QUETTA: The chief of Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) has called for reopening of all border crossing points from Gwadar to Chaman and warned the authoriteis that labourers who depend on daily wages to earn their livelihood could become suicide bombers if the issue was not resolved.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman said since border trade provides jobs to three million people, peace cannot be achieved without offering them employment opportunities.

Jamaat-i-Islami leaders Maulana Abdul Hameed Mansoori and Abdul Wali Shakir also attended the press conference.

Mr Rehman, who is a member of the Balochistan Assembly, blamed the Apex Committee for rising poverty and joblessness in the province because it ordered closure of border crossing points “without considering ground realities”.

“The government justifies these closures by labelling border trade as smuggling, but it has done nothing to provide alternative employment to the almost three million people whose livelihoods depend on trade with Afghanistan and Iran,” the HDT chief said.

He pointed out that Balochistan offers few job opportunities, apart from border trade, as it has no industrial infrastructure.

“Factories in Lasbela provide jobs to thousands of workers, but the percentage of locals in the workforce there is only 20,” the Haq Do Tehreek chief lamented.

Industrial units like the Gadani ship-breaking yard, too, offer little job opportunities to the people of Balochistan, he added.

“Since the government, according to its own data, can provide jobs to only 5,000 people annually, thousands of educated youth remain unemployed,” according to the lawmaker.

Mr Rehman said labourers, desperate for work, risk their lives by using dangerous routes where accidents, vehicle fires or even engine malfunctions on boats await them.

“If the government cannot provide jobs, it should at least reopen the borders to allow people to earn their livelihoods,” he added.

He disputed the Apex Committee’s stance that border trade had a negative impact on the economy, arguing that the ruling elite should cut its perks and privileges instead of taking away jobs.

Mr Rehman accused district officials of earning “tens of millions of rupees from extortion” at border points in Panjgur, Gwadar, and Kech.

“These illicit practices are the real burden on the economy, not the border trade itself,” the HDT chief added.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024