Two provinces object to federal power bill plan

By Manzoor Chandio
Written for UPI.com

KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug. 8, 2013 -- Two Pakistani provinces have raised strong objections to a provision in a federal government plan that would allow the federal government to deduct money from provincial funds to cover power bill arrears.

The language is included in the July 22 National Energy Policy for 2013 to 2018, intended to resolve a prolonged energy crisis that has brought major disruptions to Pakistanis' lives. It seeks provinces' help in ending rolling blackouts in three to four years, recovering $3.37 billion in electricity arrears incurred by provincial governments and consumers, and ending power pilferage. The federal government buys bulk electricity from private power companies and sells it to consumers.

Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, where 80 percent of the country's electricity is produced, are protesting the federal deduction provision. Sindh particularly objects to the amount of the arrears it has been assessed.

Sindh government spokesman Taj Haider said the province had been asked to pay $402.5 million -- more than 10 percent of the total $3.37 billion in outstanding bills -- as just the first installment of its share.

Although Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have brought concerns related to the federal plan up before a government body that handles disputes between provinces and the federal government, the issue of federal deductions -- which Sindh has claimed is overbilling -- has not been resolved.

Haider called the new policy "extra-constitutional," saying it had not been prepared in consultation with the provinces.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also opposes the federal deduction.

"We are ready to provide every possible support, including security, to the electricity staff for recovery of bills and for controlling theft," Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's chief minister, Pervez Khattak, told the newspaper Dawn.

"But it is the responsibility of the power companies and WAPDA (Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority) to identify theft and recover electricity bills," he said.

Overall, the plan is aimed at increasing domestic power supplies by switching from imported oil to coal, then green sources, to fuel generators, a shift that is expected to produce substantial savings and increase power generation by as much as 500 megawatts a day.

"The proposed strategy will change the energy mix of Pakistan in favor of low-cost sources and significantly reduce the burden of energy to the end consumer," the policy says

The International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2008-12 says that 62 percent of Pakistan's population has access to electricity. With demand far outstripping power production, blackouts are a major problem in Pakistan.

Urban areas face six to eight hours of blackouts a day, and rural areas 14 to 16 hours. In industrial cities such as Karachi and Lahore, power is diverted from residential areas, mostly in the daytime, to commercial and industrial areas. In rural areas, there is no fixed time for blackouts.

Mohammed Ismail, who owns a tailor shop in Karachi, said his business was suffering because of blackouts just as customers were ordering suits for the Muslim festival Eid, which began Aug. 7.

"I have eight employees, and I have to pay them," Ismail said. "So I've arranged a small power generator that runs on diesel, which has raised the cost."

That is just one of many problems the rolling blackouts are causing.

Dr. Javed Jamali, chairman of the doctors' association at Karachi's Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Pakistan's largest public hospital, said the government recently installed four big generators there in case of power failures, even though the hospital is exempt from blackouts.

"Two or three years ago, when the hospital was not exempt from power outages, there was a problem of electricity, and 28 wards remained without power for three to four hours during the day and at night," he said.

"In those days it was common to postpone, reschedule or delay surgical operations," he added. That is now happening at non-exempt hospitals.

Shahzadi Mumtaz, a rural woman from Qambar-Shahdadkot district in Sindh province, said by telephone that her village had no power for 15 to 20 hours a day in the summer.

"The power comes only at night for a few hours," she said. "There's no natural gas in the village. We have to cook food with charcoal."

"But we have become adaptive to live life without power," she added. "The men go out for work in the fields and cool off in canal waters. But women have to stay at home."

Ibrar Ali, an assistant at a publishing house, works nights in Karachi and sleeps during the day. Because the power goes off for two hours every day at 9 a.m., his fan does not run and he cannot sleep well.

"Some people have purchased or hired generators and UPSs (uninterruptible power supplies), but I can't afford extra money for equipment and diesel," Ali said, "So I sleep for a few hours when electricity comes at 11 a.m. and then get up."

A case for Seraiki province

By Manzoor Chandio

June 27, 2009

The movement for a Seraiki province is gaining momentum. Seraiki, one of the representative languages of the Indus Valley civilization, besides Sindhi and Punjabi, is the country’s largest spoken language.

Seraikis are concentrated in South Punjab and Dera Ismail Khan division of the NWFP — their historical abode from time immemorial.

The area has been a separate administrative region for centuries and has a separate cultural and linguistic identity from other areas.

Unfortunately, the Seraiki belt has been severally neglected in the past 62 years and no significant development work has been done for the uplift of people and to preserve their language and culture.

There is no representation of the language and culture on the national level because the area has no separate territory.

Administratively, Seraiki districts are far away from the capitals of Punjab and the NWFP and this makes difficult for the people to benefit from the provincial resources.

It is an irony that the biggest nationality of the country has no geographical identity. The only language which is spoken in the four provinces has no official status.

The establishment has always followed the policy of overcentralisation on the pretext of oneness. Actually this artificial oneness is aimed at usurping the rights of smaller nations.

All major taxes are levied and collected by the Centre and distributed on the basis of population among the provinces.

Punjab being the largest province grabs the lion’s share in the revenue. The creation of the Seraiki province is the only solution to growing disparity among Punjab districts because most of the provincial budget is spent on Punjabi-speaking districts.

Recently MPA Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood told the Punjab Assembly that “Rahimyar Khan, with a population of 3.6 million, has just four degree colleges each for boys and girls, while Gujranwala, with a population of 2.6 million, has 16 colleges for girls and 21 for boys”.

Seraikis’ mandate, who overwhelmingly voted for the PPP, is not being recognised in Lahore. The PML(N) is a party which not only stands for the status quo in the country but also wants perpetual deprivation of the Seraiki belt. The previous PML(Q) government in Punjab did nothing for the Seraiki districts, paving way for recruitments of jihadi militants from the Seraiki belt.For centuries, Seraiki areas were part of Sindh.

Multan was a separate pragna (province) during the Mughal era. It was Ranjit Singh who annexed Seraiki lands and merged them into Punjab.The British merged Dera Ismail Khan with the NWFP. There is no wrong if Seraikis have their own province in Pakistan.

According to one of the proposals, Seraiki province should be carved out of Seraiki-speaking areas annexed by Ranjit Singh and the erstwhile Bahawalpur state and Seraiki-speaking areas merged into the NWFP by the British Raj.

Definitely, Seraikis will benefit from their own province. The area is not as industrialised as the central Punjab, but it contributes most of the raw material (cotton) for Pakistan’s main exports — fabric, yarn and garments.

The area is also rich in mango orchids and other crops. Above all, the Seraiki area is the heart of the country.

The creation of the Seraiki province should not be seen in the context of separation. Punjab has heavily industrialised only the central districts, depriving Seraikis of prosperity.With the creation of the Seraiki province, they would get their own share of revenue which would ultimately result in their prosperity.

There is no wrong if a province is carved out of a big province according to the wishes of Seraiki people, who historically own this land.

The demand for the province is not tantamount to grabbing others’ land but Seraikis are demanding the revival of an administrative unit which existed there from time immemorial.

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com

NFC: issues in equitable revenue distribution

By Manzoor Chandio

April 27, 2009

The PPP government, which had rejected the Musharraf interim award as unconstitutional, is sticking to an old unworkable formula instead of evolving a multiple criterion for a more equitable distribution of resources among the provinces and the federation.
The constitution of the National Finance Commission and the formulation of the NFC award has been put on the backburner while the government is busy in restoring macro-economic stability. without the much needed fiscal autonomy for the federating units, required for it.
All major taxes are levied and collected by the federal government and distributed on the basis of a single criteria of population among the provinces. The three minority provinces reject this formula and many ideas are being thrown up to improve the system.
According to Barrister Zamir Ghumro the country’s economy faced an uncertain future because of over-centralisation of governance and economic and taxation systems.
He calls for creating self-reliant province-based economic units and taxation system. He said the provinces need fiscal autonomy to stand on their feet.
The sales tax must be devolved and an independent NFC set up to give an award on the basis of multiple criterion. Currently, the NFC is a government body, in which all stakeholders are represented.
Barrister Ghumro said population criteria is ultra vires as there is no mention of population or consensus in the Constitution, adding that the GST should be transferred to the provinces.
Former MNA Mujeeb Pirzado believes that there is need for a constitutional amendments to get a fair share resources for the provinces.
He suggests amendments to the Article 160 of the Constitution to make the National Finance Commission redundant. He said each federating unit should be allowed to collect and pool taxes in the Provincial Consolidated Fund.
Article 119 of the Constitution empowered provinces to regulate all matters connected with or ancillary to the provincial fund.
Mr Pirzado proposed that the federal duty of excise on natural gas levied at well-head and collected by the centre, and royalty collected by the federal government, should not form a part of the Federal Consolidated Fund. These taxes should be deposited directly to the Provincial Consolidated Fund.
Such taxes as GST, excise, property, corporation, sales and purchase, capital value tax, mineral, oil, production and fees should directly go the Provincial Consolidated Fund.
He said that 50 per cent of the taxes collected by the provinces should be deposited in the Federal Consolidated Fund and 50 per cent in the Provincial Consolidated Fund.
When Mr Pirzado was asked about Punjab’s insistence on maintaining the status quo on the population-based NFC award, he said Punjab should agree to the promulgation of a new law to convert this “cosmetic federation” into a “genuine federation.”
Rejecting the present interim NFC, Sindh Democratic Forum secretary Zulfiqar Halepoto proposed an award based on multiple criterion. He said the Charter of Democracy has also given a clear mandate for distribution of resources on multiple criterion. In the first budget, he said, PPP got little time to review the NFC. Now they have ample time to honour their commitments.
However, some experts are of the view that with the interim NFC award given by the former President Perveiz Mushrraf, no new award can be given before 2010.
Halepoto said that Sindh had also conveyed its objections over the terms of references of NFC as a lot of things have been included in them which do not come under the mandate of National Finance Commission.
He said Sindh’s provincial committee on NFC will draw clear-cut terms of reference on NFC and will persuade the federal government to include the issue of royalty on crude oil and gas development surcharge. The provincial government will also demand that GST on services must be transferred back to provinces as this tax was the sole right of provinces.
In 2003, the Sindh Assembly in a resolution said that after deduction of five per cent collection charges and payment of three per cent and two per cent respectively to Balochistan and the NWFP as subvention, the federal government would credit the net proceeds of the taxes collected from each province into the provincial exchequer.
The resolution said the federation distributed resources on the basis of population and proposed that it should instead collect taxes on the same basis from the provinces i.e. Punjab should contribute to the federation 55 per cent of its revenue, Sindh 23 per cent, the NWFP 13 per cent and Balochistan five per cent.

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com

Cost of illegal aliens

By Manzoor Chandio

March 9, 2009

Legislators are expected to defend the rights of people from whom they get votes. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Sindh.

Lawmakers' utter ignorance on everything aside, but defending three million illegal immigrants at the cost of tax payers shows how insensitive are they about the rights of their own people.

Recently MPA Syeda Marvi Rashdi went on saying “discrimination was rife, especially against Bengali aliens, and it was the government's responsibility to protect their rights as they were human beings after all.”

Why she's not so much concerned about the human rights of her own voters? Perhaps she doesn't know their problems.

Sindh's James Bond Home Minister says they do not have sufficient funds to expatriate these aliens and that it was essentially a subject under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Does he know by expatriating three million illegal immigrants, the Sindh government can save hundreds of megawatts power, thousands of gallons water and several tones of atta daily?Affluent Western countries are working on many plans to expatriate illegal immigrants from their countries, because of resource crunch.

Three million illegal aliens in Sindh are not only burden on resources but involved in street crimes, power theft, unhygienic selling of sugar cane juices, cigarettes, gutka, mainpuri and rotten fish.

Many Bangladeshis have adopted fishing along the Sindh coast at the cost of local fishermen. Afghans have been found involved in selling drugs and weapons.

Karachi, where most of the illegal aliens are living, is a city with inadequate urban services like health, water supply, electricity, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management.

The city is prone to daily snatching of hundreds of cell phones and hijacking of dozens of vehicles.

The country imports wheat to fulfill the needs of eating mouths. When there is shortage of atta the commodity is sold on exorbitant rates. Karachi also faces an acute shortage of power.

Illegal immigrants not only use hundreds of megawatt power but also indulge in pilferage.

They have encroached upon pavements in many areas and using electricity with the connivance of KESC officials. Sindh faces manifold problems because of illegal influx of people and misplaced attempts of making it an international orphanage of Muslims displaced anywhere on the globe. While the fact is that local people themselves are reeling from illiteracy and poverty.

In the past, even Rohingya Muslims suffering oppression in Burma and Karan fighters from Thailand turned up on Karachi coastline and staying illegally in different areas of the city.

The Sindh government should impose penalties on Karachi industrialists for providing jobs to illegal immigrants.

Factory owners in Karachi's five industrial estates should be reminded that they had set up their businesses on lands obtained from the Sindh government.

What people crave from the PPP government now is making policies that protect their daily lives from power crisis, lack of water and medicines. People want action that reaches decisions quickly.

The government should be able to fix the current power crisis. The Sindh government today is required to show strong initiative to expatriate illegal immigrants.

We also do not understand why the PPP government is reluctant in putting together its manifesto of providing roti, kapra and makan to own people.

Sindhi legislators need to understand this clearly that their first responsibility is to protect Sindh's interests and provide power, gas, water, civic facilities, employment and peace to people from whom they have gotten votes.

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com

Unjust distribution of energy resources

By Manzoor Chandio

March 9, 2009

ACCORDING to the latest figures, Sindh contributes 71 per cent of the gas and 56 per cent of oil produced in the country.
Its 15 districts producing oil and gas are: Qambar-Shahdadkot, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Dadu, Badin, Thatta, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammed Khan, Jamshoro, Ghotki, Matiari, Sanghar, Kashmore, Jacobabad and Shikarpur.

The 2008 energy year book says Pakistan’s annual gas production is 1,454,194 million cubic feet of which Sindh produces 1,033,110 mcf (71 per cent), Balochistan 319,578 mcf (22 per cent), Punjab 71,800 mcf (5 per cent) and the NWFP 29,706 mcf (2 per cent).

Pakistan’s daily production of crude oil is 70,145 barrel of which Sindh produces 39,370 (56 per cent), Punjab 17,856 (26 per cent) and the NWFP 12,847 (18 per cent).

Oil and gas companies operating in Sindh, including the federally-run Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), control the province’s underground wealth.
The Sindh government has no say in the exploitation of its oil and gas reserves and a majority of the people in this resource-rich province remain in perpetual state of financial distress and poverty.

Gas pipelines pass through thousands of villages whose residents are denied gas connections. Even low paid jobs are denied to locals.

The people in Sindh indeed, are striving to meet their basic human needs like shelter, food, clothing, education and medical treatment-- not with much success.
"The first right of local people over their gas and oil resources needs to be recognised, like in other countries. They should be given jobs and gas connections,” says Barrister Zamir Ghumro, adding that there is no provision for federal ministry of petroleum at the centre under the Article 154 of the Constitution.

Oil and gas come under the authority of Council of Common Interests which is a permanent body like the National Assembly and the Senate but it is not allowed to function, he said.
Under the Article 157 of the Constitution, the government of a province can generate and distribute electricity, levy tax on consumption of electricity within the province, construct power houses and grid stations and lay transmission lines and determine the tariff for distribution of electricity.
Zamir Ghumro suggested that Sindh should take over its gas, oil and coal reserves and start generation of electricity.

He said that petroleum concession agreements should be revised and these should be between provinces and gas and oil companies, tapping the underground resources.

If Sindh has control over its natural resources, it would not need subventions/grants from the centre. It is not logical that a revenue-rich region should suffer under abject poverty.
“The people of Sindh should be given oil and gas dividend as is done in the US; every Alaskan receives oil and gas dividend since 1982,” says Sindh Democratic Forum Secretary Zulfiqar Halepoto.

Under the Alaska Permanent Fund set up in 1976 dividend is derived from the state’s oil royalty investment programme and distributed each year to all men, women and children.

Recently it was distributed at the rate of $3,269 per individual.
“The government should establish a Sindh Permanent Fund on the pattern of the Alaska Permanent Fund and the province’s oil and gas royalty, production bonus and amount earmarked for corporate social responsibility (CSR) should be deposited in the fund instead of being retained by the Centre,” asserts Mr Halepoto. Besides, residents of Sindh must be given rebate on oil, gas and coal, he added.

So far, Alaskans have got $15.2 billion pocket money since the dividend programme began.
“At present, Sindh’s production bonus given by foreign oil and gas companies is valued at Rs2.39 billion. The amount is deposited with the President of Pakistan but has not been released to Sindh since 1996. The production bonus should be released to oil and gas producing districts,” say Sikandar Brohi and Ishak Soomro of the Participatory Development Initiatives.
Sindh’s two districts–Qambar-Shahdadkot and Hyderabad—do not get production bonus from the centre-run companies, OGDCL and PPL.

Nationalists are convinced that the federation should not be allowed to exploit Sindh’s underground resources i.e, oil, gas and coal deposits.
“Sindh receives direct transfers on account of excise duty on gas and royalty under Article 161 of the Constitution from the Centre. It does not receive production bonus. Sindh badly needs a fund with separate account on the basis of money received from the federal government on account of production bonus,” says Barrister Ghumro.
“Under Article 158 of the 1973 Constitution, the province from where gas is found, has precedence over its use. Its requirements have priority over other provinces. Royalty and excise duty on gas is used in the budget of the province. So, it can establish fund on the basis of production bonus by opening a separate account,” he said.
Sindh should have an effective representation on the boards of Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited.

To protect its interests, the Sindh government should form its own companies for tapping the mineral resources of the province. Besides, Sindh’s lawmakers need to draft a piece of legislation to regulate production of oil, gas and coal for the benefit of the people of the province.

manzoor.chandio@dawn.com

Future of Sindh in Pakistan

By Manzoor Chandio
Feb 13, 2009

Pakistan faces a multitude of problems because of the monolithic structure of the state. Adventurism and adhocism of the past define the country we live in today.
Unconstitutional acts like military takeovers, hangings and assassinations of political leaders, rigging of elections and militants brought from across the world bore all the hallmarks of an irresponsible state.
Crises in Fata and Balochistan and the threats posed by religious extremism and terrorism are not the only challenges facing the country.
We’re living in a world which is in the midst of a tsunami-like economic crisis.Pakistan is part of the UN system and Bretton Woods Institutions—the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities have surged to $50.9 billion during July and December 2008 from $46.3 billion at the end of June 2008.
The country is signatory to several UN protocols and bilateral investment treaties with 47 countries, including the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and National of Other States. One such treaty is pending with the United States, the largest economy in the world. The US intends to get a sovereign guarantee i.e. the country must takes over all of its assets if Pakistan is declared a failed state.It seems the rulers are not ready to understand the mood of the time. The country faces perilous outlook.
Some utopian Pakistani writers are still suggesting development models of China, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Switzerland to develop Pakistan. They ignore the fact that above mentioned countries do not take dictation from the IMF.
Monolithic communist China developed when they welcomed investment from the Chinese diaspora, including Christians and capitalists. It’s very simple to understand that Pakistan can not bring in much-required investment from the world-class Sindhi Hindu diaspora because of it’s not ready to diversify the economy.The current disorder and the wars in different parts of the country can be defined between those who want a Pakistani state responsible to its people and fulfilling its international obligations and those who do not want change.
Pakistan is not ready to break with the past and change from the closed society to a dynamic democratic state giving people social and political freedom.
The roots of irresponsible behaviour can be traced back to early phase of Pakistan when some rulers saw the dreams of foisting Pakistani flag on the Red Fort of Delhi and conquering Kashmir.
They argued that we are the followers of one religion (Islam), live in one country (Pakistan) and belong to one nation (Pakistani); therefore, we should have one national language (Urdu). This so-called oneness did not work.
The country lost the eastern wing and weakness of the current state.
Actually, Pakistan was never to be a monolithic state. The autonomy for federating units was envisaged in the landmark Pakistan Resolution in 1940, democracy was promised by Quiad-i-Azam in 1947 and the control of resources by abolishing the Concurrent List in 1973. But this did not happen.Even concepts put forward before the creation of Pakistan seem to be a huge drag and the country descending in chaos day by day.Under the Islamised policy, Gen Zia dragged the country into the Afghan imbroglio.
Pakistan’s Constitution never allowed armed groups other than the Pakistan Army but we saw mushrooming of jihadi militias.The single-minded policy of Zia brought weapons, drugs and sectarianism in the country.
The jihadi thinking caused wrapping up of post-Zia civilian governments and now shaking the foundation of the country. Sindh contributes 70 per cent cash to the federation, 71 per cent gas, 56 per cent oil and 90 per cent coal. Yet Sindhis are the poorest of the poor in Pakistan.
There are millions of aliens living in Sindh. They had migrated from different countries of South Asia and abandoned their passports immediately after arrival.They are staying in Sindh in violation of the Liaquat-Nehru Pact and Pakistan Control and Entry Act 1951.They keep demanding that more and more Urdu-speaking people from India and Bangladesh be brought into Sindh to increase their numbers.
These so-called "stranded Pakistanis" are to be brought to Pakistan because they stood for some 'ideology' and helped Pakistani military in the Bengali genocide in the former East Pakistan.First of all, there are no 'Pakistanis' in Bangladesh because after Dec 16, 1971, all East Pakistanis, including the Urdu-speaking people, had automatically become Bangladeshis, the citizens of a new country.
If we accept for a while that the repatriation of the Urdu-speaking people of the then East Pakistan is required under an ideology, then what if the entire population of Bangladesh, unfortunately, decides to be “stranded” and demands the repatriation to Pakistan. Will they be given Pakistani nationality?
After all the Bengalese had founded the Muslim League in 1906 and scarified a lot for the creation of Pakistan.Those favouring more migration are particularly insensitive that the settlement of the outsiders would convert Sindhis into a minority who already had been marginalized in all walks of life.
The fact is that there was no mention of any ideology-related migration on the agenda of partition because the All-India Muslim League had worked for the achievement of two objectives. One was the creation of Pakistan, comprising Muslim majority areas, and the other was security of the Muslims in India. “That in other parts of India where the Mussalmans are in a minority, adequate, effective, and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provide in the constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them,” demanded the Muslim League in its Madras meeting in 1941.
The Congress and the Muslim League had also guaranteed to the British government before partition that there would be a complete equality to their entire citizen, regardless of their religion, cast and colour.There is not a single Muslim League resolution, demanding accommodation of Muslims living in minority provinces in new homeland. If there was, Sindh had not joined Pakistan.
If there was any ideology-inspired migration on the agenda of partition, than why it was banned under the Liaquat-Nehru Pact?The two premiers Jawahar Lal Nehru and Liaqat Ali Khan had signed an accord on March 8, 1950 that in future there would be no cross-border migration and people from the two countries would be permitted to cross the borders only after issuing of visa.
Thus those entered Pakistan, either its western and eastern wing, are illegal immigrants and their stay is punishable under the Pakistan (Control and Entry) Act.
It was unfortunate that March 23, 1940 resolution was not enforced in Pakistan which clearly mentions that there would be “sovereign” and “autonomous” federating units in the country.Because of there were anti-Muslim riots which compelled the Muslims to migrate Pakistan in 1947, therefore, the right to return of the Indian Muslims displaced at the time of partition could also be utilised.
The Biharis could be sent to their land of origin.Prime Minister Morarji Desai is on record to have confirmed the above position formally offering all such Indians Muslims freedom to return to India from Pakistan if they so wished. The dispossessed people around the world, especially Palestinians, are fighting for their right to return to their land.
No one points out how the Quaid-i-Azam’s decision “Urdu and Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan” had not been enforced by the then government of Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan.Mr Khan had not only declared Urdu as official but national language of Pakistan. His government virtually ignored other languages of Pakistan.
The Quaid-i-Azam had never said that Bengali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto and Seraiki can not become official or national language of the country.The fact is that Urdu-speaking people of Bangladesh were opposed to Benagli as a national language and Bengali empowerment. Therefore, they sided with the army. If they had supported the Bengalese perhaps they would not have been landed in trouble.
In retrospect, the policy of one language and two-nations not only caused break-up of the country but also promoted obscurantism and extremism.When Pakistan came into being on the basis of the two nation theory, it was pretended that the one language policy would also keep binding the one Muslim nation.
The priviligentsia based its historical knowledge on textbooks mainly written by paid historians who borrowed nebulous concepts and euphoric doctrinaire. They undermined culture, language and society of areas comprising Pakistan.Soon after the promotion of one language and suppression of others created rivalries and hatred among the people.The situation took ugly turn when the Biharis collaborated with the army to forestall the Bengali renaissance.Making of Pakistan did not mean the destruction of languages, culture and society of any group of people.
There are fears among the Sindhis that coming of more aliens would increase problems of already volatile Sindh. In Sindh, the Sindhi-Mohajir rift originated in the far-off days when Karachi was put under federal control despite the unanimous resolution of the Sindhi Assembly opposing the move.
It is time to learn from the East Pakistan tragedy and review the untruths of history.We must see that two theories in post-partition South Asia have left far-reaching consequences.The policy of following one language caused break-up of Pakistan in 1971 and backing of the two-nation theory promoted obscurantism and extremism.When this country came into being it was pretended that one language policy will bind people. But this myth was broken in 1971.
Cultural manipulation and the policy of promoting one language and suppression of others created rivalries among people. The successive governments ignored the fact that the country was home to religious minorities who were given guarantee by the Qauid-i-Azam in these words: "You are free; you are free to go your mosques and to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or cast and creed that have nothing to do with the business of the state....."The establishment under one-religion policy supported each and every Muslim movement across the globe.When the concepts of fluidity and hybridity were being promoted the world over the government here actively engaged the country in Afghanistan and Kashmir only to get out of the frying pan into the fire.
It was this policy under which the rulers disassociated themselves from the rich past of the country which inherited the Indus valley civilization. They started tracing their roots to the Middle East and Central Asia.While not a single country from the region supported Pakistan’s Kashmir policy. No Arab country condemned the pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat.
The historian dignified Muslim League leaders who were referred by the Quaid-i-Azam as "fake coins in his pocket".
Misguided by the untruths of history that it is okay to go to Pakistan and settle in Sindh.The government even breached the promises made by the Muslim League toSindhi Muslims that they would be empowered after Pakistan had come into being.
Alienation of Sindhis began at this juncture, which provides a ready ground for Sindhi nationalism.
It was stipulated later by the vested interests as pointed out by Dawn’s former editor, Mr Altaf Gauhar.
He says: "The Mohajirs had taken over the whole of Karachi, the Punjab officials had acquired large tracts of barrage lands and the Pathans had acquired a monopoly of all transport and construction business.Choudhry Mohammad Ali (the then prime minister) thought these worries were all unnecessary because his government in the 1950s had foreseen the problem and had planned the inductions of Mohajirs into Karachi and other major towns of Sindh to forestall Sindhi nationalism". (Ayub Khan: Pakistan’s First Military Ruler, pp-466-467)
Some nationalist groups see Sindh’s volatile nature in this notion. They say if the migration had not been engineered by the Punjab-dominated establishment, perhaps there would have been no conflict and violence.The fact is that in the future there would be a Bangladesh-like conflict in the country particularly in Sindh where most of the Urdu-speaking people live. Only a prudent handling of the conflict could save Sindh.

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com

Renegotiate the Indus Treaty

By Manzoor Chandio

Nov 11, 2008

THAT India has not refrained from drawing waters from the rivers allocated to Pakistan for its exclusive use under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has caused much concern in Pakistan.
Moreover, India’s denial of compensation for the loss of 0.2 million acre feet of water that Pakistan claims it suffered while the Baglihar dam was being filled has disturbed Pakistani farmers who now worry about far-reaching effects of the water shortage in the country.
With the national economy slowing down, the shortage of water will be more painful. And at a time when the economic managers are predicting that it will take several years to recover from the current crisis, Pakistan cannot afford the loss of any more water.
The Pakistani position on the Chenab water issue has been clear: a minimum of 55,000 cusecs of water should flow into Pakistan at the Marala headworks near Sialkot in peak season; however, a flow of only 22,000 cusecs was recorded this year, affecting the output of the kharif crops.
When the Indus water commissioners of India and Pakistan met in New Delhi amid Pakistan’s deepening anxiety about the Chenab water, the bureaucratic-level delegation from Islamabad simply demanded compensation for the water Pakistan did not receive. New Delhi rejected the charge despite the fact that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani that Pakistan would be compensated for Chenab water losses.
The blocking of the Chenab river was feared in 2003 when a team of the Pakistan commission for Indus waters alleged that the Baglihar dam, some 150 km north of Jammu in Indian-controlled Kashmir, was being built in violation of the IWT brokered by the World Bank. Chenab is that tributary of the Indus river to which India has no water rights under the treaty signed in Karachi by Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan in September 1960.

The roots of the India-Pakistan water dispute can be traced to Partition which not only divided people but also the waters of the Indus basin. The border between the two states divided the world’s largest irrigation system into two parts.

The current situation is reminiscent of the water crisis Pakistan faced immediately after Partition. India being the upper-riparian country stopped the flow of water from the headworks falling on its side, causing severe water shortages in Pakistan.
To end the crisis, the World Bank acted as an intermediary in the negotiations that led to the accord on the sharing of water between the two countries, which gave India exclusive control of the waters of the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi while Pakistan was given the rights to the waters of the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus.
While there were free-flowing rivers, the water in the Indus was enough to flood the delta. But the burgeoning population in the two countries enhanced their need for water. Since the signing of the treaty, India has built several dams and barrages not only on the rivers allocated to it but also on the rivers to which Pakistan has exclusive rights.
Unfortunately, the construction of dams and barrages by India triggered an inter-provincial spat in Pakistan between Punjab and Sindh. According to Sindh, Punjab would divert water meant for Sindh to its own farmlands in a bid to make up for the water allegedly lost on the Indian side of the international border. Sindh being the lower-riparian province and a tail-end user of the Indus system claimed it was unable to stop Punjab from drawing water in excess of its quota.

According to some estimates, 80 per cent of the water in the Indus system is diverted to farmlands, a diversion which, according to Sindh, has resulted in soil erosion, salinity, deforestation, desertification and encroachment by the sea in Sindh.
India benefited greatly from the IWT by reclaiming more lands in East Punjab and in the desert of Rajasthan. Sindh, however, lost its precious katchha forests and two million acres of fertile land in Thatta and Badin districts and the Indus delta as the loss of the three rivers to India was compensated for by link canals which diverted water from the Indus. Thus the Chashma-Jhelum link canal channelled water from the Indus river to the Jhelum, then onward to the Chenab and Ravi and ultimately to the Sutlej command area.
This diversion of water has devastated the whole aquatic ecosystem and culture of Sindh. The subsoil water across Sindh and the water in fresh-water lakes have turned brackish and unfit for human or agricultural use. This has not only affected the livelihood of fishermen but it has also disturbed the natural habitat of many species of animals, birds and fish.
In the wake of the gathering gloom on the water front, Pakistan must understand that there is no substitute for this precious commodity. Therefore, there is a need for renegotiating the IWT instead of merely demanding compensation from India. The decades-old treaty brokered by a military ruler handed over three rivers to India at Sindh’s expense.

This is a perfect opportunity for the present democratic government to think beyond compensation and renegotiate the treaty keeping in mind the construction of the post-treaty dams and barrages, the recent flooding in the Sutlej valley, and devastation caused by water shortages in the Indus delta.

It is important for India and Pakistan to establish channels of effective diplomatic dialogue to resolve the water dispute instead of depending on bureaucratic parleys. When the treaty was brokered concerns such as global warming and climate change did not exist. Now India should be asked to release water from its own share to save the Indus delta which has its own importance for keeping the regional ecosystem healthy.
Throughout the world rivers flow through several countries and the riparian states share the waters by negotiating effective treaties. Since India and Pakistan are not locked in a state of hostility they can follow the example of other countries and hammer out a new treaty for posterity.

manzoor.chandio@dawn.com

Nations’ right to self-determination

By Manzoor Chandio
Written on July 28, 2008

1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

--The United Nations’ International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights

MANY people wish that Pakistan’s best course for the future is democracy, provincial autonomy and control of resources by people who own them. This demand is often repeated in each seminar and conference by all and sundry.
They forget that provincial autonomy was envisaged in the Pakistan Resolution in 1940, democracy was promised by Quiad-i-Azam in 1947 and the control of resources by abolishing the Concurrent List in 1973. But this did not happen.
These concepts may have been effective immediately after the partition, but they are now nothing more than a huge drag.
Federal parties like the PPP and the PML-N may think this is still a pipe dream. Implementation of these systems now seems to be a dream gone sore.
But nationalists from smaller provinces say now this is 21st century and ideas of provincial autonomy and decentralization promised in 20th century have become irrelevant.
Now there is talk that the problem of Baloch people is not provincial autonomy or share in natural resources and constitutional rights in the framework of Pakistan, but the right to self-determination and self-rule. They think ongoing struggle is liberation movement against the state slavery.
Over the years questions have been asked whether the integrity of the federation of Pakistan is in jeopardy over the growing disparity between the federating units and to what extent do the people from provinces other than Punjab have disliking for the over-centralised federal set-up.
The people of the smaller provinces are calling names for many of their woes and appalling inequalities within and between the provinces.
Ironically, there is an air of insouciance in Punjab because of its sheer size and military might.
There is a common perception in Pakistan that the country is some 200 years back of the West. In Sindh, it is believed that the province’s rural hinterland is some 50 years back of Punjab.
Both perceptions might be true in the sense that Pakistan has not yet developed as the first-class modern institutions to be included in the list of developed countries.
It still imports aeroplans, automobiles, computers and many military and non-military equipment and gadgets.
The rural hinterland of Sindh still can not produce electric fans and motors which are brought from Gujarat and Gujranwala, sport kits from Sialkot, cutlery buts from Wazirabad and fabric from Faisalabad.
Thousand of tube-wells and water pumps installed across Sindh are also brought from Punjab. The entire country depends on agricultural implements like land levelers, ploughs, thrashers made in Punjab.
Even the tractors engines are first brought to Karachi then transported to Lahore and after being assembled there marketed in the country. Many daily use things like soaps and toothpaste are produced in Punjab and marketed in Sindh.
It is a big tragedy Sindh even can not produce electric buttons which are house-made items in Punjab. With the industrialization of central Punjab, millions of Punjabis have changed their mode of production from agriculture to industry.
While Sindhis are still associated with the centuries old mode of production—the agriculture.
In the armed forces, Punjabis have acquainted themselves with the nuclear bomb making to fly F-16 and operate the most frigates. While Sindhis have still to make DIGs and IGs.
Why Punjab is 50 years ahead of Sindh? There are many theories being discussed among the new emerging educated class in Sindh.
A look at the federation’s employing intuitions shows how most of the bodies are out of bounds for people from the two provinces.
The Pakistan Army, which also enjoys considerable influence in the decision-making, has earned the preferred nomenclature in the two provinces as the Punjab Army because it does not have proportional representation from all ethnic groups.
Many eyebrows are being raised on Dr Ayesha Siddiqa’s book ‘the Military Inc.’ that how nine per cent of Pakistan’s population controls unprecedented share in the national economy.
But she did not elaborate that Sindhis and the Baloch, whose combined representation in Pakistan's military is very low, have not stakes in the Pakistan Military Inc., the country’s biggest corporate conglomerate.
The two nations have no representation in the Frontier Works Organisation, (the largest construction company), the National Logistic Cell (the largest transport company), DHAs (one of the Pakistan’s largest land owners) and airlines, bakeries, cinemas and gas stations that had been set up by the armed forces.
Factories, industries and firms established by military subsidiaries—the Fauji Foundation, Bahria Foundation and Shaheen Foundation –virtually remain out of bounds for Sindhis and Baloch.
If we look at the Pakistan civil services, only one province rules the roost.
The Senate of Pakistan was told in 2006 that Punjab occupies 116 out of total 179 secretary-level posts in federal government departments. The NWFP stood second with 31 high-ranking officers, Sindh has 19 officers and Balochistan has the lowest representation in civil bureaucracy with only one secretary and two joint secretaries.
In Sindh police, purely a provincial subject, thousands of officials are recruited from Punjab. It is being argued that any Pakistani from any part of the country can work anywhere. If so is the argument then how many Sindhis and the Baloch had been inducted in the Punjab police? There is an army of jobless youth in the two provinces. Will the Punjab government give them jobs as a token of harmony and to prove that Punjab is also a part of Pakistan?
The Pakistan Cricket Board has yet to select any Sindhi or Baloch in the national cricket team. Isn't there a single youth in Sindh and Balochistan who can run in the ground at the speed of ball?
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has been made an exclusive sport of youth from Punjab. There is not a single Sindhi or Baloch player in the hockey team which happens to be the national sport of the country.
At present, statistics paint a dismal picture of the representation of Sindhis and the Baloch in the Foreign Office and diplomatic machines abroad. Sindh being the province which in the past had produced great statesmen, diplomats and constitutionalists like Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Hafeez Pirzado can not have diplomats of lower grade if we do not talk about ambassadors, first secretaries and attaché.
The world has entered a paradigm in which the ideas of human capital are being given priority over all other theories. But here in this country people are still being pushed against the wall and deprived their equal rights.
Now the question is being raised: Is this country an exclusive domain of one province or one group of people in which others have no equal say?

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com

Genesis of Pakistan and the question of autonomy

By Manzoor Chandio
Written on August 14, 2007

SIXTY years on from the birth of a new country and a new nation, how do the people of smaller provinces view Independence Day? Do they really believe they are free? Are they proud to call themselves Pakistani? Do they think theirs is a respectable federation among the comity of nations?
Since Partition in 1947, Pakistan has had a chequered history.
The nascent state started its journey with mass communal riots, killing of innocent men, women and children, the destruction of property, an unprecedented influx of refugees and bitter disputes with India over Kashmir, Junagarh, canal waters, evacuee property and the withholding of assets.
The big blow came when the man who fathered the new nation died without accomplishing the great goal he cherished.
Though the resolution of March 23, 1940, envisaged “sovereign” and “autonomous” federating units in the country, the issue of provincial autonomy was put on the backburner.
The unforeseen issues which emerged immediately after Partition shaped the country’s political and social texture in ways that could not have been imagined by Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
After his death, there were no leaders who could carry on his mission though he had given a clear roadmap.
The people at the helm of affairs found it difficult to cope with the problems posed by poor physical and financial resources and the vacuum created by Jinnah’s death. The country went through turbulent times, right from its birth to its ignominious defeat and division in 1970.
The nationalists argue that had there been provincial autonomy, the country would have averted the division.
Tracing the roots of demand for provincial autonomy leads us to the Muslim League’s promises to the provinces before Partition.
According to Dr Rafique Afzal, former dean of the faculty of social sciences at Quaid-i-Azam University, the demand for provincial autonomy had become part of the official creed of the All-India Muslim League in the 1920s.
The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for provincial autonomy, and it was this part of the Act that was put in practice from 1937 to 1947.
From 1940 onward, the Muslim League’s demand was for an independent Muslim state based on the Lahore Resolution; but there were many lapses, particularly during and after the Cabinet Mission of 1946.
Many a time, the provincial Muslim League leadership was given a free hand to express views that were hardly in the line with the core demand of the All-India Muslim League.
After independence, however, the Muslim League leaders ignored all this. Their knowledge of statecraft and the rights of federating units was such that they failed to frame a constitution — the basic document needed to run the affairs of the state.
The nationalists felt that the new rulers deliberately delayed constitution-making to marginalise the provinces.
The polity was marred by the absence of a constitution and long years of bureaucratic and despotic rule. No serious effort was made to extricate the country from this conundrum and to give full autonomy to the provinces.
However, post-independence politicians chose to enforce the Objectives Resolution on March 7, 1949, instead of a full-fledged constitution, as a guiding principle.
Few voices were heard for the eradication of the colonial style of governance and the recovery of genuine independence.
Thus, as the saying goes, the “kaley angrez” took over from the “gora angrez”.
Nationalists pointed out in their writings that Muslim leaders in Bengal and Sindh had backed the Muslim League on the grounds that it would ensure provincial autonomy.
Therefore, they withdrew their demand for the complete independence of Bengal and Sindh. According to The New York Times (February 27, 1947), “the Bengal Provincial Muslim League leadership openly advocated for quite some time, the idea of an independent united Bengal without any immediate directive to the contrary from the central party leadership.
During the same period, the president of the Sindh Muslim League is reported to have favoured the setting up of a sovereign Muslim state in Sindh.”
Though efforts were made by the Bhutto government to give some autonomy to the provinces, it was not sufficient as the Concurrent List was to be devolved after 10 years under the 1973 Constitution which was also promulgated on August 14, 1973. Thus this day also marks the promulgation of the current Constitution.
Until recently, it seemed that the Musharraf government would transfer up to 35 subjects out of a total of 47 on the Concurrent List to the provinces to give them more autonomy, but, unfortunately, this has not materialised owing to one or the other pretext. In this connection, the eighteenth constitutional amendment bill had been planned, but the government failed to table it in parliament due to lack of consensus on the quantum of autonomy.
The bill was aimed at resolving the issue of provincial autonomy and resource distribution formula between the federation and the federating units. There are several ministries and departments working simultaneously in the same areas in Islamabad and the provincial capitals, putting a huge burden on the national exchequer.
Some of these include: food and agriculture, health, education, sports and culture, housing and works, information and broadcasting, narcotics control, tourism and religious affairs. In 60 years, no government has been able to decide who should collect and spend the following taxes — surcharge on petroleum, labour tax, workers’ welfare tax, workers’ profit participation tax, income tax, excise duty, sales tax and customs duty.
It is obvious that the resources of the smaller provinces are being taken away and spent outside their areas. Jobs are given to other than the residents of these areas.
Sindh and Balochistan are rich in resources. Had disbursement been made judiciously, the two provinces would have been the most developed areas and there would have been no need for subventions doled out by the centre.
Now, more than ever before, there is heightened public awareness of provincial rights as the centre continues to deny implementation of the Muslim League’s promise of “sovereignty” and “autonomy” to the federating units.

manzoor.chandio@dawn.com

National language tangle

By Manzoor Chandio
Written on Sept 14, 2007

THE theory of Pakistani nationhood being promoted by the establishment has had far-reaching consequences for the country’s political, social and cultural milieus.
It is argued that we are the followers of one religion (Islam), live in one country (Pakistan) and belong to one nation (Pakistani); therefore, we should have one national language (Urdu).
The rhetoric of artificial oneness has been going for 60 years despite the fact that Pakistan lost its eastern wing in 1971 over this controversy.
It was a difficult concept to grasp and ultra nationalists latched on to the argument that when there was no migration of Urdu-speaking people on the agenda of Partition then why had Urdu been made the national language of the country.
When Pakistan was created, the myth foisted on us was that one language would bind the people together.
The policy of promoting one language and suppressing others created an ill feeling among the people.
The Bengalis created a furore in East Pakistan because of their sensitivity about the language issue.
Dr Tariq Rahman of the Quaid-i-Azam University has this to say about the situation: “No minority wants to be dominated by a powerful majority. But no majority wants to be dominated by a powerful minority either.”
The distinguished linguist observes that the issue that was a minority versus majority one during the days of the Pakistan movement became a majority versus minority one after Partition.
He correctly points out that it had been forgotten that Urdu was a symbol of unity for the Muslims of South Asia and not a tool to win power and resources in the new country. For that reason, the Bengali majority demanded that its language be made one of the national languages of the country.
When the majority was denied its right to develop its language, the country fell apart. The making of Pakistan did not mean the destruction of languages, culture and society of the people living in different parts.
Paradoxically, in Sindh the language of Shah Latif and the language of Mirza Ghalib emerged as rivals fearing destruction at the hands of the other and not realising that Shah of Sindh and Ghalib of Delhi had made both languages immortal.The world has come far since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Two opposite ideologies — communism and capitalism — coexist in China under the precept of “one country and two systems”.
What is the harm if Pakistan were to have many official languages as India where 70 per cent of the people do not speak Hindi? If we look through the cultural kaleidoscope of this country, we find a multiplicity of linguistic groups from Karachi to the Karakorams.
The Indus valley has always remained the melting pot of different peoples and it is for this reason that the renowned historian Toynbee described the region as “the roundabout of history.”
Through the ages, multifarious societies emerged in this part of South Asia and followed divergent and contrasting cultures and beliefs. It is a region where cultures have converged and civilisations have flourished side by side.
It is a pity to see how from 1947 onwards our society has promoted exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness so that different cultural groups have not learnt to respect each other’s way of life and language.
It is time we recognise the beauty of all languages spoken in the country and acknowledge their status as national languages because they are spoken by people who make up the country.
There is nothing wrong with the country having more than one national language as in progressive Switzerland and Singapore.
Successive governments have ignored the fact that this country has been home to different nationalities who have spoken their own languages for centuries and these languages have been passed on to their progeny.

manzoor.chandio@dawn.com

What do the Baloch want?

By Manzoor Chandio
Written in 2006

“I WILL muster all I can – tanks, artillery and machine-guns – to kill all the traitors and, if necessary, raze Dhaka to the ground. There will be no one to rule; there will be nothing to rule”, said GOC Maj-Gen Khadim Hussain Raja during the East Pakistan crisis.
No one was surprised at the statement of another military man, Gen Musharraf, while talking about the Balochistan crisis.
In an interview to a private television, he said that “don’t push us ... it is not the 1970s when you could hit and run to hide in the mountains, and this time you won’t even know what has hit you.” He is true to his words. We still don’t know what hit Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti and his associates in the Kohlu mountains.
But what we are seeing is that the killing of Baloch nationalist leader in a merciless action has led to the flare-up of the nationalist movement in the mountains of Balochistan.
The Baloch have unified against the action and brought the province to a standstill for days.
Bugti’s killing has given a new lease of life to the Baloch and Sindhis to struggle for nationalist rights.
The Musharraf government was supposed to capture Osama bin Ladin and end Jihadi ideology from the country.
But it is strange to see that the government has liquidated many nationalist leaders in Sindh and Balochistan, while many others have been missing.On the other hand, it has unleashed propaganda to malign nationalist leaders and parties that they were not Pakistanis.
A number of articles and letters carrying a litany of prevarications about the Baloch continue to appear in the national press. Some writers have painted a terrible picture of the Baloch.
They have portrayed them as “recalcitrant tribals”, “backward” and “primitive” opponents of modernization.
They do not condemn the system of manipulation under which the Baloch have been deprived of their rights.
An impression is also being given that the Baloch sardars and tumandars see their downfall in mega development projects and for that reason they are involved in “blackmailing”.
In fact, the tumandari system will be strengthened after completion of the projects because the pattern under which they have been initiated will not empower the Baloch. If the government really wants tumandari to end, it must empower the Baloch.
There would be no need of sending the army and establishing any cantonments — the Baloch themselves would defeat the tumandars.
The feudal system can only be ended when more and more people stop depending on feudal lords.
The only difference between the Baloch tumandars and the English lords is that the latter did not interfere in the lives of their people while the tumandars hold sway over individuals.
A country in which there is no respect for the Constitution and no system of merit and justice, a country where there is “controlled democracy” and engineered political alliances like that of the IJI, the Baloch would remain under the influence of tumandars for centuries.
In the media the term “tribe” for the deprived people and “backward” for the neglected areas can harm the process of progress.
The state has always shied away from the daunting realities of poverty, unemployment and powerlessness and called the province backward. The use of the word adds an extra weight to the wrongs of successive governments which had perpetuated lopsided development.
If there had been balanced disbursement of resources with input in the shape of infrastructure, the neglected areas would have been at par with the developed ones.The most sensitive issue with regard to the Balochistan issue is that of demographic change. Balochistan’s population today is only 7.56 million (out of the country’s 151.1 million).
The government plans generation of two million jobs after the commissioning of Gwadar port. The subsequent industrialization will definitely invite more and more people from other provinces. If an unchecked influx continues, the Baloch would be converted into a minority in a few decades.
If the situation does not improve, the Baloch tumandars would be directly dealing with international consortiums and conglomerates to sell their silver, copper and gas.
Employ locals in the Sui, Saindak and Gwadar projects, and see the change take place — like the one in Britain after the Industrial Revolution.
For this, the management of all the existing and ongoing mega projects should be handed over to the Balochistan government. Only after jobs have been given to unemployed locals, as is being done in the industrial cities of Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Wazirabad, Lahore and Sialkot, should people from the other provinces be employed.
Nationalists in this country are criticizing Punjab for many of their woes. They say revenue collected from Sindh’s seaport, the Seraiki belt’s cotton, Balochistan’s gas and the NWFP’s hydro-electricity is being spent on areas other than theirs. Federalists say its Lahore versus Larkana.
Whatever be the political slogans, it is clear that the resources of the smaller provinces are being taken away and spent outside their areas. Jobs are given to other than the residents of these areas.Natural gas to the tune of billions of rupees is being extracted daily from Balochistan but almost all people given jobs from exploration to tapping, from distribution to commercialization, are non-Baloch.
The gas is supplied to Punjab and Sindh cities for domestic and industrial use. Billions of rupees are earned daily from it which directly go to Islamabad and then are mainly spent on the development of one province.
The story does not end here. Thousands of industries in Karachi and other big cities are being run on gas from Balochistan. Several thousand workers associated with these industries are from other provinces. And thus the Baloch are poor.
It would be better the government should end this prejudice and end the Balochistan operation. The government should set free all nationalist leaders and workers.
What do the Baloch want is that they should be allowed to control their own resources and rule their province.

manzoorchandio@hotmail.com