QUETTA:
Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party, on Wednesday called off his 20-day-long sit-in at the Lakpass area of Mastung district against the arrest of Baloch activists, fearing its impact on traders in the impoverished province.
The party had launched the long march to protest the arrest of BYC chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch, other leaders and workers as well as police crackdowns on a sit-in.
Mengal had announced that the party would march on Quetta but was kept at bay by the government.
Addressing a news conference in Mastung, Mengal called off the sit-in, saying: “We believe in a peaceful struggle. We are not ending the movement but will initiate a public outreach movement from today.”
He announced that the party would organise rallies and protests at district level across Balochistan in the coming days.
“In the first phase, we would hold protest rallies in Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar and Surab. In the second stage, these rallies would be held in areas of Turbat, Gwadar and Makran,” Mengal explained.
He added that the third phase of his protest movement would engage the public in the Nasirabad, Jaffarabad and Dera Murad Jamali districts, along with other areas of Balochistan.
“We are not backing down, we are taking the movement to every corner of Balochistan,” he declared.
The BNP-M leader emphasised that the campaign aims to bring national attention to the issue of enforced disappearances and prolonged detentions without trial. He called on the federal and provincial governments to respond to the growing concerns of the Baloch people.
Mengal’s announcement marks a new phase in the party’s political efforts to address grievances through democratic means, while keeping the spotlight on unresolved human rights issues in Balochistan.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti lashed out at the BYC, terming its activists “abettors” of separatists.
Responding to a query during a news conference in Islamabad, CM Bugti said: “Those who call themselves human rights activists, the BYC, are not registered anywhere.
“They burn Pakistan’s flag wherever they pass through. They are not peaceful, they are abettors of those from the separatist movement and terrorists,” he alleged.
The chamber of commerce in Quetta told local media that the rally had caused economic losses of $120,000 a day, with traders complaining that their loaded trucks could not cross into Iran or Afghanistan.
The decision came a day after a court refused to rule on the detention of the activist Baloch, who, along with criminal charges of terrorism, sedition and murder, faces a public order offence brought by the provincial government.
The court instead passed the case to the government, a decision her lawyers said would delay justice.
Army chief downplayed the growing insurgency in an address aired by state television. “1,500 people will say that they are going to take away Balochistan from us? Your next 10 generations cannot even take it from us,” General Syed Asim Munir said.
He said foreign investment would flow into the region after Pakistan hosted a mining conference this month.
#Mengal #calls #sitin #announces #protest #drive
Leave a Reply