Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Thursday it was time to apologise to the Baloch and Pakhtuns for violence in Balochistan, adding that they should be brought to the table for peace talks.
Addressing a conference, Shahbaz said issues of the people of the province should be resolved and they should be given legitimate rights, adding that Punjab had given Rs 12 billion of its share in the NFC award to Balochistan and “will continue to sacrifice for the province”. Earlier, in an interaction with Islamabad-based editors and columnists on the issue on Wednesday, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that he had decided to soon convene an All-Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan. The prime minister said a lot had been done for Balochistan but nothing helped improve the situation significantly with law and order being the major problem that posed a challenge to every effort.
It is time to apologise to the people of Baluchistan. Shahbaz Sharif is absolutely right. The matter must not end there. It must be followed by concrete steps. All political parties must support PPP in this regard. It has roots in all provinces and historically its approach has been one of consensus and bringing everybody on board. The original passage of Constitution and then 18th, 19th & 20th Amendments are ample proof. It is imperative that all political forces of the country should unite in establishing civilian supremacy and ending Army's role in policy making vis a vis Baluchistan. God forbid, otherwise, Army's high-handedness and narrow-mindedness may produce the same results like in East Pakistan.
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