Dr Jahanzeb had come to Lahore along with political colleague Rauf Mengal to meet with politicians, intellectuals and media persons. The seminar was attended by senior journalists, political analysts and defence analysts.
The political leader from Balochistan spoke at length in the historical, economic, social, ethnic perspective of Balochistan. He was reminiscent of the 1970s when Ataullah Khan Mengal was the chief minister and how his government was dismantled. The BNP leader lamented that in a crude manner National Awami Party (NAP) which had national character and federal outlook was dwarfed to provincial level, thus causing a great loss to the national integration and creating frustration in the democratic forces.
Referring to poor law and order situation in the province, he lamented that Balochistan people have been fictionalised into various groups and parties, some of which have embraced extremism. He further added that no one is safe from target killing. He himself could not move without proper security in the province. He sadly narrated that our workers who uphold the Constitutions of Pakistan and believe in political process were being threatened and even killed by the so-called Liberals Army as well as disliked by dominant actors of the state.
Dr Jahanzeb suggested that instead of blaming external forces and agencies, the government should be in a position to identify the culprits of heinous crimes, get hold of them and put them to face justice. He said that we recognise the Army as an important state apparatus, but it should not cross its limits.
Dr Jahanzeb said that there are 65 to 81 tribal sardars, who are selectively enthroned to power in the Federal and provincial Cabinet at government of the time. He expressed strong reservations to the Revenue-Expenditure equation. He said Balochistan was almost half of Pakistan. The revenue generated by Balochistan from Sandak, Rekodek, Chamalan, Sui and Gwadar is delinked from the resources of the province, showing meagre relative figures as compared to other provinces, thus finding plea that the province should have less share in the revenues on the basis of its less population i.e. 6.8 million. It is this reason that Balochistan has a strong case to ask for reckoning its share in terms of area also, and not based on mere population.
The Baloch leader termed the situation in Balochistan as grim and disturbing, yet he was hopeful of a bright future for Pakistan as the independent judiciary and vibrant civil society and powerful media were helpful in the recovering the missing persons and in the establishment of the rule of law.
Welcoming warmly the Baloch leaders, Altaf Hassan Qureshee, Secretary General PINA said that PINA has already held a number of moots on the problems of the province and has offered solutions compatible to meet the challenges. He said that now PINA is organizing a national conference to thread bare analyze the happenings with roadmap of peace for Balochistan. He assured the worthy guests that Lahore and people of the Punjab province have brotherly feelings for the people of Balochistan who could play an important role in the integration and advancement of Pakistan.