August 08, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 23, 1428

QUETTA, Aug 7: The Balochi Academy has condemned the assassination of nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and held the government solely responsible for it. A resolution unanimously adopted at the general body meeting of the academy expressed shock and dismay over the killing of Nawab Bugti and termed it a great loss for the people of Balochistan.

It called upon the government to apologise to the Baloch people over the incident.

The resolution condemned the kidnapping of people, mainly political activists, by government agencies and demanded that they should be presented in courts or released immediately. It condemned the continued detention of former chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal and demanded his release.

Another resolution expressed sympathy with the cyclone and flood victims in the province and called upon the government to provide them with relief and assistance till their rehabilitation.

The federal government owed trillions of rupees as gas royalty denied to the province for half a century and the amount could be used for rehabilitating of the entire rural economy of Balochistan devastated by torrential rains and floods, it said.

It claimed that a ‘structural’ fault in the construction of Mirani Dam had played havoc with the people of the area. It demanded change in the design for protecting the people from floods

The academy reiterated the demand for compulsory education in mother tongue with English for all Baloch students.

It demanded inclusion of a nominee of the Balochi Academy in the Balochistan Textbook Board to correct distortions made regarding the Baloch culture and history.

It observed that Baloch poets, writers and intellectuals were generally ignored in Sindh and urged the federal and provincials governments to help them.

A resolution accused the federal government of ignoring the Balochi language in electronic media.

The speakers demanded a separate Balochi TV channel, quality programmes in Balochi on Bolan TV. It called for increased allocation for recruiting Baloch linguists and competent writers to prepare programme for Bolan TV. They also demanded Balochi programmes on FM 101.

They demanded that Balochistan should be given representation in the board of governors of the Academy of Letters.

The meeting called upon the federal and provincial governments to help the Balochi language newspapers and periodicals by increasing the quantum of advertisements.