QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) on Monday organised a march against allegedly forced displacement of some tribes from their ancestral areas in Quetta and Nasirabad.

The party held government officials responsible for escalating tensions among tribes in the province.

BNP-M’s caretaker president Malik Wali Kakar, former senator Nawabzada Haji Lashkari Raisani, MNA Dr Shahnaz Naseer Baloch, Yousaf Khan Kakar, Shahnawaz Siyal, Dhani Bakhsh and Shakar Khan led the protesters who marched on different roads of the city. The marchers chanted slogans against the city administrations.

The march started from the Nawab Naurooz Khan Complex and ended outside the Balochistan Assembly’s building where the protesters were addressed by BNP-M leaders.

“Conspiracies are being hatched in Quetta and Nasirabad in order to escalate land disputes among local tribes while officials are threatening the tribes and trying to displace them from their areas,” the BNP leaders said.

Mr Raisani said no one could force these local tribes to leave their lands because they had been living in their areas for centuries.

“Unfortunately the provincial government didn’t take notice of forced eviction of these tribes from their areas,” he said. But, he added, the BNP-M would continue raising the issue at every forum. He announced full support for these tribes.

The protesters peacefully dispersed after provincial ministers Zahoor Buledi, Mitha Khan Kakar, Asghar Tareen and Malik Naseer Shahwani negotiated with their leaders on the directives of Deputy Speaker Babar Musakhail.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2019