QUETTA, Nov 5: Sadiq Umrani, a member of the central executive committee of the Pakistan People’s Party, has urged Baloch tribal leaders to convene an ‘Awami’ jirga instead of a tribal jirga, because the ‘Sardari’ system had been abolished a long time ago in the province.

He was talking to newsmen in Dera Murad Jamali on Sunday.

Mr Umrani said the tribal system had been abolished by the then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on April 8, 1976 while addressing a public meeting in Quetta, adding that the then Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, had endorsed the decision as the governor of Balochistan.

He said that the defunct system had been revived by General Ziaul Haq, who overthrew an elected government, and nominated the sardars in his so-called ‘Majlis-i-Shoora’, adding that the sardars derived their financial strength from the military rulers, even the present ones, who also provide them with other facilities.

“The sardars hold jirgas to obtain more incentives,” Sadiq Umrani said.

He said that the sardari system had been abandoned by the people of Makran centuries ago, who promoted ideological politics in the area, but now military rulers wanted to hold a tribal jirga there to damage the political process.

The PPP leader, who at one time held the post of provincial party chief and is a former minister, asked the Baloch sardars to hold an ‘Awami jJirga’ by inviting people from all walks of life without any discrimination to discuss a single point agenda: how to get rid of the military rule.

He said that the jirga should also decide about other problems confronting the province, including the development process in the province besides taking steps for ending all forms of corruption in Balochistan.

He supported the idea that Balochistan’s resources should be used for development in the province and said that it would help remove the people’s sense of deprivation.