ISLAMABAD: The provincial cabinet of Balochistan will be sworn in on Monday (Oct 14), Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai said here on Thursday.

Talking to journalists, he said the cabinet could not be formed earlier because partners in the provincial government wanted to induct clean people.

Mr Achakzai said the only thing the Baloch people wanted was their rights and advised the media not to describe the situation in Balochistan as insurgency. He said the situation had improved in the province over the past two months. About two months ago, he said, no one could travel to Chaman from Quetta at night because of the poor law and order situation, but now roads are safe and people could go anywhere even at night without any fear.

Mr Achakzai said that for the first time a political government had assumed power in Balochistan and it had performed well since its foundation. In the past people of the Hazara community were being attacked but now they were safe.

Mr Achakzai claimed there was no dispute between Pakhtun and Baloch people in the province. They have been living with each other in harmony for centuries. Mr. Achakzai confirmed that convoys taking relief goods for earthquake survivors were being attacked. But without naming any group of people, he said those seeking to turn Balochistan into a separate country would not succeed. “They are a small force,” he added.

About the law and order situation in the province, the governor said that the old tribal system had collapsed over the past 30 years but no new system had emerged and that had led to a disturbing situation.

He said people hired services of private guards even in the federal capital and streets were blocked for security reasons and the situation is almost the same all over the country because previous governments didn’t fulfill their responsibilities.

“It is a by-product of policies of the previous governments. Extortionists are arrested even in Sabzi Mandi area of Islamabad,” he said. About the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti, he said that retired Gen Pervez Musharraf had left a serious problem (for his successors) during a sensitive time. The incident (Bugti’s murder) tarnished the image of the country in the world.

About the issue of missing people, he said the aggrieved parties hesitated to lodge complaints with law-enforcement agencies. He said he himself had advised relatives of an alleged missing man to submit a written application with relevant officials or at the Governor’s House so that a case could be initiated but they refused to do so.

“There is a law about it even in occupied Kashmir but not in Balochistan,” he said.