QUETTA: Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) president Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal has urged people from all communities living in Balochistan to get united for development and prosperity of the province.

Addressing a public meeting at Railway Hockey Ground on Saturday, he said the BNP-M was a national democratic political party which was struggling for the legitimate rights of all people of Balochistan. He said the party had never compromised on its demands for the rights of people. Despite conspiracies being hatched against it, the BNP-M was becoming popular with each passing day, he added.

Mr Mengal said the BNP-M wanted to unite all people of Balochistan on a single platform so that the politics of hatred could be eliminated from the province.

A former provincial minister, Ismail Gujjar, along with his associates announced joining the BNP-M on the occasion.

Says BNP-M will continue struggle for rights

BNP-M secretary general Senator Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini, senior vice president Abdu Wali Kakar, former senator Haji Lashkari Raisani, former federal minister Humayun Aziz Kurd and other party leaders also addressed the public meeting.

Welcoming Mr Gujjar in the party, Mr Mengal said the BNP-M had been struggling for the rights of Balochistan people for long. All those political parties established at provincial or federal level on the basis of hatred did nothing for the province, he added.

The BNP-M president said there were some parties in the province which had never raised voice over killings of innocent people in the province and never struggled for the rights of the province. But, he added, with general elections approaching these parties had come once again in a bid to deceive people fool with their fake promises. He said the people of Balochistan would vote only for those parties which stood with them in their difficult times. A new party was being established in Balochistan before the general elections, he said, adding the BNP-M was ready to face such parties and would foil their attempts to exploit people in the name of rights.

Mr Mengal criticised the federal budget which was announced on Friday, saying that Balochistan would not receive an appropriate amount from the federal government and the province would continue to face financial difficulties. “They have assumed us to be baggers and are paying us the amount as charity. We don’t ask for charity but our due rights.” He said the resources of Balochistan were being looted for the last 70 years.

He claimed that religious parties and so-called nationalist groups had done nothing for the people of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018