Watan Party said Pakistan was facing isolation on the Balochistan issue as all its neighbours had expressed their concern and the United States administration was under pressure from its public representatives to take up the matter.

He said the Human Rights Commission report on the issue must be made part of the Senate record as it had brought to light several incidents of human rights violations by security agencies in Balochistan.

He alleged that bombing of Dera Bugti and adjoining surrounding areas over the past months had killed over 200 people and forced over 152,000 to move out. A mosque, a temple and a gurdwara were among the buildings demolished in the bombing, he alleged.

He said Baloch leader Sardar Akbar Bugti had been forced to take refuge in mountains and whereabouts of a large number of people picked up by security agencies were unknown.

Raza Mohammad Raza of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said the situation in Balochistan was worsening as the province was denied its political and economic rights. He said people in the province were taking up guns to get their rights.

He said the country was passing through the worst constitutional crisis as the 1973 Constitution had been buried under the 17th Amendment laden with President Pervez Musharraf’s decrees.

He said there was need of a new social contract between the provinces, which gave them sovereignty.

He asked what had happened to the recommendations forwarded by the parliamentary sub-committee led by Pakistan Muslim League leader Mushahid Hussain.

He also asked why the sub-committee led by the leader of the house in the Senate, Wasim Sajjad, had been stopped from giving a constitutional package under which the concurrent list of federal and provincial subjects would had been abolished.

Senator Raza warned against suppressing voices raised by the oppressed people of smaller provinces, saying that it could lead to a debacle like East Pakistan.

He claimed that a war was going on in Balochistan as the entire state apparatus was being used to suppress the voices of dissent and genuine demands for provincial autonomy. He said the right to separation was guaranteed under the federal system and it needed to be included in the constitution.

Sarwar Kakar from the treasury benches supported granting provincial autonomy under a constitutional package to solve the Balochistan problem.

He said the government should refrain from replacing the old system by one of its choice against the will of local people.

He called for solution of all problems through dialogue and appealed to the tribal leaders of Balochistan to shun extremist tendencies and return to the negotiating table.

He said maximum powers should be given to the provincial administration.

He also emphasized the need for taking parliament into confidence on all the steps to be taken about Balochistan.