QUETTA: The Balochis­tan Assembly on Thursday lamented that a Rs10 billion grant announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected areas of the province had yet to be released and called for setting up a committee to negotiate with Mr Sharif.

Provincial lawmakers from both sides of the aisle regretted that Balochistan was being ignored when it came to flood relief.

The assembly session, presided over by Acting Speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail, could not discuss the full agenda because it was postponed for lack of quorum. It had begun an hour late.

The legislators condemned the assassination of Jus­tice Muhammad Noor Meska­nzai, a former chief justice of the Balochistan High Court and the Federal Sha­riat Court. They expressed concern over the alleged killings of missing persons in a security operation, calling for a judicial commission to investigate the matter.

Speaking on a point of order, opposition leader Nas­eer Ahmed Shahwani of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) said flood-hit areas were still submer­ged. Besides, robberies and muggings had been on the rise in Quetta and other areas of the province, he said.

Balochistan’s agriculture sector was badly affe­cted and lost billions of rupees, he said, adding that the provincial government had to provide a Rs10 billion subsidy for seed procurement.

Nasrullah Zerey of the PkMAP criticised the attitude of the provincial disaster management authority and other organisations concerned, which he said failed to turn up for briefing on the flood situation despite the acting speaker’s ruling.

Opposition member Sana Baloch talked about the killing of Justice Meskanzai and said the situation in Kharan, where he was assassinated, was as bad as it was in 2013. He said four bodies were brought to a Kharan hospital and officials claimed that they had been killed in an operation by the counterterrorism department.

Akhtar Hussain Langove suggested that a judicial commission be set up to investigate these incidents.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2022