RAWALPINDI: Following the two-day high-level meeting to review the Baluchistan situation, Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto has decided that from May 15 all military operations in aid of civil power in Baluchistan will cease and the responsibility of maintaining law and order will thenceforth vest in the civil administration. However, according to a Press note issued this evening [April 14] at the end of the … meeting, the Army will continue to discharge limited functions … until they can be taken over by the appropriate civil agencies.

The Prime Minister has further decided “to grant amnesty to all persons within the province who are not implicated in cases of a serious criminal nature” … and added “those people who are not involved in serious crimes, but had left their homes, are invited to return and feel assured of due protection”. Though the Press note did not clarify the position of those leaders who are detained outside Baluchistan, it is assumed … that former Governor Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, his Chief Minister Ataullah Mengal and member of the provincial legislature Khair Bakhsh Marri … will also be released as they have not yet been formally charge-sheeted in any court of law. — Islamabad Bureau

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2024