QUETTA: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Sunday evening said Islamabad’s attitude towards smaller provinces was posing a threat to the stability of country rather than Balochi’s, Pashtuns, Saraiki’s and Sindhi’s.
"Smaller provinces should not be ignored by Islamabad," he told flags-waving JI supporters at an anti-Israel rally in Quetta.
A large number of JI supporters turned out to participate in a Gaza rally where they condemned Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.
Sirajul Haq reminded that an arrogant approach caused the Dhaka debacle and the disintegration of Pakistan, which still haunts Muslims of the subcontinent.
He said injudicious distribution of resources was one of the underlying reasons behind the gulf between Balochistan and Islamabad.
"Balochistan is a resource-rich province, but its people are deprived of basic needs," he added.
The JI chief elaborated that there was no representation from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the bureaucracy of Islamabad, which has developed a sense of deprivation among the people.
"I am visiting Balochistan after 22 years, people are still suffering here…nothing has changed," he said, further stating that the province was still in the stone age.
He urged exiled-Baloch leaders and armed Baloch groups be approached to pave the way for a political settlement of issues relating to the province. "It is their right to rule here," he added.
Siraj ul Haq also strongly condemned the killing of journalists in Balochistan and demanded an immediate arrest of culprits behind the incident.
"Balochistan has become Gaza for journalists," he said, adding that newsmen were being targeted inside their offices.
Regarding Islamabad protests, he reiterated that the protesters demands were genuine and that both sides need to demonstrate political wisdom to end the crisis.
