Ethnic Pakktuns make up around 35% of Balochistan’s population, concentrated in the northern part of the province. This area has been entirely peaceable and not been part of the disturbances in some of the Baloch districts. Now the Pakhtuns are agreeing with the federal govt that they should be given parity with the ethnic Balochi people, and others also want a separate province.
Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Former Senator Khalid Khan Kakar has demanded that Pakhtuns in Balochistan should be given equal share in political and fiscal powers, otherwise granting more autonomy to Balochistan will be considered a conspiracy against the Pakhtuns in the province. Speaking at a press conference at the press club on Thursday, he read out a six-page statement titled `The case of Pakhtuns’ and supported the recommendations of the parliamentary committee of Senator Mushahid Hussain for granting equal rights to Baloch and Pakhtuns in the province. He asserted that the Pakhtuns were a majority in British Balochistan that was established on November 1, 1887 but the formation of Balochistan province in 1970 that included the Baloch States Union turned the Pakhtun majority into a minority. Mr Khalid Khan claimed that the Pakhtuns in British Balochistan supported the inclusion of their areas in Pakistan wherein the Baloch States Union opposed it.
He said that the British government had committed a serious mistake by calling the majority Pakhtun areas as British Balochistan instead of British Pakhtun land, and citing as an example he said that when the British occupied Somalia the country was then called British Somali land. Mr Kakar said Balochistan was a bi-ethnic province in which Pakhtuns and Baloch had equal rights and also quoted the paragraph of the parliamentary committee of Mushahid Hussain that says: “To promote harmony, stability and co-existence among all the communities in the province of Balochistan, it is recommended that the Baloch and Pakhtun parity be maintained in all spheres of life.”
Musharraf announces Rs. one billion for Quetta QUETTA, Dec 7 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday at a public meeting here announced a Rs. one billion development package for Quetta, with Rs100 million each for the 28 districts. He also announced that seven new cadet colleges, two more campuses for Balochistan University at Gwadar and Turbat, would be established along with 1000 scholarships for Baloch students. He urged the Baloch youth to focus on their studies, seek higher education and work for the betterment of their country and families. He said that every village in Balochistan will get electricity by the year 2008. He said currently electricity from Iran was being supplied to Panjgur, Pasni, Turbat and Gwadar. He said new roads linking Loralai with D. G. Khan and Zhob with D. I. Khan were being built, while RCD Highway, Indus Highway and Motorway were being further improved to enhance the trade links with Iran, Afghanistan and China. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Funny, isn’t it? The people who have built their political empires on divisive politics, who go to great pains in explaining Baloch issue in terms of their own history, who have consistently appealed to differences rather than similarities to carve a cosy little political niche for themselves to perch on feel so awfully aggrieved if any govt. official even suggests maintaining some kind of parity between different groups.
Looking in the mirror can be so frightening, I did not know.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Death to Paki mentality!
It is none of the kind. For a long time the elected representatives of the Pakhtuns in Northern Balochistan have called for equal rights to the Baloch in the province. In fact political parties like the PKMAP, refer to the Pakhtun areas as "Southern Pakhtunkwa", and argue it should be a separate province from the Baloch areas. Also like I said the Pakhtun belt has remained entirely peaceful, unlike some of the Baloch areas during the recent years of disturbances. This shows the Pakhtuns have no interest in the terrorist activities or so-called fight for freedom of a few Baloch sardars.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Why all of the sudden Pakis are so concern about Pashtun rights? Pakis(Paki ruling mafia) always used Pashtuns as their tools and never cared about their grievances, they are not even allow to name their province as Pakhtunkhwa.
Why now when Baluch are struggling for their rights against the Pakis, they, the Pakis braught this issue of equal rights in Baluchistan?
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Death to the Paki Ruling Mafia!!!
Why are the Paktuns of Balochistan not supporting their provincial brothers - the Baloch in their so-called struggle for rights (re acts of terrorism)? Instead, why are they demanding equal rights to the Balcoch, and even a separate province from these people?
The Pakistani ruling mafia has always either been headed by Pakhtuns (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan) or included them at the very top, so you are calling for the death of your "own" people.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
The P*akistani ruling mafia has always either been headed by Pakhtuns (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan*) or included them at the very top, so you are calling for the death of your "own" people.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Pashtun nationalist are morally supporting Baluch national liberation struggle against Paki ruling mafia. But I think we should support them militarily, and that is the reason pakis are so afraid that they are creating division among the noble Baluch and Pashtuns thru their stooges like Kakar.
The Pakistani ruling mafia has always either been headed by Pakhtuns (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan) or included them at the very top, so you are calling for the death of your "own" people.
Yes, I consider these Pashtuns Pakis as well, even worse.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
It’s not really my discussion, but it is factually incorrect..Yahya Khan was a Qizalbash persian speaker..I believe he knew Pashto but he was born in Chakwal. Similarly, Ayub Khan was a native Hindko speaker..although his kids do speak Pashto they are essentially from a hindko speaking area.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Pakhtun nationalists like the PKMAP have longed call for a separate province covering the regions of Balochistan they inhabit, and refer to the region as “southern Pakhtunkwa”. When the Pakhtuns don’t even want to be in the same province as the Baloch, you can hardly call that moral support. Additional proof of their antipathy to the Baloch sardars is the fact that the Pakhtun-dominated north of Balochistan has remained entirely free of the terrorism against the Pakistani state.
There are 25 million Pakhtuns in Pakistan who serve at every level of Pakistan’s administration (military, politics and government, civil service, social and cultural etc) since 1947 way out of proportion to their numbers. That is testimony to the fact that they are integral part of what is PAKISTAN, and will always remain so. Compare that to Afghanistan where the remaining 15 million Pakhtuns live, and you will see them lose all their powers and positions to Tajiks, Uzbeks and Dari-speakers, and reduced to holding titular positions.
You might consider Pashtun Presidents and/or military chiefs like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, and the late Ghulam Ishaq Khan and General Wahid Kakar as traitors, but they were great Pashtun Pakistani leaders.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Good point… Not to mention the fact that the minority groups of Afghanistan would die before allowing another 25 million Pashtuns to join Afghanistan… Somehow Afghan nationalist Pashtuns fail remember that fifty percent of Afghanistan is not Pashtun…
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Correct me if im wrong, but dont many Hindko speakers consider themselves to be Pashtun dont they? Hindko is very similar to the Punjabi spoken in Chakwal, and yet I dont think they consider themselves Punjabi, or their langauge a dialect of Punjabi.
For whatever its worth, Hindko speakers seem very loyal to Pashtun culture and society.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Also, we must never forget that the Pashtun-dominated north of Balochistan has remained entirely peaceful, and free of the terrorism that some Baloch sardars have wreaked in other parts of the province.
Re: Equal rights urged for Pakhtuns in Balochistan
Some are bilingual, particularly in Attock in Punjab and in scattered groups from Haripur to Manshera. But most of the others are neither of pashtun ancestry (erstwhile pathans) nor speak pashto. Culturally they maybe more conservative but that doesn’t mean they have a strong association with other pashtuns. Politically those regions have been more pro central government than anything else, the MMA electoral “wave” didn’t penetrate the hindko belt to the same degree as others, and despite Nawaz Sharifs considerable closeness to the region..his party suffered heavy defeats in the 2002 elections.
