ISLAMABAD, March 23: People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA Sherry Rehman has termed the Balochistan situation alarming and called for an immediate solution to avert a ‘possible disaster’ as both tribesmen and FC personnel have taken positions in Dera Bugti. Ms Rehman, who returned from Dera Bugti and Sui after visiting the area with a parliamentary delegation on Wednesday morning, told Dawn that even a smallest incident could lead to a serious situation.

The PPP MNA said their visit proved that the casualty figures put by Nawab Akbar Bugti were correct. She said Frontier Constabulary (FC) DIG Brig Salim Nawaz had also confirmed that 60 people were killed in the March 17 clashes. “We saw that Nawab Bugti’s own fortress and nearby houses had clearly been the target of a military operation,” she said, adding that both sides had suffered damages but the imbalance between the casualties on the two sides suggested that the heavier shelling and firing came from the paramilitary troops.

However, she said, it would be difficult to say that who attacked first.

Ms Rehman said that they had also visited the area adjacent to the Bugti’s fort, where over Hindus were killed in the gunbattle and saw a horrible picture.

About her meeting with Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, the PPP MNA said the tribal chief was in a state of mourning owing to the killing of his people.

Mr Bugti said that he was not ready to talk to those who had killed his people, she quoted the JWP chief as having said, who had showed an indifferent attitude towards the government members of the delegation and did not talk to them.

Ms Rehman said that Mr Bugti had stated that he could consider talking to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, if he (PML chief) was really empowered by the forces that be. “It seems that Mr Bugti has no hope for the solution to the ongoing conflict,” she added.

Sui installations could not be protected by forces alone, she said, adding that the government should first give the people their due rights and then ask them to disarm themselves.

She regretted that the people of Sui to the day did not have the gas facility.

The PPP MNA was of the view that Balochistan would have to be accommodated in the political mainstream otherwise it would become a hostage to the new ‘great games’ in the geo-political environment. Given the sensitivity of the situation, she said, the opposition suggested immediate review of political recommendations of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani, who also visited Dera Bugti, told newsmen at a press conference that Mr Bugti was unclear about future strategy.

The minister said that Nawab Bugti neither wanted to talk to the politicians as he considered them powerless nor was willing to negotiate with Gen Musharraf as he considered the army responsible for the March 17 incident.

He claimed that the delegation’s members had observed that there was a ‘state within the state’ in the province. He said no government in the civilized world could afford to have warlords and parallel governments. “It is the duty of the government to provide justice to the people and not individuals,” he said, while responding to a question regarding presence of private jails in the province.

Right from Sui to Dera Bugti, he said, they saw a large number of tribesmen carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket launchers.

He said the armed tribesmen had taken up positions on mountaintops along the Sui-Dera Bugti road.

The minister claimed that the civilian population had already moved out of the area and it was under the control of armed men. He said the option to use force was available but it could aggravate the situation.