Government making efforts to bring back Khan of Kalat

Government making efforts to bring back Khan of Kalat

Thursday, July 09, 2009By By Mumtaz Alvi

ISLAMABAD: The PPP-led government is persistently trying to convince the self-exiled Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Daud Baloch to return and be part of the ongoing process to address Balochistan’s deep-rooted problems, The News learnt here Wednesday.

“The PPP-led government approached him immediately after assuming power last year and through certain circles, has been in touch with him afterwards,” a senior government official claimed while talking to this correspondent.

Requesting anonymity, he explained that the government wanted the ‘Beglar Begi’ (Sardar of sardars) to drop the plan of moving the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the status of Kalat, which became part of Pakistan under an agreement signed on March 27, 1948 between Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the then Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmad Yar Khan.

In reply to a question, he said the Khan of Kalat had not responded positively till now to the government efforts, but it was a good thing that despite having almost completed consultations with legal experts, he had not filed an application with the world court. He accuses Pakistan of not fulfilling the pledges made at the time of signing the treaty.

The democratic dispensation is following the policy of grand reconciliation and reaching out to Mir Suleman is part of it, the source maintained. The Khan of Kalat is presently living in Britain.

“What information I have is that he is committed to approaching the ICJ in the light of the decision of a traditional jirga three years back,” said daughter-in-law of the Khan of Kalat and the PML-Q Senator Rehana Yahya Baloch, when contacted on telephone for her comments.

Around 100 noted Baloch leaders had a grand jirga in Kalat on September 21, 2006, shortly after the killing of ex-governor and chief minister Balochistan Nawab Akbar Bugti. The jirga, chaired by Mir Suleman, had decided to move the ICJ to revert the status of Kalat to its position prior to the treaty. Previously, the grand jirga had its meeting presided over by Mir Khudai Dad Khan.

According to the treaty, only defence, currency and foreign affairs were to go to the Centre while the rest would stay with Balochistan. Senator Rehana Baloch also confirmed that the former PML-Q regime as well as the present government had been in touch with the Khan of Kalat.

“Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had held out an assurance to the Begum of Khan of Kalat during a meeting over a month back that Mir Suleman was free to stage a comeback, as he faced no case,” a federal minister, who also did not want to be identified, revealed.

With a total area of 11,593 square miles, the state of Kalat, established in 1638, covered the whole of the centre and south-west of Balochistan, with the exception of the indentation caused by the little state of Lasbela.

Source: The News