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TAKING part in debate on Balochistan in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ch Shujaat Hussain disclosed some salient features of the recommendations being finalised by the two sub-committees separately covering constitutional and political issues concerning provinces, while rejecting suggestions that a military operation is under way. Before being presented in Parliament for discussion these recommendations would be examined by the parliamentary committee on March 12.
But there is many a slip ’twixt cup and lip in the implementation of the constitutional sub-committee’s recommendation for a complete revision of the concurrent list. General Musharraf has said he had asked the federal government to abolish this list to give maximum autonomy to the provinces. And this is in line with what the federating units have been demanding for long.
Then there is the issue of the NFC Award about which Ch Shujaat did not give any explanation as to whether it would be on a 50:50 basis between the Centre and provinces or whether the committee has worked out a different formula. Equally tricky is the horizontal distribution of resources, especially when provinces have not been able to evolve a consensus on the criteria.
Ch Shujaat, who sounded genuinely concerned about the prevalent unrest in Balochistan, promised a ’surprise’ package for the Baloch to mitigate their sense of deprivation. According to him 27 out of 31 recommendations of the Mushahid sub-committee, forming the basis of this package, had already been approved by the President and the Prime Minister.
But while this is a positive development, a decision about the rest of the four proposals is eagerly awaited. Given his own observation that certain powerful elements in the government were putting roadblocks in the working of the Parliamentary Committee, he should have, at least, taken the House into confidence on the ’contentious’ issue prevented from being resolved.
By doing so he could have justified the delay in the finalisation of recommendations by the parliamentary committee that forced the opposition to pull out of it. The day Ch Shujaat was to meet Nawab Akbar Bugti, the local army commander announced construction of the proposed cantonment in Sui that clearly indicated the ’powerful lobby’ opposing the political settlement of the Balochistan crisis.
Perhaps Ch Shujaat knows well that almost all governments, whether civilian or military, since the inception of Pakistan, have always remained averse to the concept of provincial autonomy. Against this backdrop he might have to struggle to change this peculiar centralist mindset which is now impeding the working of the Parliamentary Committee. Revision or removal of the concurrent list or other such matters would hardly serve any purpose unless the committee gets a mandate to ensure implementation of the entire package.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2005/5/editorials2.php | 
