QUETTA: Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) President Sardar Akhtar Mengal has called upon all political parties “to join hands for the recovery of missing persons” as it has become a national issue.

Speaking at a public meeting on the second death anniversary of his father Sardar Attaullah Mengal on Saturday, he claimed fake police encounters were still prevalent in the country while the establishment was declaring those who speak truth “traitors”.

“The country shouldn’t be turned into an experimental ground,” he told the gathering at the Railway Hockey Ground in the provincial capital.

While calling for a joint struggle, Mr Mengal suggested an alliance or united front.

Urges political parties to present ‘a united front’

“[My father] Sardar Mengal endured hardships, including imprisonment,” he said, adding there was a stark difference between the politics of the past and the present.

He lamented that the world has reached the moon, but the mothers and sisters in Balochistan await their “moonlike sons and brothers”.

“We are asked why we talk about missing persons. We ask them, what should we talk about instead,” he said, as he pleaded to not “wreck people’s homes and detain their beloved.”

“Then we will not talk about the issue.”

Mr Mengal continued he would remain “loyal to the land for which the elders sacrificed their blood” and urged to “have mercy on our future generations.”

He mentioned that people do not get justice even in the courts, citing the case of human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and ex-MNA Ali Wazir.

“What is their crime? After being released in one case, they get arrested again.”

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2023