ISLAMABAD: Former chairman Senate and PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani suggested to Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani to summon Senate Committee of the Whole to find a way forward to the problems of Balochistan.
Addressing a point of public importance on Tuesday, Rabbani argued that the province needed a political solution and not just more money to resolve its issues as such efforts as that approach had proved futile in the past. He remarked, “Balochistan today desperately needs a political solution. The denial of provincial autonomy and cases of missing persons are shaking the foundations of the edifice of Balochistan”.
Rabbani said it must be realized that Baloch and Pashtuns could not be subjugated with the barrel of a gun and insisted controlled elections and a kill and dump policy could never provide a solution to the problem. Referring to the PM's statement, he demanded its resolution in view of the evolving regional situation, especially that of Afghanistan which has a negative fallout on Pakistan.
He said that economic packages were not a solution, and said“even my party announced Aghaza-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package that had both political and economic elements but it also failed to deliver as desired. While pressing for a political solution, Rabbani also said that those who indulged in steps out of the ambit of the Constitution and raised arms against the State must be tried in the courts as per the law and awarded harshest punishment. But at the same time, there was a need to give provincial autonomy to the federating units by making Article 172 (3) of the Constitution operational and by giving a 50 percent share of natural resources including oil and gas besides giving due quota to the province in federal services. Referring to a public statement of CM Balochistan Jam Kamal that they came to know about the provincial budget in the cabinet meeting, Rabbani said that Islamabad has no right to make a provincial budget. He called for allowing the House to play its role in resolving Balochistan’s issues and summoning all stakeholders in the committee for a bipartisan role forward.
Responding to Rabbani, Leader of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem said the PTI government is the first one that decided for economic development of the province as earlier funds allocated for the province were misappropriated by the previous governments. “No one can make decisions about Balochistan without its elected government and its people and the federal government would initiate development projects in the province worth Rs. 731 billion, of which, several projects have completed. The government is focused to end deprivation of the province and give political empowerment to its people,” he said. He blamed the past regimes for the problems of Balochistan and said PM Imran wanted their resolution through dialogue and development.
During the question hour, opposition senators staged a token walk-out from the House piqued over the absence of relevant ministers prompting the Chairman Senate to passed remarks saying, “should the Parliament be kept waiting for the ministers to come. Where are the ministers please don’t ridicule the Parliament.”
The chair adjourned the question hour for ten minutes for want of ministers but even after that the opposition stormed out of the House again when the ministers did not turn up.