QUETTA, Oct 16: Politicians, writers and journalists have called upon the government to change its attitude towards Balochistan and initiate dialogue with the real leadership of the province for resolving various issues without wasting any more time.

The attitude of the centre from the very beginning, they said, had been unjust and discriminatory that created a sense of deprivation among the people and also paved way for a resistance movement in Balochistan.

They were speaking at a “Dialogue on Balochistan, the way forward” organised by the Liberal Forum Pakistan in collaboration with the Balochistan Development Forum here on Monday.

Federating units should be given control over their natural resources because it was their right and the Baloch people were struggling for this right for a long time, central information secretary of the Jamhoori Watan Party Amanullah Kanrani said.

Nawab Bugti, he said, sacrificed his life but never compromised on the rights of Balochistan. Nowab Bugti, he said, fought for the rights of the province and never talked about an independent Balochistan.

Senator Kamran Murtaza of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) held military generals and politicians responsible for the problems being faced by the country and said that a generation of politicians created by agencies always invited army generals to oust elected governments.

Referring the issue of nationalities, Senator Kamran said that due to denial of the just rights of the federating units, three small nationalities had formed a front against one nationality and declared it their enemy that created another problem.

He called for initiating a process of dialogue for resolving the issues being faced by Balochistan.

Liberal Forum Pakistan chairman Asif Khan said that democracy always provided a platform for dialogue that helped resolve issues. Mr Khan said democracy also created a sense of participation among the people in the affairs of the state. He warned that ignoring the problems being faced by the federating units would harm the federation.

Senior journalist Majeed Asghar said that Balochistan was denied its rights since the time the rulers violated the accord signed by the Pakistan government with the then Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, in 1948. He said that after the killing of a moderate, progressive and pro-federation leader like Nawab Bugti, the young Baloch were not prepared to listen to anybody and were raising extremist slogans.

Intellectual Shakeel Baloch said that continued denial of the rights would result in a resistance movement in Balochistan.

He said Islamabad still had time to change its attitude and approach towards the Baloch people and Balochistan and initiate dialogue with the real leadership of the people for solving problems of the province.