QUETTA: Senior politician and former senator Nawabzada Haji Mir Lashkari Khan Raisani has initiated a significant political outreach, sending formal letters to key opposition leaders in Balochistan regarding the contentious Mines and Minerals Act.
The letters were delivered to the Leader of the Opposition in the Balochistan Assembly, Mir Younus Aziz Zehri, the provincial Ameer of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Senator Maulana Abdul Wasi, and the provincial Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami and assembly member, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman Baloch.
The communications were hand-delivered by delegations of senior political figures. A delegation comprising Qari Akhtar Shah Kharl, Haji Muhammad Ishaq Lehri, and Haji Zafar Siddique submitted the letter to the opposition leader’s chamber in the provincial assembly. The letter for Senator Maulana Abdul Wasi was delivered to his son, Ruhullah Kakar, at his residence.
A separate delegation, including Haji Mir Muhammad Ishaq Lehri, Haji Rahim Tareen, Haji Waqar Khilji, Ghazi Khan Bangulzai, and Yasin Khosa, presented the letter addressed to Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman Baloch to Zahid Akhtar Baloch, the deputy Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, at the party’s provincial secretariat, Al-Falah House.
This coordinated effort signals a move to build a consensus among major opposition parties against the current Mines and Minerals Act, which has been a subject of significant political debate in the province.
Last week Raisani has threatened to mobilize political parties against Balochistan’s Mines and Minerals Act, calling it a threat to provincial resources and future generations.
Addressing an emergency meeting at Sarawan House, the former senator expressed alarm at the “mysterious silence” following the assembly’s resolution to review the legislation. He announced plans to formally petition party leaders and parliamentary heads demanding an all-party conference on the issue.
“We fought politically for Saindak and Reko Diq to protect future generations,” stated Raisani. “Now we demand the Reko Diq agreement be made public and this new act be returned to the assembly for review.”
Citing the 1948 agreement between Khan of Kalat and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Raisani asserted Balochistan’s entitlement to control over its resources. He warned that the current legislation threatens to auction off the province’s mineral wealth, jeopardizing its economic future.
