BNP’s Mengal remains unmoved even as Balochistan govt tries to placate him – Pakistan

Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the chief of his faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), has vowed to continue the party’s sit-in until arrested Baloch women are freed as a provincial government delegation met party leaders for talks after Iftar on Saturday in Mastung.

A day earlier, Mengal and other workers of BNP-M survived a suicide bombing near the Lakpass area of Mastung district.

Mengal had announced a “long march” from Wadh to Quetta to protest the arrests of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch and other leaders as well as police crackdowns on a sit-in. However, the Quetta administration has denied the BNP-M permission to go ahead with its rally.

Marchers and motorists from different political parties had started their journey to Quetta from Mengal’s native town of Wadh at around 9am on Friday. On Saturday, the BNP-M claimed that over 250 of its activists were detained as its march was met with police action near Mastung.

On Saturday evening, a provincial government delegation comprising Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Bakht Muhammad Kakar and Sardar Noor Ahmed Bangulzai met Mengal and other BNP-M leaders at the party’s sit-in site in Mastung.

Mengal, Nawab Muhammad Khan Shahwani, Sajid Tareen and other leaders participated in the talks on behalf of the sit-in participants.

Speaking to the media after the talk, Mengal said: “The government delegation spoke to us about cooperation and finding a way.

“We told them that they must find a way and let us go to Quetta.”

Mengal elaborated: “The government delegation asked us if we wanted to hold a rally, to which we said that if we wanted to hold a rally we would have done it in Khuzdar.

“We told the government our only demand is to release the women,” Mengal said. “We told them that we will march towards Quetta demanding the release of our women.”

Mengal went on to say that if the government does not let them go to Quetta, they would hold a sit-in in Mastung.

“This sit in will continue until our women are released,” Mengal said.

Although the delegation decided to meet with the BNP leadership again after Iftar, it did not.