QUETTA: Senior politician and former senator Nawabzada Haji Lashkari Raisani has strongly criticised the provincial government’s recent decision to establish new administrative divisions and districts.

He said that by altering the historical status of Mastung — shifting it from the Kalat Division to the Quetta Division — and similarly merging Kachhi into the Sibi Division, the government is deliberately creating difficulties for the local population.

Addressing a press conference at his residence, Sarawan House in Quetta, Raisani claimed that these steps directly violate the historic 1948 accession agreement signed between the Khan of Kalat and the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Prominent tribal and political figures, including Haji Muhammad Anwar Shahwani, Haji Aziz Sarparah, and Mir Rais Raisani, were also present at the briefing.

Terms the move a violation of 1948 accession agreement between the Quaid and Khan of Kalat

Raisani emphasised that every region of Balochistan possesses an irreplaceable historical identity. He pointed out that Mastung has traditionally served as the headquarters of the Sarawan region, and altering these boundaries to create new divisions undermines this centuries-old legacy.

“The primary objective behind these structural changes is to deprive citizens of their fundamental rights, push them toward chaos, and trigger fresh territorial disputes,” Raisani stated.

He alleged that these conspiracies are aimed at sustaining a “hybrid regime” and imposing “Form-47-style” representatives, along with their local facilitators.

He vowed that political workers and local communities would build strong national unity to resist these anti-democratic policies through peaceful, constitutional, and democratic means.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026