Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday underscored the importance of consensus among provinces to promote national unity and uphold the true spirit of federalism in Pakistan.
Speaking at the Balochistan Workshop in Islamabad, the prime minister said inter-provincial harmony was essential for the country’s progress and stability.
He further said militancy that had been “completely eradicated in 2018” was again raising its head. “Security forces are sacrificing their lives every day for peace,” he added.
Calling the people of Balochistan “our brothers,” the prime minister said they must be equal partners in the country’s development.
The prime minister said that Balochistan had its own history, culture and was blessed with immense natural resources worth trillions of dollars. These huge national resources of wealth were still buried under heavy mountains, and unfortunately, what happened in the last few years was a matter of self-introspection, he added.
During the creation of Pakistan, the leaders and tribal leaders of Balochistan had gathered in Quetta and decided to join Pakistan, he said, adding Balochistan always took pride in its values and culture; the Baloch people had always been very generous and promoting those segments of societies who had either migrated to the province or living there for ages, including Punjabi migrants and other tribes.
The prime minister said that they had been living in Balochistan with complete harmony and peace for a long time.
He further observed that nature had uniquely designed the province: small and sporadic populations, where road infrastructure was a big challenge, and without a proper road network, commuting was a difficult task.
The prime minister informed that a road that ran from Karachi to Chaman was locally called a ‘bloody road’ by the residents of the province due to frequent traffic collisions and casualties.
“To convert this bloody road into a peaceful avenue”, he said, Rs350 billion was estimated, adding the petrol prices were announced every fortnightly, and on one occasion, when the prices were declined, they had decided to divert this amount of up to Rs180 billion annually, for the construction of this road.
The prime minister said that when he had decided it, he had only one objective in his mind: to promote provincial harmony, affection, unity, progress, and from Peshawar to Karachi, there was no voice opposing his decision.
Moreover, different challenges etched in history and to meet them, “the people of Balochistan should act like active participants and beneficiaries of the national economic trajectory and growth,” he stressed.
“These challenges needed to be discussed and addressed, as these will not only benefit the people of Pakistan but also the people living in the province,” he opined.
The prime minister underlined that financial resources were required to address these challenges.
He recollected that during the year 2010, when a new NFC award was discussed under the government led by former prime minister Gillani and President Asif Ali Zardari, the chief ministers, including him, had held complete three-day deliberations, and in the meeting, he had announced that Punjab was ready to meet the then chief minister of Balochistan’s demand.
“It was a memorable day in the history of Pakistan as they acted like brothers,” he said, adding that the distances and grievances needed to be addressed.
He said that problems did exist, but Pakistan was like a shared home to everyone. It was their onus to remove the differences and distances and move together on the path of progress and peace, with affection, unity and sacrifices.
