QUETTA: In a significant political move, senior politician and former senator Nawabzada Haji Mir Lashkari Khan Raisani has intensified his campaign against the current Mines and Minerals Act, sending formal letters to key political figures and industry stakeholders across Balochistan.
The letters were dispatched to Balochistan Governor Sheikh Jafar Khan Mandokhel, National Democratic Movement (NDM) provincial president Ahmed Jan Khan, and Coal Mines Owners Association president Mir Behroz Reiki. This follows Raisani’s earlier communications with opposition leaders including Mir Yunus Aziz Zehri, Maulana Abdul Wasi, and Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal.
A delegation comprising Qari Akhtar Shah Kharal, Haji Muhammad Ishaq Lehri, and Haji Rahim Tareen personally delivered the letter to NDM’s provincial president at the party secretariat, where several senior party members were present. The same delegation also handed a separate communication to the Coal Mines Owners Association’s general secretary, Syed Fateh Shah.
The coordinated effort represents one of the broadest political outreach campaigns in recent Balochistan history, spanning across party lines from the Jamaat-e-Islami and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party to the Balochistan National Party and Awami National Party. The widespread distribution of letters indicates a strategic attempt to build a cross-party consensus against the current mining legislation.
This expanding campaign signals growing political momentum against the Mines and Minerals Act, with Raisani emerging as a central figure coordinating opposition across Balochistan’s diverse political spectrum.
Last week Nawabzada Lashkari 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.
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