QUETTA: Nawab Aslam Raisani, former chief minister and chief of the Sarawan tribe, has said that until the issue of missing persons is not resolve and rights of Balochistan as a federating unit are not recognised, durable peace in the province will remain elusive.

He said that Pakistan is a federation and Balochis­tan is a unit of the federation with constitutional rights, which had been denied by the rulers for a long time.

He expressed these views while speaking at reception to welcome new office-bearers of Sarawan Press Club Mastung in Sarawan House, here on Monday.

All efforts towards peace by the use of force would be ‘fruitless’ without recognising and resolving the basic issues of missing persons in Balochistan and constitutional rights of the federating unit, he explained.

Aslam Raisani says durable peace to remain elusive without resolving issue of missing persons

He said that state should acknowledge the constitutional rights of the all federation units with their own identity, language, culture and traditions.

Mr Raisani said that before the creation of Pakistan, Balochistan was an independent state under British rule. After 1947, the State of Kalat was incorporated into Pakistan through an agreement between Khan Ahmad Yar Khan and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

He demanded the official recognition of this agreement by including it in the Constitution 1973 to ensure its implementation.

He said the historical agreements made during Balochistan’s accession guaranteed that no part of Balochistan land could be occupied or exploited without the consent of its people.

“None of the clauses of the agreement between Jinnah and the Khan of Kalat have been honoured to this date, which is a great injustice,” ex-CM Raisani said.

He criticised the establishment’s role, claiming that their undemocratic attitude weakened the federation and federating units.

MPA Raisani, who had joined Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl last year, also claimed that Afghanistan despite decades of war was on the path to progress and development due to its “sound policies”, while India had become the world’s fourth-largest economy.

He said Pakistan was still facing governance issues, which created hurdle in its development.

He highlighted his efforts for the development of Mastung, mentioning that investments worth billions in the health, education, drinking water, and road infrastructure sectors. He vowed to continue serving the region beyond ethnic or political considerations.

Sarawan Press Club president Faiz Jan Durrani and general secretary Faisal Baqi among other journalists attended the programme.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024