LAHORE, March 17: People from other provinces working in Gwadar will not be allowed to vote or contest elections for a period of 15 years, says president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. According to a press release issued here on Friday, he said that the parliamentary committee on Balochistan had already made recommendations on the issue.
Yeah, Bugti saab was saying this was one of the big annoyances about the whole project, that outsiders would out vote the locals.. Kudos to the govt for knipping this objection in the bud:)
Land can still be owned by the outsiders; it is only participation in elections and voting rights that will be reserved for locals only for next 15 years. Currently this is just a suggestion made by the government, so far it is not implemented.
Good political gesture. However it may not stand the test of constitution. A citizen of Pakistan should be able to vote in the area of his "permanent residence" and the area where he is paying income taxes.
If one would move to Gawadar from say Peshawar, and make it a permanent home then he becomes a Baloch for the purpose of taxation, and voting rights. This should be OK for any citizen.
If this logic is correct, nobody from up North or West should be allowed to vote in Karachi elections for 15 years. Is that fair?
True, but keeping in mind the small population of Gwadar and huge economic potential, they could be out numbered in very short period of time in their own land, when I write own land I mean the local population is living there for centuries, they have the first right on the land as with any part of the world e.g. Palestine belong to Palestinians, Punjab belongs to Punjabies and Kashmir belong to settled people of that land. Large amount of outside population just coming to reap economic benefits have to be limited to extents otherwise can lead to social problems. Besides this arrangement is only proposed for 15 years only. This will provide the local population to politically mature up given that they are far less educated then the people who are planning to settle in Gwadar. If this arrangement is not made then the local people will have to deal with customs strange to them in their own land. This arrangement will provide them with means to get used to the new customs and tradition.
What if the large population (more then the population of Karachi) from north comes to Karachi and start making their own laws based of their customs against the will of people of Karachi, should that be acceptable to the people of Karachi?
Look Baboo! you started this thread on voting rights, and now you are confusing this with property rights.
If locals owned land then they can sell or lease it out. If Government owned land (and that is quite common in Pakistan), then the government can sell or lease their share.
There is no argument against property rights. No one is kicking Balochis out of the land they really own. However they can't and should not stop other people from buying property in Balochistan.
Let's not drag Palestinian Arabs in this discussion. If Balochi leaders would behave like $tupid leaders of Palestine then there is no hope for Balochi people.
Own laws????? What the heck are "own laws". There are laws of land as interpreted by the courts. Lahoris, Karachites, or Quettans are not making up their "own laws".
It is time to get out of the tribal customs and join the world. Otherwise, you can have all the resources but you will remain just tribals such as Arabs in the whole Middle East.
Saudis tried to "protect" their population against "Phoren" influence. Look what happened. The whole Saudi Arabia has turned into an ineffective, inefficient heap of sand devoid of adaptability and innovation.
Today the nut job Balochis such as Mengal downplayed this, and actually went so far as to say this was intended to deprive the Balochis of their rights. Thes Scum want NO non Balochi to EVER get a vote... SOBs...
ISLAMABAD: The government is building a network of roads with a total cost of about Rs 35 billion for better access to the Gwadar port, which already has been linked with Chaman through a combination of Coastal Highway (N-10) and ECO Highway (N-25), said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Monday.
He was chairing a meeting at the Prime Minister House to review the status of roads connectivity to Gwadar. He said completion of road networks and other mega projects would usher in a new era of development and prosperity in Balochistan and the government was taking steps to complete the projects on fast track. The prime minister directed the Ministry of Communications and the National Highways Authority (NHA) to upgrade the existing road from Gwadar-Hoshab-Panjgur -Nag -Basima and -Sorab. He also directed them to immediately undertake construction of a road to Panjgur and beyond so that two routes are available between Gwadar and the Central Asian Republics. Chairman National Highways Authority (NHA) Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed made a presentation about the status of various projects. He said the NHA was working on eight projects to provide network of access to Gwadar and from Gwadar to various domestic and foreign locations. The Liari-Gwader road has been completed, while the Gwadar-Jiwani-Gabad road will be completed by 2009 and will provide access to Iran. Fifty-seven per cent work on the Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab project has been completed, and the remaining work will be completed by March 2007. Similarly, the Basima-Khuzdar road will be completed by 2009, while 60 per cent work on the Khori-Wangu hill project has been completed and the remaining portion of the said road from Qubo-Saeed Khan to Wangu hills has been awarded to the FWO which will be completed in three years. The chairman NHA informed the prime minister that the Kalat-Quetta-Chamman road has already been awarded to four contractors under the ADB financial package and will be completed within three years. The prime minister said that to provide better safety, the Motorway police would be given the responsibility to patrol all these highways. He asked the Ministry of Communications and the National Highways Authority to ensure timely implementation of all the projects.
They only think like there Army brothers who like to beat up poor farmers after evicting them from their own land. The Army has a tendency to grab land where and when it pleases and give it to select officers so they can make a huge profit later on.
How can anyone trust the Army government under these circumstances?
I guess it is acceptable and rather fashionable on this board to repeat the lies perpetrated by the leftie-commie media against Pakistan or Pakistanis.
Farmers in Okara were not "poor", instead they were "tenants". You mind looking up the dictionary for this word?
**tenant farmer *n.*One who farms land owned by another and pays rent in cash or in kind. **
17,000 acres of this land has been used by the army for supplying food stuff to our jawans and officers since 1947.
So far the farmers have been paying the "rent" in kind that happens to be an outdated outmoded system based on "barter trade". This is like you rent a room in your house to someone in exchange for cleaning or cooking services. One day you tell your tenant that cleaning or cooking is not needed anymore so the "rent" has to be paid in cash.
What's wrong with paying rent in cash?
Your renter then turns around and refuses to change his payment method and starts threatening you.
What would you do? Run and hide like a little mouse?
No Siree! You will contact the police and sue your tenant in court or whatever is necessary to make him pay the rent or leave your premises.
Oh well! For some people trained in the art of Commie Leftie concepts of communes, it is hard to understand such modern concepts as "property rights".
Sad that we have tons of such commie lefties sucking the blood of Pakistan.
So the great army cannot afford to keep farmers on land they have worked on since 1947, and instead want the farmers who can barely support themselves to pay rent? This is justice?
This great army can afford to have fancy golf clubs, officer's mess, batmen, land allotments and other perks for its officers which cost many times more to keep then these few Punjabi farmers.
Have you Punjabis lost all sense of right and wrong that you don't even care about your own poor? Maybe you have, but the rest of us are not fools. Every single day, revenue is being stolen through NFC award from the 3 smaller provinces to go to the center and the Punjabi army. This is fact.
And if we react to this injustice, we are the ones called bigots!
Since when does a guy in New York constitute the Pak Army? Fact of the matter is , Balochistan is part of Pakistan and thus Pakistanis of all shades are free to live there. This is decent compramise which the Balochis are turning down… While the govt can and should compramise, there is no way that a Pak citizen who is a resident of Balochistan shouldnt be allowed to vote.
Stealing Baloch land my foot… Balochistan belong to all Pakistanis.
BTW, have you even read that interview from that idiot Mengal? Doesnt exactly fill you with confidence or respect for those people... Balochis REALLY dont want anyone living in their province and now they are turning to terrorism to make that point all while you sit here and defend them.
