Gwadar port project opposed...

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Who needs outside enemies, when we have people like these in our own backyard…

KARACHI, April 23: Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal, the chief of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement, on Friday opposed the Gwadar port project, saying it was not meant for the local people. The project, he claimed, would benefit only a particular class of Punjab. Sardar Mengal was speaking at Ponam’s first public meeting in the city, at Nishtar Park, as part of the movement’s mass mobilization campaign. He said that Ponam was not against development but it certainly would not allow anyone to turn the local population into a microscopic minority, as happened in Karachi which was once a city of three lakh people and now had a population of over 15 million where it had became difficult to found the locals. He pointed out that in Gwadar a piece of land which could once be bought for a few hundred rupees was now fetching millions of rupees because people knew that Gwadar was the ‘Karachi of future’. Sardar Mengal laid down a set of conditions for the development of Gwadar - equal rights for the people “giving us the authority to impose taxes, legislative powers and administration of the provinces”. After that, he said, people from outside could be brought for work and investments. They would have to pay sales tax and would have to make locals their partners in their businesses.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/04/24/top11.htm

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Its amazing to see the legnths people will go to seek attention.

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What's so wrong with his demands? Seems to make sense to me.

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^ ditto

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The real problem is that Mengal is a balochi, and balochs aren't allowed to speak against pakistan army.

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they just want to maintain their monopoly on the local balochis…thats all…they just wana exploit the poor and illiterate folks…at no cost do they want them to advance…

the pak govt, whatever it is doing, is doing it for the national interest…but these local leaders wana instigate subaiyat among the ppl…

when will our leaders stop taking advantage, exploiting…

ofcourse the gwadar port will bring dvlpmt to balochi ppl, and then they’ll advance and stop listening to the local sardars…and these leaders r just trying to avoid that…

disgusting :nook:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by irem: *
they just want to maintain their monopoly on the local balochis...thats all...they just wana exploit the poor and illiterate folks...at no cost do they want them to advance...

the pak govt, whatever it is doing, is doing it for the national interest...but these local leaders wana instigate subaiyat among the ppl...

[/QUOTE]

I'm afraid you have the situation reversed.

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I agree with IRem, on one hand its most backward city and province of Pakistan, and was ignored in development.
now something really amazing is started to happen finally. now these local leaders fearing their loosing power making these non sense statements. these poor masses will certainly get benefit from increased employment oppertunities and developed infrastructure,

one cant compare karachi with gawader, karachi is most developed and rich and largest city of pakistan. population influx tend increase to bigger cities because we dont create much oppertunities in smaller cities.

so thats in valid point anyway.

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[QUOTE]
What's so wrong with his demands? Seems to make sense to me.
[/QUOTE]

Uncle Imdad you might want to read the following excrept closely because I think it has something to do with you....

[QUOTE]
He said that Ponam was not against development but it certainly would not allow anyone to turn the local population into a microscopic minority, as happened in Karachi which was once a city of three lakh people and now had a population of over 15 million where it had became difficult to found the locals.
[/QUOTE]

Does he still make sense to you?

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Yes, he makes perfect sense. As a mohajir, I have to live with the stigma of being a farangi for the rest of my life and looked at with suspicion from the natives.

You wouldn't understand.

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Who would understand you Imdad?

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I don't support what PONM says but rule of thumb in Pakistan..development doesn't usually help locals..and the last part about

*Sardar Mengal laid down a set of conditions for the development of Gwadar - equal rights for the people "giving us the authority to impose taxes, legislative powers and administration of the provinces". After that, he said, people from outside could be brought for work and investments. *

is a fair argument in my opinion..

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Is there are a movement similar to MQM in Balochistan?

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rule of thumb in Pakistan..development doesn't usually help locals

Zakk how come you say that bro... ? give examples? :)

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Examples are too many to list. But you should look into Tarbela Dam for one. Sui gas. Or most other large projects, especially by foreign companies, who only interact with the authorities in Islamabad, completely bypassing the locals. For them, the locals do not even exist.

Balochistan has no single party platform like MQM. I think the biggest two nationalist parties are Balochistan National Party and Balochistan National Movement.

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Imdad I agree with the Sui gas example, but Sui is different because no residential or economic settlements have been created in the area, however the Gwadar project is being designed differently. They are making a whole Gwadar Port City there, its a very large scale project, and residences and businesses will be available there at different rates there. At the very least its going to generate some basic utility facilities [electricity, gas, water] for the locals, as well as opportunities for employment. Don't you think?

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I don't think this PONM group is a serios entity. Having said that, the Balochs have a valid grievance. I remember reading in Herald or Newsline magazine a while back about his Gwadar development thing.

Irem,

[QUOTE]
At the very least its going to generate some basic utility facilities [electricity, gas, water] for the locals, as well as opportunities for employment. Don't you think?
[/QUOTE]

Firstly, the Gwadar Port area will be a net energy consumer, not producer. This is not a power plant or oil/gas refinery. As to employment, I read that most of the skilled labour will be imported from other parts of Pakistan - Karachi and Punjab with the locals doing only porter/day labourer kind of job. That is their grievance. There is no provision to train any locals at all for the high paying jobs that their communities need to advance. Even in US nowadays minorities are getting quotas in big govt projects.

This is not a shortfall of the Musharraf govt alone, but the Pak federal govts in general. Take Mangla dam for instance - the locals who lost homes have still not been compensated adequately or even given what they were promised. A study found that 90 percent of the promises were not honoured and even the promised loyalty to AJK was not given because later on govt decided that AJK cannot get money because its not legally a province of Pakistan! Sui is a similar case in the sense that local employment was not taken into account.

Pak federal govts have always taken the "My way or the highway" deal and named any opponents of such projects as traitors or anti-nationals. Why adopt a confrontational approach? Would the Balochs in Gwadar be unreasonable if they are skeptical about govt promises given its past track record in Mangla dam case?

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Thanks for the reply :-)

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khilaari: *
Firstly, the Gwadar Port area will be a net energy consumer, not producer. This is not a power plant or oil/gas refinery.

[/QUOTE]

True, but what I meant to say was that with the development of such a settlement, and with some high class residences being established in the area, and the whole City being developed, there will be a more uniform water/eectricity/gas/telephone supply in that region. It will just give rise to development there.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khilaari: *
As to employment, I read that most of the skilled labour will be imported from other parts of Pakistan - Karachi and Punjab with the locals doing only porter/day labourer kind of job. That is their grievance.

[/QUOTE]

If this is indeed true, this is not being done deliberately to sideline the locals, its just that there aren't many educated locals from that area, and why aren't they? Because the few educated ones move to the big cities as there are facilities in that area. Maybe this project will bring them back?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khilaari: *
There is no provision to train any locals at all for the high paying jobs that their communities need to advance. Even in US nowadays minorities are getting quotas in big govt projects.

[/QUOTE]

I do understand this issue, its definitely unfortunate. But atleast the local people will get the jobs they are qualified for, such as manual labor? And maybe they will be trained later on. I'm sure that the Pak federal govt doesn't have sinister aims such as not wanting the locals to develop. Right now, a lot of the locals are unemployed and have to migrate to nearby towns and cities for jobs.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khilaari: *
Would the Balochs in Gwadar be unreasonable if they are skeptical about govt promises given its past track record in Mangla dam case?
[/QUOTE]

They have a right to be skeptical, but I think this project has great potential and opposing it only means opposing economic advancement of the region imho.

My question also is, how could this project possibly make things worse for them? If at all, things will only get better because of this, because right now the area is totally undeveloped and there are no job opportunities there anyway.

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Its just sad and unfortunate to see that each ethnic population in the country is made to feel insecure by the [selfish] leaders, and they are given scares about things such as 'you will become a minority in your own land'...! After all, even IF supposing the Pak govt brings people from Punjab and puts them in Gwadar, and puts so many that they even outnumber the local Balochis, after all we are all Muslim brothers and sisters, can't we live in peace and harmony? Each zarra of Pakistani soil belongs to each Pakistani. Have we forgotten the example of the Migration from Makkah by the Prophet (SA) and the ansar and muhajireen?
I wonder why our religious leaders remain silent when ethnic leaders instigate these hatreds. Why can't they talk about Islamic brotherhood then?
Many Karachi people complain that people from other provinces came and took their rights. I'm a Karachiite too and I don't see that happenning. I don't see discrimination, I see that Pakistanis of all ethnicities are coexisting beautifully and taking the nation forward. There is a natural and healthy competition. Bad apples are everywhere and there may be some ethnic tensions but to accept that as a norm and not consciously condemn it is wrong! I feel like we are ALL PAKISTANIS and we shouldn't stake claims to oue ethnic lands, whether it be our village, town or city, in a way that we exclude other Pakistanis from benefitting from it. That's against the very spirit of our religion in fact.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khilaari: *
As to employment, I read that most of the skilled labour will be imported from other parts of Pakistan - Karachi and Punjab with the locals doing only porter/day labourer kind of job.
[/QUOTE]

I've heard that even the bulk of normal labour has been brought from other provinces. Last year one member of BSO was arrested by the crime branch in Khuzdar for distributing some pamphlets on Gwadar problem.