KHUZDAR: Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, the president of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), has said that his party is raising the voice of the people of Balochistan in Islamabad but the “rulers are not paying heed to our voice”.

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected office-bearers of the Balochistan chapter of the All Pakistan Clark Association, he said that the BNP-M had supported the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in forming federal government after signing a six-point agreement with the PTI that included the issue of missing persons.

No practical steps had been taken in this regard so far, Mr Mengal said, adding that his party had given the PTI one year for implementing the six points of which seven months had passed and five months remained. “We will take a decision after completion of one year of the PTI government.”

Mr Mengal, who is also a member of the National Assembly, said that the rulers were trying to run Balochistan “on artificial oxygen by creating a so-called political party and leaders overnight and snatching public mandate to achieve their goals.

“The rulers have made the country a laboratory,” he said and warned that such experiences would prove harmful to the country.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2019