April 22, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1429

KARACHI, April 21: Baloch nationalist leaders are sceptical about the proposed move for convening an all-parties conference on Balochistan to address the grievances of its people and bring normality to the troubled areas, saying that unless the armed forces are withdrawn, missing persons recovered and detained people released, peace cannot prevail in the province.

The idea to convene an APC on Balochistan was recently floated by Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari by setting up a committee tasked with contacting all other parties to attend the conference and launch a concerted effort for bringing normality to the troubled areas of Balochistan. According to Mr Zardari, provincial autonomy, mysterious kidnappings of political activists, detention of political workers, grinding poverty, increasing militarisation of the province, undertaking mega projects without addressing concerns of the people and increasing isolation of its people were the issues facing the province.

However, a prominent nationalist leader and former chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, described the move as pre-mature. He said it would be futile to talk about peace in the troubled areas at a time when an army operation was still going on.

He said if the government had been sincere about finding a political solution to the Balochistan issue, it should have taken certain steps in a right direction and created a congenial atmosphere for holding talks. The foremost was an immediate halt to the ongoing military operation, followed by the recovery of missing persons, release of illegally detained people, and withdrawal of cases against political workers and leaders or their open trials in court, he suggested.

Mr Mengal said he failed to understand why the government was reluctant to take all those positive steps to bring normality in Balochistan, while it was making such vital decisions in other troubled areas of the country.

National Party Secretary-General Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said his party had always been insisting on finding a peaceful solution to the problems of Balochistan. He added that the details of the proposed conference had not been made clear so far.

“It is not clear whether the proposed conference will discuss autonomy which is not Balochistan-specific but federal in nature and related to the whole country or the role of the armed forces in the province,” he said.

The NP leader was of the view that Balochistan’s problems could be solved on the basis of a document prepared by an alliance of four nationalist parties, namely Jamhoori Watan Party, Balochistan, National Party (Mengal), National Party and Baloch Haq Tawar. The document was submitted to a parliamentary committee headed by Wasim Sajjad, he added.

However, Mr Bizenjo said his party considered the proposed conference as a positive step and stressed the need for creating a congenial atmosphere by ensuring representation of all parties in the conference. When asked, he said he would attend the conference if he was invited.

According to Baloch Rabita-Ittefaq Tehrik chief Prince Mohyuddin Baloch, normality cannot be brought in the province by political leadership alone since the role of chieftains and social figures was equally important in this regard.

He said there were tribal heads who did not belong to any political party but represented the Baloch people. He said Balochistan’s problems could not be solved without taking into confidence Khan of Kalat Suleiman Dawood, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Sardar Ataullah Mengal and sons of the slain Baloch leader Nawab Mohammad Akbar Bugti.

After the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a tribal jirga of Baloch Sardars and elders had been conducted in Quetta. Some important decisions taken then could be made as the basis of any negotiated settlement, he suggested.

The BRIT leader said: “We must admit that using brute force will in no way solve the problems and that for a fruitful dialogue all stakeholders be engaged now.”

He demanded the withdrawal of the armed forces from the troubled areas and release of all illegally detained people.