QUETTA, April 4: Nationalist leaders on Sunday condemned the construction of the Gwadar port, saying it was aimed at stripping the Baloch national identity and alleged that settling non- locals in the area would create a demographic imbalance.

They were addresing a public meeting at the Dera Murad Jamali. Speakers said that a resistance movement against oppressors was the only way to protect resources. Nawab Bugti, who addressed the public meeting via telephone from Dera Bugti, asserted that Gwadar port would be used as a key base for the American navy.

The JWP leader stressed the need for launching what he termed a resistance movement for protecting the province's rich resources, preserving the national and historical identity of the Baloch people besides safeguarding the Baloch dignity.

Nawab Bugti asserted that the Baloch people had long been struggling for the achieving their rights, saying that they would not strike a compromise on their national rights, adding that the Baloch people had rendered great sacrifices for protecting their rights.

He recalled that in the past, the people of Nasirabad had bravely resisted on the issue of Pat Feeder Canal, saying that there was a need to safeguard the province's interests.

Referring to the advertisement campaign in the national media for the auction of land in the Gwadar area, Nawab Bugti regretted that thousands of acres of land belonging to the Baloch people had been allotted to non-locals, adding that no one seemed ready to resist the move.

Dr Hayee Baloch of the National Party, while blaming the rulers for keeping the Baloch people under-developed, said that the Baloch people needed water, gas, electricity and education, adding they did not need the establishment of new cantonments.

Accusing the rulers of dreaming about occupying 770-kilometre long Balochistan coastline, he expressed the confidence that the Baloch people would frustrate the usurpers' designs.

Mir Javed Mengal, son of Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal and leader of the BNP (Mengal group) criticized what he termed the government's exploitative development projects, which, he said, were aimed at looting Balochistan's resources, adding that the Baloch leaders would never compromise on national rights.