LAHORE - Veteran Baloch leader and former Deputy Speaker of National Assembly, Sardar Wazir Ahmad Jogazai on Saturday said that Balochistan needed good governance, and that would come only through appointment of Pakistan civil service officers on key posts with best officers serving at least three years in the province.
“The sense of deprivation of the Baloch people would come to an end automatically when they are given good governance through appointment of best civil officers”, he observed while talking to The Nation and Nawa-i-Waqt.
He deplored that successive governments in Balochistan did little to improve the living conditions of the people there. “Neither road infrastructure was built nor universities were set up to develop the human resource”, he said, adding that present government was comparatively better than the previous governments.
Replying to a question, he admitted that though there existed a separatist movement in Balochistan but it was not that strong to be alarming. He argued that the movement would die down gradually if efficient administrators are appointed in the province and good people come to the assemblies. He suggested establishment of a jirga to initiate a dialogue with separatists with the direct involvement of army and the local administration. The separatists, he believed, could be brought back to the mainstream by addressing the genuine concerns. He regretted that no such effort had been made in the past.
Tracing history of Pakistan Muslim League, the Baloch leader said that his father, a true soldier of the Quaid, joined the League in 1942 and remained its General Secretary till 1953.
To a question, he said that legislation process in the country was slow. “I think legislation should be at the floor of Parliament and the Senate rather than through ordinances. Every member should give his/her opinion during legislation and others should listen to him”, he said.
Answering another question, he said that it would have been better if the PML-N would have formed government in Balochistan, because, in that case, the federal and provincial governments would have been on the same page. However, he said the decision to make Dr Abdul Malik Baloch as chief minister was also good as he was an educated, serious and experienced person.
He said in past, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto did well for Balochistan and Benazir Bhutto also had good intentions to improve living conditions in the province. However, he added, the PPP leadership made a mistake by making person like Nawab Aslam Raeesani chief minister of Balochistan. He said both the Raeesani brothers deceived the party in the end.  To a question, he replied that Balochistan became a province after break-up of One Unit.
“General Yahya Khan was advised to divide Balochistan into two provinces or merge Karachi with the province but the idea did not work,” he said, adding it was the same as Bahawalpur merged with Punjab and Dir and Swat combined with KP.  He was of the view that unlike the other three provinces, Balochistan lacked human resources and weak legislative tradition had further complicated the problems. “I think the whole province is even less populated than Karachi but the government is not able to control it.”, he remarked.
Jogazai opined that Balochistan needed a visionary leadership having right kind of decision making power and understanding about the region. Practical steps were required to utilize the natural resources of Balochistan for the benefit of Baloch people and rest of the country, he said, urging private sector to also contribute in this regard.
Sardar Wazir Ahmed Jogazai appreciated Dr Majid Nizami for protection and promotion of Pakistan ideology and spreading its message among the youth.