Bugti: Balochistan faces separatist thinking, not insurgency

QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfraz Bugti has said that Balochistan is not facing an insurgency, but that a few elements are promoting separatist thinking on the basis of identity. He said such elements want to divide Pakistan like a cake, but no conspiracy to break up Pakistan will succeed.

He was addressing participants of the 21st National Workshop Balochistan in Quetta. Senator Dinesh Kumar, Adviser for Information and Political Affairs Shahid Rind and Principal Secretary Imran Zarkoon were also present.

The Chief Minister said Baloch youth were being pushed towards a futile war, from which neither the youth of Balochistan nor the province’s future would gain anything. He said it was wrong to call uneven development and backwardness the main cause of unrest in Balochistan, because uneven development existed in most countries of the world, including Pakistan. However, he said, nowhere do people take up arms for development, nor is innocent blood shed.

He urged young people to understand the difference between fact and perception and to learn the true history of their province. He said anti-Pakistan elements sitting abroad were misleading young people through organised propaganda. He asked the youth to focus on education, progress and a bright future, and not to become part of anti-state propaganda.

Merit, AI testing and accountability

The Chief Minister said young people were being heard at every level to narrow the gap between the state and the youth. He said they could be given their rightful due only by promoting meritocracy. An artificial intelligence-based testing system has been introduced in Balochistan to ensure merit and transparency in recruitment. No deserving person will be denied his right, and jobs will be given on merit alone.

Mir Sarfraz Bugti said the Public Sector Development Programme in Balochistan had achieved 100 per cent progress over the past two years. The Anti-Corruption Department has been made active, and the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team is also fully functional. He said the team began inspecting development programmes in his own constituency, to send a clear message that accountability would be without discrimination.

He said action against corrupt elements was continuing and arrests were being made. Institutions are being activated to ensure monitoring of development projects, transparency and merit. He said the foundation of good governance had been laid in the province and its continuity would be maintained. The government’s aim, he said, is to establish a system that ensures merit, transparency, accountability and opportunities for young people.

Later, the Chief Minister answered questions from participants who had come from across the country, including Balochistan. He also gave laptops to female students who had performed best, to encourage them. In the question-and-answer session, which lasted more than two and a half hours, Mir Sarfraz Bugti spoke in detail on various subjects, including the historical facts of Balochistan, the present situation in the province, government measures and governance.

Photo: courtesy DGPR Balochistan