-blitzkrieg-
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2015
- Messages
- 6,376
- Reaction score
- 4
- Country
- Location
Khattak threatens ‘extreme step’ over CPEC project
Zulfiqar Ali — Updated Jan 01, 2016 12:22pm
117 Comments
Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and members of provincial assembly addresses a press conference in Peshawar. — INP
PESHAWAR: The political fraternity of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has warned the federal government through Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed against any ‘deception’ on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
“I warn if the federal government does not address the reservations of KP about the (CPEC) project, then we will take an extreme step. And you (centre) will see what we are going to do,” Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told a news conference with Mr Mushahid after attending the briefing of the parliamentary party leaders here on Thursday.
“The KP demand is very simple: implement the decisions of the ‘All-Party Conference’ held in Islamabad on May 28 and build complete corridor. We don’t need a highway,” said Mr Khattak flanked by parliamentary leaders in the KP Assembly.
The chief minister said if the federal government wanted to build a highway only, then the province had sufficient resources to do so on its own.
Senator Mushahid declares KP’s reservations on project genuine, wants ‘APC’ joint declaration implemented
Mr Mushahid, who heads a parliamentary committee overseeing the CPEC project, agreed with Mr Khattak, saying the reservations of KP are genuine and the route will be completed in line with the joint declaration of the ‘APC’.
The project containing fiber optic, railway line, gas and oil pipeline, LNG, electricity and several economic zones will connect Gwadar Port to Kashgar in the north-western China.
Parliamentary leaders of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Qaumi Watan Party and Pakistan People’s Party, Speaker of the provincial assembly Asad Qaisar and ministers attended the briefing.
The chief minister said the provincial assembly had unanimously passed two resolutions demanding of the federal government to build the corridor in accordance with the ‘APC’ decisions.
He said it was decided in the APC meeting that the CPEC western route would be completed in the first phase to be followed by the construction of the eastern route.
“Later, we learnt that the western route has been restricted only to a road, which is unacceptable for us,” he said warning that KP would take an ‘extreme step’ if the centre ignored the ‘APC’ decisions.
He said the project’s additional components including fiber optic, railway track, gas and oil pipeline, LNG and other facilities had been attached with the eastern route of the corridor to be laid between Gwadar and Rawalpindi.
Mr Khattak said there was nothing in the project for KP except the highway.
He said the people of Hazara should also not live in a fool’s paradise as they were not getting much more from the project as the route would be passed through Hazara division.
The CM said the federal government should give priority and incentives to underdeveloped areas like KP and Balochistan in the project instead of shifting all benefits to Punjab, which was already developed.
He complained the centre had also stopped issuing the No Objection Certificate to foreign investors under the pretext of security situation.
Mr Khattak said investors were willing to put their money in KP but the federal government did not issue them NOCs.
“If the centre considers KP to be insecure for investment, then it should not start work on the corridor,” he said.
On the occasion, Mr Mushahid declared the CPEC ‘fortune-changer’ for the country and said the project was a golden opportunity for Pakistan to progress.
He said the vital project did not belong to a single province, political party, government or institution.
The parliamentarian said he came to Peshawar to understand KP’s viewpoint about the project and would discuss it with the centre.
He said federal planning and development minister Ahsan Iqbal would brief parliamentary leaders from KP about the CPEC on Jan 6.
“The grievances of KP are genuine and that the decisions of APC should be implemented in letter and spirit,” he said.
Mr Mushahid said major grievances of Balochistan had been resolved and reservations too would be resolved amicably.
Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2016
.
CPEC: A Bad Deal for the Baloch People?
The people of Balochistan are suspicious of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
By Shah Meer
December 30, 2015
865
1
866 Shares
12 Comments
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be a “win-win” proposition according to statements made by the leadership of Pakistan and China. But the project is raising eyebrows and fears among the Baloch people, the indigenous community of Gwadar and the entire province of Balochistan. At the heart of the project is the city of Gwadar on the southwestern coast of the Arabian Sea in Balochistan province. Under CPEC, China and Pakistan plan to build a route to connect Gwadar Port in Pakistan with Kashgar in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has vowed to build the deepest seaport in the world in Gwadar, while creating infrastructure, energy and transportation projects along the route, reasoning that the resultant prosperity and economic development would change the shape of the most backward of Pakistan’s provinces specifically, as well as the whole of Pakistan.
So why would the Baloch people at large fear prosperity and progress? Wouldn’t the investment of $46 billion from China improve the living standards of the long-impoverished Baloch people? Why are most of the nationalists, intellectuals, students and ordinary people of Balochistan feeling suspicious? To answer that it is necessary to look back on the long history of Pakistan’s neglect of Balochistan in favor of the more populous provinces that are home to the large urban centers. While Balochistan may contain the richest mineral resources, its people receive little of the income derived from those resources and are deprived of the education, medical care, and concern for environmental protection afforded the most-favored provinces.
As the CPEC project moves forward, the fog of fear grows thicker. The native Baloch are of the view that, under the banner of economic development and prosperity, CPEC might turn them into a minority within their own land. As the influx of settlers begin to move into Gwadar and Balochistan as a whole, the natives are being ignored when it comes to jobs and other opportunities. The sense of deprivation and disappointment within the community is strong. Add to this the ongoing trend of issuing fictitious Balochistan domiciles to refugees (and others) and the list of Baloch grievances continues to mount.
As one Baloch student from Gwadar reminded me, Karachi was once a Baloch-dominant region. It was even named aftera Baloch woman, Mahi Kulachi. But in the name of development and urbanization, the authorities gradually transformed the Baloch majority of Karachi into a minority. Henow fears that it might be Gwadar’s turn, and that this time it might even entail all of Balochistan.
This fear is not limited to Baloch students. Baloch politicians and intellectuals are worried as well. Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmad Mohammad Shahi of the ruling National Party in Balochistan, and member of the Senate Special Committee on CPEC, has given much thought to the enormous demographic changes in the province that CPEC may bring about. He has demanded that the government enact legislation to protect the native people of the province from the anticipated influx of new arrivals there.
“We are not against the Gwadar deep seaport, CPEC or any other developmental project,” Kabeer said in an interview with The Nation (9 July 2015). “But if it is meant to marginalize the native people like Red Indians then we would not allow it to happen.”
The Chief of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and former Chief Minister of Balochistan Sardar Akthar Mengal contests the CPEC project as not being acceptable without the consent of the local people. He has said that the project agreement was signed “without taking local people into confidence” and such a development project which violates the rights of the indigenous population cannot be endorsed.Even the federal government did not take the provincial government of Balochistan into confidence when entering into this agreement with China. Mengal says that he has read the CPEC agreements and that the project offers Balochistan nothing.
Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch has said that he was not taken into confidence by anyone with regard to the CPEC, and this revelation has further added to the sense of fear among the Baloch.
Baloch intellectuals for the most part hold the opinion that demographic changes from the CPEC project will be inevitable.The Baloch will become the minority unless the federal government enacts laws to protect their rights.
The locals would welcome infrastructural development and massive projects launched in Balochistan, but only if they really do benefit the locals. Indeed, they fear only more egregious inequities plotted under the cloak of the CPEC project.
The poverty in Balochistan has spurred the rise of nationalists who hold the federal government responsible for the backwardness of the province. They have been fighting since 1948 for the Baloch people’s right to ownership of the resources and coast of Balochistan, but their demands have been met with armed suppression. Now, with the federal government singing the praises of development, Balochistan must be assured that CPEC is destined to bring prosperity to the indigenous community as well, addressing its grievances and taking pragmatic steps to eliminate its fears. The alternative is chaos in an already troubled province, which could have disastrous repercussions for the project and the community itself.
Shah Meer is a Swedish Institute fellow. He graduated from NUML in International Relations and researches South Asian politics and Balochistan issues. He is originally from Pasni, District Gwadar, Balochistan, but is currently based in Islamabad
wait for more bla bla
and here are more bad news
Political parties join hands for KP, Balochistan rights in CPEC
Political parties join hands for KP, Balochistan rights in CPEC | RadioTNN.com
Bilawal wants Balochistan’s rights in CPEC protected
once politics start on any matter in pakistan thing go in drain foreverdirty game is started already
Print
NO PROJECTS APPROVED FOR KPK SINCE 2013, While more than a dozen so approved for GB,Baluchistan,Punjab and Sindh. The federal govt. doesnt want KPK govt. to seek any credit for any CPEC development that happens in their province.A proof of that is their cancellation of swat motorway. From haripur to D I khan not even a single penny has been allocated for KPK.
FALSE MAP AND MISLEADING LEGENDS...
-RED-LEGEND -THE KPK DEMAND IS NOT A STRAIGHT RED LINE LIKE THE ONE SHOWN BUT GOES THROUGH DI KHAN AND ZHOB/QILASAIFULLAH. BASICALLY THE UPGRADATION OF THE EXISTING ROAD/INFRASTRUCTURE+ NEW ROADS.
-THE GREE LEGEN SAYS MOTORWAYS COMPLETED AND IN SECOND INSTANCE SAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION TO GIVE PEOPLE A WRONG IDEA THAT ITS BETTER FOR THEM TO FOCUS ON EASTERN END AS ITS ALMOST COMPLETE AND FORGET THE WESTERN ROUTE FOR SOME TIME.I SAY WHY? ARE PASHTUNS LESSER HUMANS?
-THIS BLUE LEGEND (NEAR FUTURE PLAN "NO FUNDS" FOR KPK) SHOULD BE SHOVED UP NAWAZS REAR. THATS EXACTLY THE REASON I AS A PUNJABI AM VOICING JUSTICE FOR PASHTUNS.FEDERAL HAS NOT APPROVED ANY PROJECT FOR KPK SINCE 2013.IF THIS REMAINS THE ATTITUDE THEN AN EXTREME STEP IS IMPERATIVE . IT DOESNT MATTER HOW YOU TRANSLATE IT.
-YELLOW LEGEND ALL THIS BS WHILE THEY WOULD LOVE SPENDING EXTRA MONEY ON A MOTORWAY IN PUNJAB THATS NOT EVEN PART OF THE ROUTE.
Rona dhona band karo and look up the number of projects approved since 2013 for GB, Punjab, Baluchistan and Sindh.
NONE in KPK since 2013.....not even a single brick...
