GWADAR: The top military commander in Balochistan has said that Gwadar’s security would be completely entrusted to the police and Levies Force in the next three to four months, and the armed forces would be confined to their stations and not be seen in the city.

Speaking at a gathering in Gwadar on Thursday, Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor, commander of XII Corps, said the chief of the army staff would also visit the port city soon.

During the visit, the corps commander met leaders of political parties, journalists, business people and citizens at Gwadar Cricket Stadium and held meetings with senior security forces officials.

However, of the 41 councillors in Gwadar — who Lt Gen Ghafoor described as the “real rulers” of the city — only one or two were present on the occasion, a fact regretted by the general.

He assigned the responsibility of the Jamaat-i-Islami emir in Gwadar, Maulana Liaquat, to meet all the councillors of the city’s municipal committee on Friday morning to discuss how the city’s woes could be addressed.

Stressing that Gwadar “is our home and it should not be damaged”, he said no one would be allowed to block roads and paralyse the government machinery and development work in the city.

He said problems could only be resolved by working together and not through sit-ins and protests.

Lt Gen Ghafoor said a committee representing people from different walks of life should be formed to address the problems of Gwadar. He said that the list of names of those to be included in the committee should be handed over to the deputy commissioner by Friday (today).

“We all will try to solve these problems with joint efforts with civil administration and the public,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2023