Lack of education and educational facilities and poor governance are some of the key reasons behind the present quagmire of Balochistan. The resources allocated for the province from under NFC are not being used judicially and hence, the poor people of Balochistan are not getting benefitted from it. The speakers said at a discussion ‘Understanding Balochistan: Baloch youth perspective’ jointly organized by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, hereMonday.
Dr. Masoom Yasinzai, Vice-Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University, on the occasion said that education is the foremost need of Baloch people as without it, they would not be able to get benefitted from their own resources.The VC who himself is from Balochistan referred to Zabel University in Iranian Balochistan where the institution bring students from 900 adjoining villages from state expense and with a aim to bring this area at par with other parts of the country.
He said that disperse population and far flung areas. This terrain is so difficult and due to non availability of transport, parents do not allow daughters to travel to reach universities in Quetta. Thus, this issue must be resolved to encourage female education.
He said that providing Baloch youth an opportunity of expressing their views and to listening to others is a commendable initiative of CRSS.
The members of the delegation of Baloch Youth Forum (BYF) highlighted various issues of the province and said that the people of Balochistan have a deep sense of deprivation which needs to be redressed. The members of the delegation including Basser Bangalzai, Aima Haroon, Ameer Bakhsh, Muhammad Azan, Sami Baloch, Naghmana Munir, Abdul Mateen, Mah-e-Zaman, Zaheer Ahmad, Shahbaz Ahmad said that Balochistan is rich in resources but the needs of the people of the province are not being catered.
The members of the BYF shared various grievances including the health hazards occurred to local people as a result of Chagi Nuclear tests, growing joblessness, issue of missing Baloch youth and state of poor governance. They said that people want free and fare elections in the province but at present electoral process is being manipulated, hence, people are losing faith in the system.
Dr. Eatzaz Ahmad, Dean of Social Sciences QAU also expressed his views on the occasion and emphasized on the government to allocate more funds for backward areas of Balochistan.