Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The President of the Balochistan National Party Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal has said that the talk about the economic corridor and the development of Gwadar port has spread everywhere but the people of Gwadar stand deprived off pure drinking water.

He said the land of the people of Gwadar was bought at very low prices and they were evicted from there. He said if China could bring manpower along with the machinery then as to how the people of Gwadar and Balochistan would get the benefits. He also said that the Gwadar project was not giving benefits to the people of Gwadar. He was presiding over a seminar about the Pak China Economic Corridor in Islamabad on Tuesday. Another leader of the Balochistan National Party Dr Jahanzaib Jamal Dini, Sajid Tareen, Chairperson of the South Asian Strategic Stability, Maria Sultan, leader of the Human Rights Commison Asma Jahangir and other senior journalists also participated in the seminar.

Sardar Akhter Jan Mengal said, “We wanted to show the real Gwadar to the people of Islamabad so the seminar was conducted in Islamabad. He said the people assume that the Serena Hotel and Zarghon Roz were Balochistan therefore they felt everything was fine.

He said likewise the people watch the Gwadar Port as the whole of Gwadar whereas the issues of the people of Gwadar were not addressed.

He said the Gwadar issue was not discussed in the parliament. The government only said that China gave 46.2 million dollars. When we asked about it we were called “traitors” working for the Soviet Union. The leader of the Humans Rights Commison Asma Jahangir said she was against the development funds looted from Gwadar and given to Lahore. She said the Pak China Economic Corridor was not a general project so there was no need to hide its realities. Jahangir said no one could ever ask the fishermen of Gwadar what their miseries were.