QUETTA, Oct 3: Opposition parties in the provincial assembly on Friday criticized the Pakistan Muslim League and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for opposing a resolution about instruction in schools in the native languages and said it violated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s charter.

Speaking at a news conference, the opposition leader, Kachkol Ali Baloch of the Balochistan National Movement, Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s parliamentary leader Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Mir Juma Khan Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party and Mir Mohammad Akbar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) said the Unesco charter stressed the promotion of mother tongues.

They alleged that the federation was denying rights to the provinces.

They said the policies formulated by the previous governments, like the formation of ‘one unit’, denial of political rights to the Bengali people and the Afghan policy, had adversely affected the country. They said the rulers would lament their decision of rejecting the resolution.

They said that rulers and other political groups should not forget that Pakistan was a multinational state and the national rights of the Punjabis, Pukhtuns, Sindhis, Baloch and Seraikis had to be recognized to maintain the country’s integrity.

They said that in a federation the smaller provinces had say in provincial assemblies and the upper house but Punjab’s majority in the National Assembly had made those houses ineffective.

They accused the federal government of usurping the national wealth of Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP.

They said meagre amount was paid to the smaller provinces as royalty of Sui gas, Karachi port and electricity, while a huge portion of the income from those projects was utilized for Punjab.

“All important decisions related to domestic and foreign issues are taken by the army establishment with the backing of the big province and the smaller nationalities are denied representation in national affairs,” they asserted.

They said the rulers in Islamabad were usurping the resources of smaller provinces and refusing to implement the constitutional quota of Balochistan in the federal services.

They said rejection of education in mother tongues was a serious issue confronted by Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP.