Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of his faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), announced on Wednesday an end to his party’s 20-day-long sit-in at the Lakpass area of Mastung district against the arrest of Baloch activists, adding that they would launch a public outreach movement instead.
The BNP-M had begun a “long march” from Wadh to Quetta on March 28 to protest the arrests of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and activists, including Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch, as well as a crackdown on their sit-in in Quetta. Sammi was released on April 1.
Earlier this month, Mengal had announced that the party would march on Quetta on April 6 — after three rounds of negotiations had failed to make any progress — but was kept at bay by the government.
Addressing a press conference in Mastung today, 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 BNP-M 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.
Detailing his protest plan further, the BNP-M chief said the first rally would be organised in Mastung but did not specify a date. A rally would then be held in Kalat on April 20, he added.
Speaking about Baloch activists, Mengal said Mahrang was arrested “unconstitutionally”. He lamented: “The state created obstacles in our peaceful long march.”
There wasn’t a single moment without danger at Lakpass,“ Mengal claimed during the media talk.
“All others have the right to protest but we don’t?” he quipped, adding that protests were allowed on the Kashmir issue but not on Balochistan.
The BNP-M president further claimed that the provincial government’s delegation that held negotiations with his party “expressed its helplessness”.
Following today’s announcement, former Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who visited the protest camp last week, thanked Mengal for his decision.
According to a statement by Sanjrani, he spoke on the phone with the BNP-M chief and termed his decision to call off the sit-in peacefully the “best decision”.
