Daily Times

The exploitation of Balochistan is not confined to minerals, stones and fuel reserves only. The province has very fertile land and grows top quality fruits and vegetables. Rich countries and their companies are targeting Balochistan’s agriculture as well. Recently, the Pakistan Agriculture and Cold Chain Development (PACCD), a subsidiary of Winrock International, a US NGO working under the patronage of USAID, distributed apple samplings in Balochistan whose description resembles that of genetically modified organisams (GMOs), without informing farmers that they are GMOs. They also built a free cold storage to win the confidence of the people. When the federal ministry of interior started monitoring NGO activities in the country, PACCD packed up and has not since been seen in Quetta.

GM farming reduces nutrient content in foods and increases allergic reactions causing an increase in the production of harmful proteins. GMOs increase cancer and cause horizontal gene transfer between modified organisms and human bacteria. Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen in Normandy found that 50 to 80 percent of female rodents developed tumours in all the groups while male rodents suffered from liver damage, kidney problems, indigestion and skin tumours when they consumed NK 603 corn for 24 months.

There has been a tremendous increase in cancer in Pakistan as we continue to import GM food items like lentils and vegetables from Australia, Canada and India. On the other hand, Germany and Scotland have already banned GMOs while 19 EU countries are taking steps to ban them. Recently, China refused to allow Bt-corn imported from the US to enter the Chinese market. I have learnt through reliable sources that Canada is growing GM crops for aid/export to less developed countries but has banned their sale in Canada. Consumption of these products in Canada will be considered only after surveys have been conducted to quantify increases in serious illnesses in countries consuming GM crops exported/donated by Canada and other rich countries. It has also been brought to my attention that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is growing organic crops in Pakistan for western consumers.

GMOs also have seriously adverse impacts on the economy as seeds from GM crops cannot be used for sowing and fresh seeds have to be imported for each crop, which increases foreign exchange requirements resulting in increase in the trade deficit. While natural seeds, which are healthier, do not use up our scarce foreign exchange but GM seeds need foreign exchange for every crop that has to be sown. Combined with increased fertiliser and herbicide use, they increase the cost of production of crops, causing increase in prices of food crops and rise in the rate of inflation, thus making us food insecure.

Balochistan produces the best fruits, vegetables, nuts and dry fruits in the world. Why are we allowing outsiders to come in and destroy this very healthy and profitable sector? Farmers in Balochistan do not have to spend foreign exchange on purchasing seeds. How will they cope with increase in the cost of production of their crops once they are made dependent on GM seeds? And how does the impoverishment of Balochi farmers impact the geo-politics of Pakistan? How will the production of GM fruits, vegetables, dry fruit and nuts impact the export of these when consumers abroad are getting more health conscious and turning towards organic foods? As a result of clandestinely replacing cottonseeds with Bt-cotton seeds, Pakistan’s exports to the EU have declined in spite of the GSP Plus status given to Pakistan. Most important of all, how will the poor people of Balochistan afford medical expenses if afflicted by the kinds of diseases consumption of GMOs entails?

In this dismal scenario, the governor of Balochistan is a ray of hope. Being an economist himself, he has taken note of the economic loss to the province due to the extraction and export of raw stones and metals from Balochistan, and has asked Russia to help in the extraction of minerals. Here I would just like to share the consensus in literature on natural resources and growth: countries that export their fuel, ores, stones and minerals in raw form are afflicted by the resource curse while countries that establish industries that use these resources as inputs are not afflicted by the resource curse. I would, therefore, suggest that instead of exporting gold, copper, coal and stones from Balochistan in raw form, we should establish industries that use gold, copper, stones, fuel etc. This will not only provide employment to the local people and generate incomes but also reverse the resource curse and bring prosperity, which will nip in the bud attempts to alienate the people of Balochistan against the state.

This brings me to the all-important question of governance in this country. We are paying the price of bringing (with some exceptions) the worst amongst us to leadership positions. It is common knowledge that we install people on leadership positions who have links with the US. These people have never delivered and cause a lot of harm to Pakistan through their actions when in power. With change creeping in as a result of the world moving towards a multi-polar world, this decadent system is not only posing an existentialist threat to the country but has become a useless albatross around our necks. The sooner we are able to abandon it, and replace it by a system based on merit where the most competent, honest and patriotic Pakistanis are elevated to leadership positions, the better it will be for our national interest. Can the destruction of Balochistan’s precious stones enabling India to earn foreign exchange on Balochi precious stones, exploitation of Balochistan’s gold and copper by an Australian company and the destruction of Balochi orchards by US seed be justified to earn billions being facilitated by our politico-social system? Is the exploitation of Balochistan by outside powers being facilitated by installing advisers on fantastically exorbitant salaries and perks, who may have links with foreign powers? Vetting all those being elevated to leadership positions in the provinces and Pakistan will be the first step towards ending the exploitation of Balochistan.?

(Concluded)

The writer is a senior professor of IBA and is now working at CBM as the dean of faculty. She may be contacted at drwizarat@icloud.com