ISLAMABAD, May 15 Former chief of the army staff Gen (retd) Abdul Waheed Kakar on Saturday expressed concern over the missing people of Balochistan.

In a rare public appearance, the general, who also served as Corps Commander of Quetta, told a seminar organised by the “Friends of the Baloch and Balochistan” that many people from the province had met him and complained to him about the matter.

He said that many valuable lives, that of soldiers and civilians alike, had been lost in Balochistan. He urged the people and the institutions to cooperate with each other and honour each other.

The “Friends of the Baloch and Balochistan” is an initiative of former National Assembly speaker Syed Fakhar Imam and his spouse Begum Syeda Abida Hussain, Amanullah Gichki and Fazeela Aliani from Balochistan.

The participants of the seminar, from different walks of life, were provided folders containing membership forms of the organisation with the options of yearly, five-yearly and lifetime membership.

Former corps commanders Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Kuli Khan and Lt- Gen (retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi called for peace and harmony in the most populous province of the country.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion were former ambassador Jehangir Ashraf Qazi, former foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmad Khan and former Balochistan governor Brig (retd) Shaukat Qadir.

Many speakers were of the view that the Baloch were being punished for the crime of demanding their rights.

They stressed the need for granting more control to the provinces on their natural resources by initiating a process of complete decentralisation of powers to permanently end the outbreak of rifts between the federal government and the provinces.

They said the passage of the 18th Amendment was a beacon of hope to provincial autonomy and hoped it would help improve relations between the centre and the province while some viewed the constitutional package with scepticism saying that it was too little being offered too late.

Few speakers termed Balochistan's social and economic backwardness as an outcome of strict federal structure of the country which discouraged the provinces to have a share in the decision-making process over the years.

They said that Balochistan could emerge as a wonderful development model once it was given complete ownership on its natural resources.

They said that economically autonomous provinces would not pose a threat to the federation but they strengthen it.

They called for an end to the economic exploitation of Balochistan which he insisted was the biggest source of discontent and disillusionment in the volatile province.