Govt decides it’s time to restore writ in Balochistan

Following the Supreme Court’s warning to impose emergency in the violence-hit Balochistan province, a high-level meeting has decided to put the Frontier Corps (FC) under the control of the chief minister while announcing to delegate no other role to the military outfit besides the maintenance of law and order.
“The FC will have no anti-smuggling role in Balochistan. However, the Balochistan chief minister will determine FC’s role to provide security to the people travelling across the province,” Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting, which reviewed the security situation in the province and the issue of missing persons. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Kaira said the provincial government would be asked to hold dialogue with the politicians and Baloch nationalist groups.
He said the meeting discussed a six-dimensional plan on Balochistan, besides deliberating upon the missing persons’ issue. He said the meeting made a detailed review of the situation, including its operational, developmental, administrative, legal, political and financial aspects. Kaira said a six-member steering committee had also been formed to hold meetings on a weekly basis, and submit report on its recommendations to the prime minister. He said the committee would include six members – three each from the federal and Balochistan governments.
The minister said the meeting decided to restore the government’s writ in Balochistan, besides ensuring action against anyone found involved in human rights violations. He said the prime minister also vowed to implement his “policy of DRA” (dialogue, rule of law and autonomy) in the province. Kaira said that all stakeholders were unanimous in their resolve to improve the situation in Balochistan, and the government’s writ would be restored under a phased process.
“Under the plan, law and order would be restored in urban areas in the first phase, and Quetta city would be termed as a model city,” Kaira said, adding that the prime minister expressed his resolve to give political ownership to the decisions taken by the meeting.
He said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani also believed that military option was not a durable solution, and dialogue was the only way to resolve conflicts. The minister said the COAS had made it clear that Pakistan Army and FC would work under the directions of the government and would remain in their ambits. He said that General Kayani told the meeting that actions taken by the army were aimed at defending the integrity of the country, and that the military would continue to play its role in the future. He assured that the army and FC would remain within their legal role, and no excesses would be allowed. “General Kayani also asked the federal and provincial governments to provide funds for scholarships to the Baloch youth who were studying at cadet colleges and military schools in Kohlu and Sui,” he added.
He said the prime minister also directed the law minister to improve terrorism-related laws to counter the menace of terrorism. He said the army chief assured provision of foolproof security to local and foreign companies for discovery of minerals in Balochistan.
“In future no emergency or marshal law will be imposed in any part of the country,” the minister said, adding that all stakeholders had been brought on the same page on Balochistan issue. He said that the quota for Baloch youth in the military would also be completed this year, while 300 people would also be inducted in the Levies force. He said the Balochistan youth would be given more jobs in the federal government.