QUETTA: Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri has said that Balochistan has been put on road to peace and development and invited people to come along.

“I especially want to invite the misguided people to get on the train of peace as the destination for all of us is a peaceful and developed Balochistan,” Nawab Zehri said.

Speaking at a luncheon hosted in his honour by Balochistan Assembly Speaker Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani here on Monday, he said that his government would not tolerate terrorism and acts of subversion in the province.

Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Aamir Riaz, former chief ministers, Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali and Dr Malik Baloch, Senator Shahbaz Durrani, provincial ministers, lawmakers and tribal elders were present on the occasion.

The chief minister said that neither would acts of terrorism deter the government’s resolve nor would anybody be allowed to kill innocent people or enforce his philosophy upon people.

“Political and military leaderships are in complete harmony to stamp out such elements,” he said, adding that the return of misguided people to mainstream politics was not only in the best interest of the province and country, but also in their own interests.

The chief minister said they would give a developed and peaceful Balochistan to the future generations as their intentions were good and God would support them. “We want to ensure the provision of all basic amenities to our people.”

He said that Balochistan was the largest province in the country in terms of area and resources.

“The distance between Gwadar and Zhob is more than 1,300 kilometres while our population is less than 10 million. Naturally this goes in our favour as we have a small population with abundant resources,” the chief minister observed.

He said that people of Balochistan were enlightened and generous, and were the custodian of the traditions of respect for women. “For the first time in the country’s history, a woman was elected speaker in the Balochistan Assembly,” he pointed out.

The chief minister said the Baloch were good Muslims and did not commit terrorism in the name of Islam, adding that there was no concept of suicide attacks in Baloch society either. He claimed that all the suicide attacks in the province were carried out by outsiders.

He said that those who perceived the government as weak should remove their misunderstanding as it knew how to protect the people. No one would be allowed to spread chaos and unrest in the province, he warned.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2016