Latest news with #SardarAkhtarMengal
Business Recorder
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Drawing a line between advocacy and violence
EDITORIAL: Functioning democracies give space to citizens, especially those belonging to estranged sections of society, so that they may vent their resentment without fear of criminalisation. Nowhere is this more necessary than in our restive Balochistan province, where long-standing grievances arising from denial of political and economic rights have created a deep sense of alienation, further aggravated by the despicable phenomenon of enforced disappearances. For a while, the arrest of women activists of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a peaceful protest movement led by Dr Mahrang Baloch against this grave human rights violation, has been making a bad situation worse. Last month, the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal launched a long march from Mastung to Quetta to protest the BYC activists' detention, but was not allowed to go anywhere near the provincial capital. After a 20-day standoff the party quit the march, deciding instead to stage protest rallies all across the province to draw national attention to the 'missing' people. It turned out to be the main issue of concern at a recent event in Islamabad. Several human rights experts and UN Special Rapporteurs while acknowledging 'the serious threat posed by armed groups in Balochistan' warned against conflating legitimate human and minority rights advocacy and public demonstrations with terrorism. They also expressed concern over the detention of BYC leaders and their supporters, as well as alleged actions against their family members and lawyers. That, maintained the rights experts, may amount to reprisals for their interaction with UN mechanisms. Such episodes together with the Baloch people's other genuine grievances play into the hands of insurgents and hostile foreign forces supporting them. But a security-centred approach alone cannot help establish durable peace. As a matter of fact, it's been two decades since the ongoing insurgency (fifth since the country's inception) was triggered by the killing of a moderate Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. A major reason the conflict has remained so protracted is that all these years the state has been resorting to the same old method, use of force, to quell trouble, producing the same results: frustration, alienation and anger towards the Centre. Meanwhile, suppression of dissent keeps fuelling unrest rather than resolving any, which underscores the need to draw a clear line between rights advocacy and acts of terrorism. The controversial February 2024 elections also have exacerbated the situation. A policy reset is in order. Criminalising dissent in Balochistan's context only reinforces the sentiments the state seeks to restrain. Restoration of sustainable peace calls for good faith conversations aimed at addressing the causes underlying recurring cycles of insurgency, as well as the now paramount problem of enforced disappearances. That should be achievable if those who can get things right, i.e., genuine representatives of the Baloch people, are given a free hand to resolve all outstanding issues of conflict. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Mengal blasts PPP for arresting women in Balochistan
Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of his faction of the BNP-M, on Friday lashed out at the PPP for arresting women in Balochistan, saying that even under Portuguese and British colonial rule or during martial law regimes, women were never taken into custody. He expressed these views during a public gathering held in Gwadar, where a large number of people, including women, children and the elderly, were present. "We are not here for political point scoring, but to raise our voice for the rights that have been denied to Balochistan," he said while addressing the crowd. Sardar Mengal said they are not afraid of being arrested, as their workers and colleagues have been detained during multiple authoritarian regimes. "We were arrested whether it was the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan or the era of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto," he added. He lamented that the PPP has always targeted Baloch youth, citing examples such as the Lyari gang war and the 1973 military operation in Balochistan. "They still say 'Bhutto Zinda Hai' - thank God he is not [alive], otherwise no home in Balochistan would have been spared," he said. He alleged that the very foundation of the PPP is built on the blood of Baloch youth. Questioning the state institutions, he said that courts can open at midnight to topple a government, but cannot listen to the grievances of the people of Balochistan. He added that Parliament can convene to pass a bill, but there is no room to hear the miseries of the Baloch people. "The state labels every voice raised against the atrocities in Balochistan as a terrorist. Today, Mahrang and Bebow are being labelled terrorists. Tomorrow, I too will be called one," he said. He said that despite having the latest technology, arms, and nuclear weapons, the state is afraid of Mahrang.
Express Tribune
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Mengal calls off sit-in, announces new protest drive
Listen to article 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.
Arab News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan party ends weeks-long protest over arrest of Baloch rights activists
ISLAMABAD: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) on Wednesday called off a weeks-long sit-in in southwest Pakistan against the arrest last month of Baloch ethnic rights activists, the chief of the party said in a press conference. BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and his supporters have been leading a protest since Mar. 28, days after Dr. Mahrang Baloch, the most prominent rights activist from Balochistan, and others were arrested after they took part in a protest outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta. Baloch and other activists had been demanding the release of other members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee rights group, whom they allege have been detained by security agencies. That demonstration ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents, and Baloch and others were charged with terrorism, sedition, and murder. The Pakistan army and government have in the past variously referred to Baloch and her BYC as 'terrorist proxies' who are allied with militant separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The group denies the charge and says it leads peaceful protests for the rights of the Baloch. 'Keeping in mind everything, giving importance to the difficulties of the people, the Balochistan National Party has decided that if the government does not allow us to go to Quetta, we will continue our protest, if not this way, then any other way we deem fit,' Mengal Said at a press conference in Mastung where his party had been holding the sit-in. He did not elaborate on a future course of action. The crackdown on BYC leaders followed a deadly train attack in Balochistan last month, in which BLA separatist militants took hundreds of passengers hostage. The army said 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers had died in the attack and rescue mission, which lasted over a day. Last year, Baloch was barred from traveling to the United States to attend a TIME magazine awards gala after being named on the 2024 TIME100 Next list of 'rising leaders.' She began her activist career at the age of 16 in 2009 when her father went missing in an alleged 'enforced disappearance.' His body was found two years later. Her BYC says it campaigns against such extrajudicial killings, abductions and other rights abuses against the ethnic Baloch people. The state denies official complicity. Protests and advocacy among the Baloch are often led by women, who say their male counterparts have suffered the worst in a decades-long state crackdown. Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Express Tribune
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
CM urges respect for constitutional limits amid BNP protest
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti has said that while peaceful protest is a constitutional right of every citizen, the authority to allow public assemblies lies with the government, and everyone must respect the constitutional framework. He expressed these views during a meeting with Nawabzada Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri and Sardar Kamal Khan Bangulzai at the Chief Minister's Secretariat on Monday. The two Baloch nationalist leaders called on the CM to pave the way for a negotiated settlement regarding the ongoing long march of BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal. The meeting focused on the ongoing protest by the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), as well as the overall political situation in the province. CM Bugti briefed the two leaders on the government's political and administrative efforts to resolve the matter. He revealed that three rounds of dialogue had already been held with BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal. "Out of the three demands presented by him, one has been accepted by the government," he said, adding that despite the government's serious efforts to reach a political resolution, the response from the other side remained non-cooperative, leading to a continued deadlock. The chief minister, along with Zehri and Bangulzai, stressed the importance of joint efforts for lasting peace in Balochistan. They also agreed to continue political dialogue and engagement to address issues. Meanwhile, a shutter-down strike was observed in various parts of Balochistan on the call of Balochistan National Party in solidarity with the BNP protest. The BNP, led by Sardar Akhtar Mengal, has been staging a sit-in in the Lupas area of Quetta for over a week.
