ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik on Monday said unfortunately the ruling elite always tried to resolve Balochistan issue through sword which alienated the Baloch people from Pakistan.

He said the Balochistan issue had been festering ever since it became part of Pakistan because the ruling class could not understand the psyche of Baloch people.

Dr Malik was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a three-day international conference: ‘Balochistan: History and Culture’. It is being organised by National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR), Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), at a local hotel on Monday.

“They never tried to pacify the disgruntled elements in Balochistan. A large chunk of the people of Balochistan thinks that joining Pakistan was a mistake. My party (National Party) believes in democracy and will continue supporting democracy in any situation,” he said.

“Although the number of bullet riddled bodies has decreased in the province, the missing persons issue still haunts the people of Balochistan,” he said.

While talking about the performance of the provincial government Dr Malik said in a bid to increase the literacy rate that education budget had been increased from 4 per cent to 24 per cent.

“Qualified teachers are not ready to come to universities of the province. I request to universities of Islamabad to admit students of Balochistan and produce 500 PhDs within next five years. Balochistan government will give funds,” he said.

Dr Malik appealed to intellectual to find a solution to the Balochistan issue.

Director National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS) QAU Prof Dr Tahir Amin said that the current wave of trouble in Balochistan started in 2004, posing a serious threat to the country.

“Almost everyday reports of extrajudicial killings, missing persons and other issues of Balochistan make headlines of newspapers,” he said.

“PML-N is negotiating with Taliban and trying to resolve the issue of Karachi but it has ignored the Balochistan issue. Military action in East Pakistan led to its separation so this mistake should not be repeated in Balochistan,” he said.

“We have to understand that military does not know ‘give and take politics’ so it cannot resolve the issues. India, Afghanistan and possibly United States are supplying weapons to Baloch nationalists. We have to develop good relations with Afghanistan and India for the peace in Pakistan,” he said.

QAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Eatzaz Ahmad said that Balochistan with geographically a largest province and small population was in the limelight in the contemporary affairs.

“There is a dire need to think beyond its vitality as a geo strategic location. It is the time to think beyond the conflicts and understand its marvelous rich culture and history,” he said.

VC University of Balochistan Dr Javed Iqbal said that Balochistan had always been ignored by the federal government.

“University of Balochistan suffered a lot because of financial crunch but it was ignored. Some funds have been released recently due to which management of the university has been trying to resolve the issue,” he said.

Journalist from Balochistan Prof Dr Yar Jan Badini said that the Balochistan minerals and gas were of no use for the people of the province.

He said: “4.7 million acres of land is lying barren in Balochistan which can be used for cultivation. Fish catching is a big profession of the province but cold storages are in Karachi due to which traders of Karachi get all the profit,” he said.

The first day of the conference was dedicated to discussing history of Balochistan.

The first academic session, which discussed Balochistan in Historical Perspective, was chaired by Prof Dr Riaz Ahmad, former Director, NIHCR.

Fozia Naz, Ifqut Shaheen, Sandul Hasan, Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro, Fatima Asghar, Humera Naz, Jahanzeb Khan, Rafiullah Khan and Majid Hussain explored the history of Balochistan.

They were of the view that Balochistan is rich enough in terms of ancient history and culture.

This history garners a very special importance in relation to the development of Indus Civilization.

The earliest settled villages in Balochistan date back to the ceramic Neolithic (7000-6000 BCE) including the site of Mehrgarh.

The earliest built tomb on the Pakistani soil is located in Bela town and belongs to Muhammad bin Harun who was an Arab governor of Makran besides the historical tombs of the Jams of Lasbela.