“We the students of Balochistan want to share our vision of an inclusive future”, said Sohrab Baloch in a newly released press statement
According to the statement sent to The Balochistan Post, Sohrab Baloch, the Chairman of Baloch Students Organization – Azad (BSO-Azad) showed his concern over the plunder of resources of Balochistan.
In the statement, Sohrab Baloch said, “Amidst the deepening crisis spawned by the loot of Baloch resources and appropriation of their land, we the students of Balochistan want to share our vision of an inclusive future.”
He further said, “We would like our resources to be used for a better future for the Baloch people. We would not like to extract any resources or build any infrastructural project that damages the ecological system and our heritage sites or unduly deprives future generations of an equitable share in the resources. We would not like to promote polluting projects. We would like to support only those projects that are awarded through a transparent bidding process and follow international best practices and are based on the prior informed consent of the Baloch people”.
Sohrab Baloch drawing a picture of the distribution of Baloch resources in an independent Balochistan said, “More than anything else we would like to restore the relationship of the Baloch people with their land and its resources. We think that this can be achieved in the following way: In an independent Balochistan, the ownership over all resources should be divided among four tiers of the society: 15 percent ownership should be divided among all Baloch citizens, another 20 percent should be divided among all Baloch villages, yet another 25 percent should be divided among tribes and finally the last 40 percent should go to the Baloch government.”
He further explained, ” Each tier will use funds for four purposes: one part of the funds will be invested in a sovereign fund so that some portion of the profits are preserved for the long term; since knowledge and human skills are key to a society’s success in the 21st Century, the second part will be used to build the human capital of the Baloch society battered by decades of colonial rule; the third part will be used to develop physical infrastructure and capital; and the fourth part will be spent on restoring and nurturing our ecosystems, culture, heritage sites and languages”.
Calculating the distribution of resources, he explained, “If a company leases a goldmine and pays 400 Euros as royalty and share in profits to the Baloch government, the amount will be divided among the government, tribes, villages and households. The 160 Euros of the government will be divided among the central and provincial governments of Balochistan. 100 Euros for tribes will be divided among all tribal councils of the recognised Baloch tribes. 80 Euros for village’s administration will be divided among all recognised Baloch village councils. 60 Euros will be divided among all Baloch households and will be credited directly to their bank accounts. It is this fiscal federalism and decentralisation that will underwrite the strength of the Baloch family, village, tribe and nation”.