BAP senators say Balochistan being pushed to the wall

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) highlighted its issues with the federal government in the Senate on Friday when two of its senators spoke their heart out and also staged a walkout from the House to protest what they called the continuous deprivation of Balochistan and warned they were being pushed to the wall. Senators from the opposition and government strongly condemned what they called another ugly face of Hindutva, when Hindu extremists harassed a Muslim girl student recently, wearing Hijab in Karnataka.

After the question hour, BAP Senator Prince Ahmad Umer Ahmadzai rose to demand that their only federal minister Ms. Zubaida Jalal be given a better ministry and said their people often asked them about how they represented them in the federal government. He pointed out during the last 70 years none from Balochistan was made the National Bank of Pakistan’s president. “Kachi canal remains incomplete hitherto and no attention is being paid to it. All figures given regarding Balochistan's development are incorrect. From now on, we can’t move forward this way. If we are not taken seriously, then there is no need of attending the Senate sessions. We walk out from the House,” he then left and was followed by all the senators belonging to Balochistan. The opposition members were lauded by thumping desks. Some ministers and PTI senators went to bring the senators back which took quite some time to succeed and were greeted by the treasury senators by desk thumping.

BAP Senator Manzoor Ahmad Kakar regretted that while they were returning PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz passed taunted that now they would get a ministry, but ‘we are not here for ministries but have come to raise the issues and rights of Balochistan. He wondered how much was done in the Pakhtoon belt of the province while Chief Minister Balochistan sat in the Apex Committee. “Has any motorway or expressway built in my province? In many districts, people and animals drink water from the same place. In Wapda, jobs are not given to our people, and inductions of hundreds are made from outside,” he regretted. “We are being pushed to the wall. For God’s sake, pity the people of Balochistan,” he maintained. Leader of the House Dr. Shahzad Waseem welcomed the Balochistan’s senators and said he highly valued their views and deprivation of Balochistan and its issues should be resolved. He also said that Pakistan’s progress and development were linked to Balochistan and without developing it, Pakistan could not move forward on the path of development.

Earlier, Senator Sherry Rehman, showing a copy of ‘Jang’ newspaper to chair, spoke on the recent statements made by the Prime Minister about the United States and said, “the Foreign Ministry has said that Pakistan will try to maintain a balanced and positive relationship with the US and that the PM’s trip to Russia should not be seen as a challenge to the United States or as a relationship being made at Washington’s expense”. But the prime minister on the other hand makes strong populist statements regarding the US. She pointed out that any statement that the prime minister makes, is considered a policy statement, so none of us now understand what kind of a message is being given where. In reality, it reflects total confusion in Pakistan’s articulated foreign policy. “There needs to be strategic clarity on which way we are going on the floor of this House,” she asked. Sherry said, “there has been a dangerous uptick in Islamophobia in India, which has manifested not just in dangerous rhetoric but has impacted the diminishing freedoms of Indian Muslim citizens.

The Hijab-ban in educational institutions in the state of Karnataka is highly condemnable”. Dr. Shahzad Waseem vehemently condemned the Hindu militant mob for targeting and harassing the Muslim student for using Hijab.

He then responded to Senator Sherry’s concerns by saying that the foreign policy was absolutely clear while the opposition itself was confused and was trying to confuse things as well. He noted the US spokesperson had reiterated that his country had strategic relations with Pakistan. “While their government was sleeping when the US took away Osama! Our foreign policy is moving in the right direction,” he said. On the ‘contradictory’ statements of PM Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, ex-chairman Senate and PPP lawmaker Mian Raza Rabbani said that country’s foreign policy has no link with the government as the same has always been decided by the state.

Rabbani continued, “today, we are seeing that CPEC is being put on the back burner on the dictation of US. Pakistan’s strategic interests are linked with Asia, China, and Russia but we are seeing a soft paddling with US”. Referring to the finance minister’s statement on FATF, Rabbani said that if Pakistan fulfilled all conditions of FATF, even then the anti-money laundering entity would not put Pakistan’s name off its grey list until American imperialist and international financial imperialists didn’t give a go-ahead.

Dr Shahzad Waseem went on to say that the problem with the opposition was that PM Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to Russia had become a thorn in their eyes and this is because Russia has invited any prime minister of Pakistan for a visit after decades.