KARACHI, Oct 17: The National Party has rejected the government’s proposed grand jirga and termed it an act of sidetracking the burning issue of Balochistan which is basically a political one and related to basic rights of Baloch people as a nation.

Talking to party workers in Karachi, Secretary-General Hasil Khan Bizenjo said that the grand Baloch Jirga called by the Khan of Kalat was a real Baloch national jirga as it was represented by all Baloch tribal chiefs and elders besides important leaders of Baloch nationalist parties.

The NP leader described the government sponsored jirga as a propaganda ploy which had been called to counter the impact of Baloch national jirga and misled the people of Pakistan.

He accused the government of blackmailing and bribing the so-called patriotic sardars by offering them development funds.

“This will in no way help the government to solve the basic issue,” he said and added that in fact the problems had been multiplied and complicated further after the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti for which he held the government responsible.

He said that it had never been serious and neither it intended to solve it politically as was evident from threatening language being used by the rulers every day against Baloch leaders and even they could not hid their intentions by eliminating Baloch leaders physically.

The NP leader maintained that talks about political settlement had now been irrelevant as the government had even failed to implement the recommendations of the Mushahid Committee.

He reminded that the slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti had submitted a comprehensive document on provincial autonomy to the Wasim Committee and it was up to the government to implement the recommendations made by the JWP and other parties.

The Baloch leader said that his party had always favoured a political settlement of Balochistan by taking Baloch nationalist leaders into confidence, but the government had never given serious thought to it and adopted force to solve a political problem.

He went on to say that credibility gap between the rulers and Baloch people had widened and there was a great hatred against armed forces among the Baloch people because of ill-advised policies of the rulers.

He said that cosmetic changes and staged congregations would not solve the problems.

“We must face the real issues and address them properly by taking correct measures in the larger interest of the people,” he added.

The NP made it clear that the Baloch would in no way surrender their basic rights on land and resources.