Balochistan Assembly rejects Sardari system resolution by one vote
Five members backed the motion moved by Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman and six opposed it, after PPP ministers spoke for it and PML-N and BAP members against.
QUETTA: The Balochistan Assembly rejected a resolution on the Sardari system by one vote on Friday, after five members backed it and six opposed it.
The motion was moved by Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman. ARY News reported that he is a Jamaat-e-Islami MPA. Quetta Voice described him as the Balochistan chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and said the resolution sought enforcement of the 1976 Sardari System (Abolition) Act, which was passed under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party government.
According to Quetta Voice, Rehman told the house that some tribal chiefs still run private jails and subject people to torture, and demanded that the government stop the National Database and Registration Authority and the media from using titles such as "Nawab" and "Sardar". ARY News reported that the resolution called for abolishing the tribal leadership system.
Planning and Development Minister Mir Zahoor Buledi of the PPP supported the motion. He said attitudes linked to the sardari system were no longer acceptable and that the time had come to guarantee equal rights for all citizens, ARY News reported. He said the tribal system had blocked justice for victims in Khuzdar, and referred to the case of Asma Jattak. "God has not created differences between human beings, so who are we to do so?" he said.
PPP MPA Ali Madad Jattak also backed the resolution, saying educated young people do not support the sardari system. He said that while many tribal chiefs in Balochistan were oppressive, there were also good tribal leaders, according to ARY News.
Quetta Voice reported that National Party chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch backed the motion, and that Leader of the Opposition Mir Younis Aziz Zehri proposed widening it to include a call for an Islamic system across Pakistan.
PML-N MPA Zarak Khan Mandokhail opposed the resolution, arguing that tribal chiefs and nawabs should not be held collectively responsible for oppression and that sardars serve their communities. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (F) MPA Zabad Reki said he was not against tribal chiefs or nawabs as such but would never support those responsible for oppression, ARY News reported. Balochistan Awami Party MPA Farah Azeem Shah said her party was not against all tribal chiefs and nawabs.
Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola put the resolution to a vote. Five members supported it and six opposed it, and the motion was defeated.
How the reports differ
ARY News described the mover, Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman, as a Jamaat-e-Islami MPA and said the resolution called for abolishing the tribal leadership system, while Quetta Voice identified him as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam's Balochistan chief and said the motion sought enforcement of the 1976 Sardari System (Abolition) Act. Quetta Voice alone reported that National Party chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch backed the resolution, that Opposition Leader Mir Younis Aziz Zehri proposed adding a call for an Islamic system, that Rehman accused tribal chiefs of running private jails, that he asked for an end to the titles "Nawab" and "Sardar", and that Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola put the motion to the vote. ARY News alone carried the remarks of PPP MPA Ali Madad Jattak, JUI-F MPA Zabad Reki and BAP MPA Farah Azeem Shah.
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