Pakistan: Opposition leaders raise concern over precarious situation in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 5 : The opposition leaders in Pakistan; Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Omar Ayub Khan raised the issue of rising discontentment in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged the government to have dialogue with estranged youth, Dawn reported.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday called for adopting a political path to address the grievances of the people of the respective provinces in Pakistan.
It seems the Pakistan government has lost writ in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas, where armed people were ruling and collecting taxes and toll fees, he remarked.
"They are going to villages, patrolling the streets, and are armed with rocket launchers and special equipment," he said.
Pointing out that both sides had taken extreme positions, he said, "One party goes to the extent of talking about separation, while the other vows to deal with them with full force and to go to any extent to protect the state."
He said such attitudes only raised questions over the country's security.
Referring to the August 26 terror attacks in Balochistan which killed dozens of people, the JUI-F chief regretted that parliament had "not taken matters seriously". Rehman added that prominent, sagacious and experienced political leadership was being sidelined despite the fact that politicians could resolve such issues, as reported by Dawn.
Rehman further noted that Pakistan had become a battleground for a proxy war (between the US and China). He said obstacles had been created in the way of megaprojects planned under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Referring to the issue of missing persons -- amid repeated cases of enforced disappearances -- the JUI-F chief said some families were still waiting for their loved ones who had gone missing some 20 years ago.
They were unaware if those missing persons were dead or alive or whether they were in jail or had fled the country, he said. "Wherever they are, it is the government's responsibility to inform their family of their whereabouts," he asserted.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan also stressed the need to address the grievances of people and suggested that a fact-finding mission should visit the areas of Balochistan to help tackle the situation, Dawn reported.
He also proposed formation of a committee to talk to the people of Balochistan.
He said the Baloch youth did not want to talk to them as they believed they were "compromised". He said the grievances of the people of Balochistan were 100 per cent genuine. "They had not been pushed to wall, rather had been immured in the wall," he remarked.