KARACHI: Presentations on two books — Deserts Can Bloom and A Cry for Justice: Empirical Insights from Balochistan — by their editor and author Dr Habiba Hasan and Dr Kaiser Bengali, respectively, were given on Tuesday evening at a seminar titled Balochitsan: Underdevelopment, Potential and Challenges at the Jinnah Medical and Dental College.

Dr Habiba Hasan, who has compiled and edited Deserts Can Bloom, was the first speaker. She said the book was a collection of the plans that her brother Syed Hasan Nasir (soil engineer) had come up with for Balochistan. She said 45 years ago, in the month of May, he was shot dead. From Nov 1972 to May 1974 he did a lot of work to rid Balochistan of its aridity (khushk saali). The region is an arid zone and the late engineer knew that there was scarcity of water here. He kept thinking about ways to have more water. He did a survey for the purpose and realised that he could work with rainwater. He started working on how to use rainwater to the optimum to make Balochistan green. He thought if the 80 per cent of rainwater that went into the sea could be saved, things could improve drastically. In three five-year plans, through labour-intensive programmes using stones to control the flow of water, 25 per cent water could be increased.

Plans of soil engineer Syed Hasan Nasir, slain 45 years ago, discussed

Talking about reforestation as envisioned by the late Nasir, Dr Hasan said there were areas such as Johan and Khuzdar in the province where parks could be established because of conducive weather conditions. Then he came up with solutions to use brackish water (khara paani) for irrigation and how to use the sun and air for solar houses. He had also thought of setting up a department at Balochistan University where arid zones could be taught as a subject.

Dr Kaiser Bengali began his presentation by quoting scientist Isaac Newton, who while receiving an award had said, “If I’ve seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” The economist said the work that he’s done is to a great extent inspired by Syed Hasan Nasir whose book points to the possibility that Balochsitan can be a prosperous province. After his death, no vision has been put forth for the development of the region.

After that Dr Bengali spoke on his book A Cry for Justice. He said it touches upon five injustices, the first of which is to do with gas, which was discovered in 1952 in the province. For more than 15 years, Balochistan supplied 100 per cent gas to the country. Even today it’s supplying 18 per cent and getting only seven per cent. The price [of gas] given to the province also leaves much to be desired.

The second injustice, he said, is about social protection. The province has only six per cent population share but it is 3.75pc in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The third injustice pertains to civil service. He said there are 53 offices and division in the province (data collected till 2013) including the president’s house. In 31 out of the 53, there is no Grade 20 officer from Balochistan; no Grade 21 officer in 49 offices; and no Grade 22 in 47. There is no local IG, AIG or SSP, because the police structure is such that by the time the local reaches the rank of a DSP, he retires.

The fourth one is the injustice of representation. The average constituency size for the Punjab National Assembly is 1,388 square kilometre, whereas for Balochistan it is about 25,000sq km, because the population is the criterion.

The fifth last injustice, Dr Bengalis said, relates to development deficit. From 1970 to 2000 the per capita GDP growth rate of Balochistan was merely 0.3 per cent. From 2010 to 2011 it was 2.8 per cent and the rest of the three provinces 5.5pc.

Highlighting the remedies, Dr Bengali said the price of gas should be increased and one per cent of Pakistan’s GDP should be allocated for Balochistan.

Earlier, Dr Jaffer Ahmed welcomed the guests. Journalist and poet Mahmood Shaam presided. The event was organised by the Institute of Historical and Social Research.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2019