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RespectedChairman,                                                                                                                                                        WorldSindhiConference,

 I am very grateful to you for giving me an opportunity to express my humble views before this august audience which includes personalities from the fields of politics, art and literature, who in the near future are going to change the geography of what today,is called Pakistan.                                               

 

 

Mr.Chairman,      

  ladies,andgentlemen,                                                                                                                             

 

 

The title of my paper is New Punjab.

As all of you know the source of all the evils in Punjab is the absence of strong democratic institutions due to the repeated intervention by the Army since 1958, in the democratic process. Even when, apparently, civil governments are in office, the real policymaking powers are in the hands of the Army. Due to its unlimited funds and intimidation, the Armed Forces of Pakistan, spearheaded by ISI, have always been and will remain in control of all the political parties and their leaders, only with a few exceptions. The main job of ISI has been to weaken every elected government and sabotage the democratic process because the generals hate these two.  The reason why ISI has so large funds and the Army its clutches on the society, is the large size of the Army. And the reason for this is, the large size of the country. Army is not strong only on the resources of Punjab. Wealth and resources of the whole country, specially those of Sindh, Pakhtoonkhwah, Balochistan and Kashmir, are behind the strength and power of ISI and the Army. Most of the revenue comes from oil, gas, excise, customs and income tax. These heads have been wrongly described as belonging to the Centre and not to the provinces only to deprive the smaller provinces from their lawful right to the use of their resources. The tragic experience of  past 45 years has taught us the lesson that there is no other way of getting rid of the Army and its ISI except by reducing the size of the country. Sooner or latter, the smaller provinces will get their independence. But that will be on the basis of hatred against Punjab in the same way as Bangla Desh became independent on the basis of hatred against the military and civil bureaucracy coming, mainly, from Punjab. During the war of independence of Bangla Desh, hundreds of thousands of Bengali intellectuals, scholars, students and citizens had lost their precious lives at the hands of the Pakistan Army. What we want is that this should not happen again. Otherwise, many precious lives would again be lost. Also, if the independence comes in consequence of hatred, new countries of  Sindh, Pakhtoonkhwah, Balochistan and Kashmir will have to raise large armies to defend themselves against their enemy and big neighbour, Punjab and vice versa.  All their resources will be spent on defense. Nothing will remain for development and social services. Democratic institutions will again be in danger in the new countries. This will bring further poverty and unemployment which, like today, would make these new countries a breeding ground for religious extremism and terrorism. The downtrodden people would again come to square No.1.  

RespectedChairman,                                                                                                                                                   therefore, it is our sincere desire that the present provinces of Pakistan separate like friends as did Norway and Sweden, Czech and Slovak Republics and the new independent countries which came into existence after the end of the hegemony of ex-Soviet Union. For this the voice of peaceful separation should be raised, first, from the bigger province, Punjab, which today is a cause of genuine grievances of the smaller provinces.  

Many cities of the smaller provinces have been turned into military cantonments. Billions of dollars have been spent on the construction of these cantonments. And millions have been pocketed by the  generals as commission during these constructions. The same amount could be better utilized for the construction of hospitals, educational institutions, and uplift of the minorities. About 70 % of the national income comes from Sindh, but only 5 per cent of it is given back to Sindh. Similar is the case of the income of gas from Balochistan and the electricity from Tarbela in Pakhtoonkhwah and Mangla in  Kashmir. Most of this 'income' of the Centre is spent to maintain the huge army and for the comforts of its personnel. A big majority of this army comes from Punjab.  But the common people of Punjab do not benefit from it, because the number of the Punjabis in the army is only about .5 % of the population of Punjab. If the contractors who supply different materials to the army and give commissions to the generals, is also included, the number of the people of Punjab who benefit from the  institution of the Army, is not more than one per cent of the total population of Punjab.

RespectedChairman,                                                                                                                                                         Lands had been distributed in the past among the army officers in Sindh.  Each general was given about 320 acres on nominal prices. A few months back, the generals, including General Pervez Musharaf, have been given about 250 acres of land each, in Punjab on nominal prices. Projects like Thal Canal are needed for the irrigation of the lands of these generals and the unirrigated lands of the feudal lords of Punjab and not for the small landholdings of the people of Punjab. The poor peasants and agriculture labourers from Punjab, who are tilling today and will till the lands of these generals and feudal lords tomorrow, in Punjab and Sindh, will be paid only that much in cash or kind which will be sufficient just to keep them alive to go on working on these lands. The common Punjabis working on these lands will ever remain hand to mouth.

Respected Chairman,

I have no malice or dislike for the army personnel. I, myself was educated in Cadet College, Hasan Abdal, an institution of Pakistan Army. Some of my college fellows were and are generals in the Armed Forces even today. Therefore, I personally know that many of them are good people. But even the good ones are a hostage to the institution of the Army and the system. Every country needs some army to maintain law and order. So we will also have it. In the New Punjab, we will not remove the employees of the armed forces from service. We will only stop fresh recruitment till a balance is reached in their number and the requirements of keeping law and order. Establishment of smaller countries in place of present huge, expansionist Pakistan will not attract any danger to our Punjab from India as it will, perhaps, split even before Pakistan under the burden of expenses of its own Armed Forces, nuclear programme, and religious terrorism as seen in the State of Gujrat where thousands of innocent Muslims and, elswhere Christians,  were massacred. Consequently, our Punjab will have a smaller Punjab (today a part of India) on its borders. Basically, Sikhs are a peaceful nation. It was only fanatic kings like Aurangzeb who turned them into militants. I am sure that Sikhs would be friendly neighbours as our language and culture are common.

Under New Punjab, after it becomes an independent country, (along with independent countries of Sindh, Pakhtoonkhwah, Balochistan and Kashmir)we will guide and help our smaller Army to adopt and adapt itself with the ideals of the 21st century: strong democratic institutions, freedom of faith, thought and expression, end of terrorism, repeal of Blasphemy Laws which have made Pakistan a hell for the religious minorities, end of Bonapartism &  Kamalism, end of nuclear weapons, end of human rights violations, and equal rights for women. After this, institutions like ISI (which today persecute the political workers, train the Taliban and protect the leaders of Al-Qaida and of other religious terrorist organizations, by keeping them in comfortable houses in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit & Baltistan) and military governments will become a part of history. The New Punjab will be a prosperous nation living in peace and harmony with all its neighbours.

Respected Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you once again.

 

Shaukat Baloch,

President,  Punjab Democratic Front.

Present Addrress: Kagenhofweg 2, 4153 Reinach BL, Switzerland. E-mail: blochch@yahoo.com Tel:+41 79 273 4753

 

Note:

This paper was presented in the World Sindhi Conference held in London, U.K. on September 27, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

Right of Self-determination

 

I come from Punjab which is at present part of Pakistan. To its north, people of Tibet and Kashmir are struggling for their right of self-determination for a period of more than half a century. Such a long period should be sufficient for the international community to realise the necessity for openly supporting the right of self-determination of these two peoples. The right of self-determination is an inalienable right of the people. One of the biggest victims of the denial of this right, apart from Tibet and Kashmir, are the people of Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan in Pakistan. Justice demands that this right should be restored to them also as soon as possible. Among an over-whelming majority of the genuine political cadre of Pakistani-held Kashmir and the above-said three provinces of Pakistan, though smaller than Punjab in population but not in resources, there is strong dislike for Punjab, and therefore, for Pakistan. The cause for this dislike is the Pakistan army that comes mainly from Punjab and consumes about 60 to 70 per cent of the annual income of the country. This army has given crushing blows to the democratic institutions time and again due to which the whole country particularly Kashmir and the smaller provinces have suffered enormously. Army is also the creator and patron of the religious extremists who mostly come from Balochistan and NWFP or are concentrated in the numerous madrasas (religious schools) of Karachi in Sindh. The religious schools in Balochistan, NWFP, and Karachi are producing clones of people like Usama bin Laden in thousands every year. Al-Qaida has its supporters in large numbers in the said provinces outside Punjab. Punjab Democratic Front supports the right of self-determination of the peoples of Kashmir, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan, apart from on principles of justice, also on the ground, that Punjab has been suffering for the last more than twenty six years at the hands of the military-mullah combine due to its patronisation of the activities of the religious extremists entrenched in Kashmir and the said smaller provinces. After the exercise of the said right of self-determination, Punjab will be left alone to solve its problems. The burden of religious extremists will no more be there on Punjab. A non-ambitious, smaller army of Punjab, as an independent political unit, will have no political and expansionist designs as it has today. Military rule, unnecessary, unbearable and non-productive investment on defence, religious extremism and colonial rule over Kashmir, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan, all will become a part of history. Punjab will be a peaceful and prosperous country.

 

Paper written by  Shaukat Baloch, Advocate, President, Punjab Democratic Front, Geneva, April, 2004.

 

 

 

 



 



Terrorism and Liberation Movements

 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I thank Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman, United Kashmir, Peoples National Party to give me an opportunity to place before this august audience my submissions on the topic of Terrorism and Liberation Movements

Due to shortage of time, I would confine my submissions to Terrorism and Liberation Movement in Kashmir. And further, my main focus would be on causes of terrorism and how to eliminate them.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,

There are many terrorist groups and parties which are active in Kashmir. The whole world knows that these have their head offices in Pakistan. Their members are given military training under the supervision of ISI, the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan Army. Members of these terrorist parties, who claim to win freedom for Kashmir through a holy war also called Jihad, can be divided in to two groups: Young members belonging to lower hierarchy and the leaders. People belonging to each of these groups have different reasons for being transformed into terrorists, though by birth they were not so. First we take the case of young members of the lower ranks in a terrorist party.  

 

Young Members of extremist parties         

 we take a typical example of one of such young members. He becomes a terrorist, mainly, for the following reasons:

1.     He has no job and his parents think him to be a burden on the family. This injures his self-respect and ego.

2.     His living conditions are very difficult. His daily food, clothing   and residence are inadequate.

3.     When he, his parents or other members of his family fall sick, they do not have the means to pay for the doctors fee or for the medicines.

4.     His sister can not get married because her parents do not have the sufficient funds to arrange for the marriage expenses.

5.     Many a time, he is an intelligent student but can not continue his studies because his parents can not afford it.

6.     Some times when this young man happens to offend a feudal, a landlord, or a notable person of his area, he is abused, insulted and even beaten. He does not approach the police for this high-handedness because he knows, police is on the pay roll of his persecutors and therefore it is useless to go to the police. Still, if he does go to police, he is insulted and beaten by the police for lodging a false report. No doubt, the young man feels that his life is as if living in hell. The extremist leaders are in search for such young men in distress. The agents of the extremists invite the said young man to their meetings after which he is offered meals which he had seldom tasted before. The leaders treat him with sincerity and affection though in fact, it is just affectation. In the meetings, speeches are made about the early history of Islam when all, the rich and the poor, the high and low, were treated equally. After several such meetings, the young man is offered a handsome salary if he joins the extremist party. He is allowed to send this salary to his parents who are in great need of it. Sometimes, the needy parents are paid in advance for the expected services which the young man will render in the holy war or Jihad.

After recruitment in an extremist party, the young man is given a military training in a camp run by ISI. In the training camp there is an atmosphere of equality and fraternity which impresses and inspires the young man greatly. He feels himself to be a part of the warriors of the early period of Islam. He is assured by his instructors belonging to ISI that now when he will go back to his home town, he and the members of his family will not be insulted or abused by anyone as previously was the case. Local police is given instructions by the ISI to give the young man a VIP treatment from now onwards. The young man is allowed to take his gun with him when he goes on holiday to meet his parents. Consequently, people of his area treat him with great respect.   He and the members of his family get free medical treatment from the doctors of the party. If the family members even relatives of the young man have any problem in any government office, they get a special favorable treatment. If any criminal case is pending against him in court.

Consequently, the young man, previously, under the pressure of the ruling classes, the police and all types of social injustice, after his military training, feels thrilled and elated. He becomes something like a crusader or a Robin Hood, a romantic person living in dreams and fantasy. At this stage, he begins to think that even if he is killed in the holy war, he will get rid of all his worldly problems and will go to heaven where life would be as it should be in heaven. The young man has now reached a point of no return. Even the detention center in Cuba can not change him. Before the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet Union, such young men in distress did not become terrorists because they were not offered an alternative by the extremist religious parties as submitted above. But since about 1980, due to the alternative offered by the extremist parties, patronized by ISI and Pakistani generals, there are ample opportunities of cultivating young, innocent men into fanatics and terrorists.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,

In the light of these submissions, we come to the conclusion that the main reasons of a young man, belonging to the lower ranks of an extremist party, becoming a terrorist, are: unemployment, poverty, deprivation, social injustice, lack of opportunities to get good education and progress in society. But the single most important  reason is the existence of extremist parties with their unlimited funds, created and given military training by ISI.

 

Leaders of the extremist parties

The reasons for leaders of the extremist parties becoming extremist are, sometimes those mentioned above, when they rise to become leaders from the lower ranks. But in other cases, following are the main reasons for their becoming extremists and pushing their young followers to commit acts of terrorism:

Leaders like Usama bin Laden and his type in Pakistan, become extremist due to their egoism and an extreme desire for power. Egoism and desire for power, by themselves are normal and natural instincts of every human being. All of us have these. Without these, no man or woman will work hard or be prepared to give sacrifice even for a noble cause. All leaders, from George Washington to Nelson Mandela, members of parliaments, intellectuals, and philosophers, have egoism and a desire for power. In democratic societies, these instincts have lawful channels of satisfaction through elections and recognition and appreciation by the society and the media, of the talents of the deserving people. But in undemocratic and dictatorial regimes, as in the case of Pakistan, where the real power is always in the hands of the generals who alone can bestow honors on the people, there is no possibility of lawful and normal satisfaction of the instincts like egoism and desire for power. As a result, a person like Usama bin Laden becomes consciously or unconsciously, an extremist and ultimately a terrorist to satisfy his ego or desire for power. Had there been a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia as in Great Briton, Belgium or Holland, Usama bin Laden, instead of sending his terrorists in Kargil, in Indian Occupied Kashmir, would have been busy in using his wealth and energy for winning the next general elections of his country. He would not have been a terrorist. Even Nelson Mandela was a convicted terrorist when there was dictatorship in South Africa. He became a democrat only after the restoration of democracy in his country.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, terrorism can be eliminated  from Kashmir and Pakistan, in the following ways:

1.     There should be an end to poverty, deprivation, unemployment, social and legal injustice.

2.     This is possible only through the uplift of the economy which is possible only if there is political stability and a permanent peace in the region of South Asia.

3.     Complete restoration of democracy with a freedom of individual liberty, freedom of thought, expression, faith creed and religion in not only in South Asia, but also in Iran and Saudi Arabia. The competition of influence, between Iran and Saudi Arabia is another cause of terrorism in Kashmir and Pakistan.

4.     Complete freedom of formation of political parties in Pakistan and Kashmir with manifestos which claim that any State or Province should become an independent country.

5.  Complete ban on all political and religious parties or groups which  give military training to their membersor preach violence and  militancy.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,

In the end I would submit that terrorism will continue to plague the liberation movement in Kashmir as long as the political power remains in the hands of the generals and  ISI in Pakistan, which is the case since 1958. All our attempts to get rid of the generals have failed so far. Now, the only alternative left with the people of Pakistan and Kashmir, is that the right of self-determination should be given to all the nationalities living in Punjab, Sindh, Pakhtoonkhwah, Balochistan and Kashmir. After the exercise of this right, it would be easy for these nationalities, turned into nations, to get rid of the generals, ISI, the extremist parties and the terrorists.

I thank you Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen.

 

(The above paper was read by Shaukat Baloch, Advocate, President, Punjab Democratic Front, in the annual Convention of United Kashmir Peoples National Party held on 19th October, 2003, in Hotel Bern, Bern, Switzerland.)

 

 




 

 

 

 Why Saraiki Province

 

Respected President, ladies and gentlemen,

I thank Barrister Taj Muhammad Khan Langah Sahib, President Pakistan Saraiki Party, to give me an opportunity to place my submissions before this august audience, in favour of the creation of a Saraiki Province. I also thank him to have requested a friend to read my paper as it was not possible for me to come from Switzerland.

 

Ladies  & Gentlemen,

Although, I am not among you today, my heart beats along with the hearts of the Saraiki people. When religious extremists kill innocent people in Multan or Bahawalpur, I cannot sleep for many nights in Switzerland.

The question before us today is: Why Saraiki Province. My answer is that we need a Saraiki Province or Saraikistan for the following reasons:

 

Size and  Distance  

                                                                                                                     

Mr. President,

Experts say that decentralisation is a guarantee against waste and neglect and the bigger the size of an administrative unit, the more are the chances for corruption and inefficiency. Huge size of Punjab, is one of the main causes of the prevailing inefficiency and corruption in the administration. Germany, which is about as big as Punjab in area and population, is divided into seventeen states or provinces. Switzerland which is much smaller, is divided into 26 Cantons. The provinces of Germany and Cantons of Switzerland have more powers than the province of Punjab, with reference to their central governments. In most of the developed countries of the world, the size of the provinces is much smaller than that of Punjab. (Different countries use different words for what we call a province.) Punjab Democratic Front wants an answer to a very simple question: Why the people from Rahim Yar Khan and Multan are made to travel such a long distance to reach the Civil Secretariat, at Lahore? Is it only because Lahore was made headquarter of Punjab by the British more than 150 years before? We think that one and half century should be sufficient to move forward. Apart from inertia, red-tapism, corruption and inefficiency in the Civil Secretariat, Lahore, the long journey from Multan to Lahore on the bumpy, risky roads is another factor which adds to the miseries of the Saraiki people. If we have a separate Saraiki Province with its provincial capital at Multan, the problems of the Saraiki people could be reduced.  Moreover, there will be a lesser number of vehicles on Multan-Lahore Road, which will reduce the number of accidents, and save petrol.

 

Economic Development

After we have a Saraiki Province, in due course of time, a new Multan City will emerge, near the Civil Secretariat and the Provincial Assembly building, with MPAs Hostel, residential blocks, shopping centres, restaurants and hotels for local people, NGOs and foreign tourists. This will boost, among others, tourism and building industries which will create new jobs. All this will be an important step towards reducing unemployment among the Saraiki youth. With its own Civil Secretariat and the concerned ministries being stationed at Multan, all planning about commerce, trade and industry will be done at Multan. As a result, economy of Saraiki Province will develop rapidly.

 

Culture & Language

Saraiki area has its own rich culture, its folk music which moves our heartstrings, its saints, its heroes, and its own language distinct from other areas of Punjab. Due to the message of love for all, tolerance, fraternity, and dislike for the oppressors contained in Saraiki poetry, and due to the large number of people who speak it, Saraiki language stands at par with other major languages of the world.  Saraiki architecture, particularly that of the tombs and Mazars of the saints, is no less than that of Taj Mahal. Harappa is a testimony to the great cultural past of Saraiki area. From the point of view of culture and language, as well, Saraikistan deserves to be declared a separate province.

 

Democracy

Today, members of the Punjab Assembly after getting elected from Saraiki area, stay most of their time in Lahore and Islamabad. After elections, they simply disappear and most of them, if not all, are not available to the voters till the next general elections. After the creation of Saraikistan, Provincial Assembly sessions will be held at Multan and consequently, the MPAs will be staying most of their time at Multan and not at Lahore and therefore the MPAs would be available to their voters. At present, the area of the Punjab Assembly constituencies is one of the largest in the world. As a result, it is not possible for an MPA to remain in close and regular contact with the people of his constituency. It is difficult for his voters, particularly, from the rural areas even to locate him. The size of provincial constituencies in the developed world, is about five to ten times smaller than that of the constituencies in Punjab. In Swizerland, perhaps it is fifteen times smaller. Therefore, in Saraikistan also, we could have four Provincial Assembly constituencies in place of each one at present. In consequence of smaller constituencies, there will be a closer contact between the voters and the MPAs. The smaller size of the constituencies will make the elections less expensive. This will enable the candidates belonging to middle class, which is the backbone of democracy, to contest the elections. This will result in the removal of many barriers which exist today between the electors and the elected. If the MPAs belonging to the middle class do not fulfil their electoral promises, the voters will change them in the next elections, held after every FOUR years, without any fear, which is not possible today for obvious reasons. Due to the smaller size and a bigger number of the constituencies, may be, a trade union leader is also elected. With their representative in the Assembly, the workers would feel themselves to be a part of the democratic system. This will increase industrial peace and harmony. All this will restore the confidence of the people in democratic institutions which is at its lowest level, today, due to the interference of the generals in politics from Ayub Khan to Musharaf. 

 

Provincial Civil Service etc

At present, people from the Saraiki area do not have a fair representation in the Provincial Civil Sevice and Judiciary according to their population. Many officers belonging to other areas of Punjab, who are appointed in Saraiki area, do not speak Saraiki language. Consequently, there is a communication and confidence gap between these officers and the people, particularly those of the rural areas. After the creation of Saraikistan, All the officers of the PCS cadre including magistrates, doctors, engineers, judges, judges from advocate-quota, lecturers and professors will be taken from Saraiki area.This will provide more jobs to the educated young men of the new Province. Above all, the PCS officers will not have to travel, time and again, to Lahore Secretariat for their appointments, transfers, promotions and other service matters. All these things will be done at Multan. Saraikistan will have its own High Court, Civil Secretariat, Board of Revenue, Public Service Commission, Service Tribunal, Labour Tribunal and many other provincial offices, which today are at Lahore. This will bring many advantages and relief to the people. 

 

Allottment of Lands

Board of Revenue, Lahore, is allotting lands to army personnel without the consent of the people living in Saraikistan. Thus new absentee landlords are being created. But these lands allotted to the generals, will be tilled by the local landless Saraiki people whose forefathers have been doing this job for centuries. It is these Saraiki peasants, with an experience of cultivation, who deserve to be allotted every acre of government land in Saraikistan. Allotment of lands to the generals was started in the nineteen-fifties when Feroz Khan Noon was the Prime Minister. Khuda Bahksh Bucha, a famous man from Saraiki area asked Feroz Khan Noon, the Prime Minister of his time and a feudal lord from my District Sargodha, that why generals were being allotted lands and that what these generals will do with these lands (because they had no experience of cultivation). Feroz Khan Noon replied that he could not say what the generals will do with these lands; what he knew was that after the generals became landlords, they will protect our lands. Recently again, the generals, including General Musharaf have been allotted lands in the Saraiki area at throw away prices in return for their services of conquering their own country. Punjab Democratic Front demands that all these allotments to the army personnel should be cancelled immediately and no such allotments should be made in future. But this would be possible only if there is a separate Saraiki Province with its own Board of Revenue at Multan. Non-Saraiki people sitting in Board of Revenue, Lahore, do not feel any pain in dishing out these lands to the generals.  It is certain that the people sitting in Board of Revenue, Multan, would never be so callous.   

 

Who is against Saraiki Province   

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,

I have pondered for days rather weeks, to find out, who in reality is opposing the creation of a Saraiki Province. Among the businessmen, the students, trade union leaders, doctors, professors, or the intellectuals of the whole of Punjab, none is, or can be, or should be, against it because they have nothing to lose. The only conclusion is that those who are actually a hurdle in the creation of the Saraiki Province, are the people with the gun who forcibly want to grab the lands in Saraiki area. It is the generals. But to cover their designs and get support from the army, they might give some lands to army personnel of the lower ranks, as well. However, the initiative of grabbing lands or residential plots always comes from the generals. The lust of the generals for land and plots is proved from the letter of some army officers to Javed Hashmi, a courageous political leader from Saraiki area.This letter says, and I quote:  Just before the US attack on Afghanistan, all the generals and brigadiers of Pakistan Army got plots in Lahore near LUMS campus worth Rs 7 to 10 million each. All these officers have already got their share of residential and commercial plots. Unquote. This quotation is taken from an article by Wajid Shamsul Hasan, published on page 4 of the  Daily Nation (English Section), London, U.K., dated November 1, 2003.  

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

I can say with full confidence that if the generals approve it today, we will have the Saraiki Province tomorrow. All the civilian governments, including the present one, are only a rubber stamp in the hands of the generals. As openly admitted by Prime Minister Jamali himself, General Musharaf is his boss. The biggest fault of the Prime Ministers and the Ministers is, and has been, that they accept these offices knowing fully well that they do not have any policy-making powers.

In the end I would submit that in spite of all the difficulties, it is certain that under the able leadership of Barrister Taj Muhammad Khan Langah Sahib, Saraiki Province will come into existence in the near future. I am also confident that the future of the tolerant, peace loving, honest and hardworking Saraiki people is very bright.

I thank you Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen.

 

 

Note: 

                                                                                      This paper was written by Shaukat Baloch, Advocate, President, Punjab Democratic Front, and read on his behalf during the Saraiki International Conference held at Multan (Pakistan), on 13th & 14th December, 2003.

 

The writer can be contacted at the following address:

 

Shaukat Baloch,

Kaegenhofweg 2,

4153 Reinach, BL,

Switzerland.

Tel: 0041 79 273 47 53

E-mail:  blochch@yahoo.com