ISLAMABAD, May 18: The federal minister for social welfare and special education, Zobaida Jalal, said it was unfortunate that Balochistan, which had always been the centre of civilizations, was now being plagued by extremism and terrorism.

She was speaking at a literary seminar commemorating the poetic works of the 17th century Balochi poet, Mulla Fazil, here at the National Language Authority on Friday. The seminar was organized by the Jam Durrak Welfare Society (JDWS), Islamabad.

In her keynote speech, the minister highlighted the rich cultural and literary treasures of the province, saying the archaeological discovery in Mehargarh and other places bore testimony to past relics, confirming that the area was on the crossroads of civilizations.

She, however, regretted that presently the province was infested with extremism. She also deplored that no visible or concrete progress had ever occurred there that could have changed the fate of the people where of water, roads and electricity were still considered a luxury.

But, she said, it was a matter of delight that the younger generation was now taking keen interest in changing their socio- economic conditions by acquiring higher education and skills in science and technology.

She praised the office-bearers of the Jam Durrak Welfare Society, which had been established in Islamabad for providing a forum and facilitate educated people of Balochistan, who were based in the capital, for jobs, education and businesses.

She assured of acquiring land for establishing a Baloch community and cultural centre in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) for which she would approach President Gen Pervez Musharraf. She also urged other Baloch parliamentarians to contribute funds for this. She said Mulla Fazil was a renowned Balochi poet of his time, having command on Arabic and Persian languages.

Earlier, Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik, Chairman, National Language Authority, paid rich tribute to Mulla Fazil and said it was encouraging that the Balochi language was being taught in almost all major universities of the country, including the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).