QUETTA: The Balochistan government has decided to include the names of veteran Pashtun and Baloch leaders, including that of late Nawab Akbar Bugti, in the educational curriculum in the province.

Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik told Dawn.com on Saturday that it was decided in principle to educate Balochistan's schoolchildren on the history of veteran Baloch and Pashtun leaders.

He said that the names and political struggles of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, Mir Yousaf Aziz Magsi and other leaders would be included in the curriculum.

Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader, was killed in August 2006 in an explosion in a cave where he had taken refuge during a military crackdown ordered by Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was president and army chief at the time.

Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan’s natural resources. The death of the Baloch chieftain had sparked angry protests in parts of the country.

“We cannot deceive our younger generations,” Dr. Baloch said. “We want our kids to know about their elders who sacrificed their lives for them.”

The inclusion of the history of the leaders in school textbooks has remained an outstanding demand of Baloch and Pashtun leaders in the province, said the chief minister.

Provinces in Pakistan were empowered to independently make amendments in the educational curriculum after the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment by the National Assembly.

The Balochistan government’s education department has already been in contact with educational experts to bring reforms in the curriculum.

“Nobody should be concerned about our decision,” he assured, adding that his government will ensure the names of all those leaders who played role in creation of Pakistan.

Dr Baloch further explained that the founding father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and national poet Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal would also be taught in schools.

“We have no plan to exclude verses of Jihad from Islamic studies,” Ghullam Ali Baloch, the provincial secretary education said.

The government is not going to make any amendments in Islamic studies book, he said.

Regarding the government’s plan to bring back 2.3 million out-of-school children, the secretary education said the provincial cabinet has approved free and compulsory education bill to ensure implementation of Article 25-A, which calls for education of every child. He said the bill would also be presented before the Balochistan Assembly for legislation.