Omar1984
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QUETTA: Baloch nationalist parties and tribal leaders have asked the government to expedite the repatriation of Afghan refugees in Balochistan who, they said, are causing demographic changes and lawlessness in the province.
Hundreds of workers of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), National Party, Baloch Students' Organisation and other political groups attended a rally in Quetta on Sunday to press for their demands. Baloch leaders addressing the rally accused the establishment of trying to convert the Baloch population into a minority by secretly granting local certificates, national identity cards and land ownership to Afghans in Balochistan. BNP Secretary General and former senator Habib Jalib called upon the federal and provincial governments to withdraw land allotments and national identity cards for Afghan refugees. Jalib said the Baloch - who had been generously hosting the Afghan refugees since war engulfed Afghanistan in 1979 - felt that hidden forces were trying to convert them into a minority by patronising refugees in the province. "Afghan refugees are a source of constant unrest in Balochistan. Peace has returned to Afghanistan and the Baloch people have hosted the Afghan refugees for an extended period. It is time the government send them back to their country so that peace and tranquillity may return to Balochistan," Jalib said. He said a recent Baloch conference had decided that the Baloch should not sell their lands to the non-Baloch to prevent further demographic changes in the province.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Hundreds of workers of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), National Party, Baloch Students' Organisation and other political groups attended a rally in Quetta on Sunday to press for their demands. Baloch leaders addressing the rally accused the establishment of trying to convert the Baloch population into a minority by secretly granting local certificates, national identity cards and land ownership to Afghans in Balochistan. BNP Secretary General and former senator Habib Jalib called upon the federal and provincial governments to withdraw land allotments and national identity cards for Afghan refugees. Jalib said the Baloch - who had been generously hosting the Afghan refugees since war engulfed Afghanistan in 1979 - felt that hidden forces were trying to convert them into a minority by patronising refugees in the province. "Afghan refugees are a source of constant unrest in Balochistan. Peace has returned to Afghanistan and the Baloch people have hosted the Afghan refugees for an extended period. It is time the government send them back to their country so that peace and tranquillity may return to Balochistan," Jalib said. He said a recent Baloch conference had decided that the Baloch should not sell their lands to the non-Baloch to prevent further demographic changes in the province.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan