TURBAT: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto opened his 15-day tour of Baluchistan with a declaration that it was intended to assess the result of the development efforts made by his Government during the last four years for the welfare and progress of the people. He was addressing a big crowd at Turbat helipad... . He said the tour was not of political nature at all. Describing his tour as an inspection visit, Mr Bhutto said that merely formulating a policy was not enough. What actually was needed was to oversee the performance of the administration. … Baluchistan, he said, is a backward province and he wants to bring economic prosperity in this area. …

While his Government stood for ... development of the area, there were ... elements who wanted that the province should remain backward, he added. ...[H]e said these elements also opposed the spread of education, building of roads, abolition of shishak and sardari system. Mr Bhutto said while the objectives of these elements were to ... promote the designs of exploitative forces, his Government’s policies were for the welfare of the poor ... and would remain so.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2026