DADU: Balochistan National Party leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal has dismissed reports of growing differences among Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders and said if Maulana Fazlur Rehman is not attending Benazir Bhutto’s anniversary he may be busy in other more important engagements but one cannot construe from it that there are rifts in the movement.

He told a press conference in Bhan Syedabad town, en route to Larkana, on Saturday that federal government itself had sent Mohammad Ali Durrani to Shehbaz Sharif because he could not have done so without the government’s permission.

He said that PDM was taking wise decisions, which were bearing fruit and future of the federal government appeared bleak because the movement was receiving good response from people.

He said that PDM would take decision about Senate election and resignations had been submitted to party leaderships in the wake of PDM decision. The resignations would be submitted to assemblies after a joint decision, he said.

He said that federal government was not authorised to hold Senate election earlier than scheduled time because it was Election Commission of Pakistan which was to hold election. Senate election would be held according to schedule, he said.

He said that Canadian government needed to explain death of Karima Baloch, who was voice of the people of Balochistan.

HYDERABAD: Mengal said at a reception in Jamshoro that PDM leadership would attend Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary and the decision on long march would be taken at a meeting though the government would leave before that.

He said that PDM’s struggle was against exploitative class in the country. This class had occupied the country for the last 70 years and targeted oppressed nations. Unless all oppressed nations got united to rid themselves of this class peace could not be established in the country, he said.

He said that this class was not inimical towards any particular class but it was enemy of politicians, people, students, farmers and the country. PDM was talking about rights of all communities living in Pakistan including Punjabis, Baloch, Sindhis and Pakhtuns.

He said that Sindh’s islands could not be controlled without consent of the province and it was something which was not done even under martial law regimes. This government was proving that it was a product of martial law because it was violating the Constitution and taking unilateral decisions about provincial governments of Balochistan and Sindh without even taking into confidence elected representatives.

He said that people used to go missing in Balochistan until recently but now they went missing in all parts of the country.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2020