GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that there is only a handful of people in Balochistan who are talking about independence for the province.

Talking to reporters at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh after laying floral wreaths on the graves of the Bhuttos and offering fateha, he said a majority of the Baloch were patriots as they had supported the Quaid-i-Azam in his struggle for Pakistan and rendered tremendous sacrifices towards that end.

He said if the Baloch had suffered any injustice in the past his government was ready to address their grievances.

He said that Z.A. Bhutto had made Pakistan a nuclear state and his contribution had been recognised internationally. He said Mr Bhutto gave the country 1973’s Constitution and the credit went to the present government that had restored it.

About the Karachi situation, he said it was the provincial matter but the federal government had extended all possible assistance to the province in terms of deployment of forces and intelligence sharing.Calling Karachi a mini-Pakistan, the prime minister said the government didn’t want a disturbed economy, adding that peace in the city would be restored.

He complained that almost all political parties were part of the government, either at the federal or provincial level, but it was the federal government that alone was criticised.