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QUETTA, March 22: Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said the provincial coalition government is as responsible as the federal government for what he called atrocities being committed by security forces in Dera Bugti and Kohlu areas. Speaking at a public meeting at the Azadi Chowk in Khuzdar on Wednesday, he said that the Baloch people would fight back till the rights of Balochistan were recognized.
MNA Rauf Mengal and former provincial minister Prince Musa Jan Baloch also spoke.
Sardar Mengal severely criticized President Pervez Musharraf for launching a military operation in Dera Bugti and Kohlu and said that such actions had also been taken in the past but the Baloch masses defeated the usurpers.
The former chief minister also condemned the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leadership for supporting the coalition government led by Jam Yousuf on the military operation in Balochistan.
He accused the security forces of targeting innocent people in Dera Bugti and Kohlu. Besides, he said, hundreds of political workers had been unlawfully arrested by intelligence agencies, but ministers of the MMA had been keeping quiet.
The BNP leader warned that continuation of oppression would have serious repercussions in coming days and the government would be responsible for consequences.
He said that the Baloch would never surrender nor would they compromise on the national rights of Balochistan.
He said that the people would not be deceived through bogus propaganda that so-called development projects would bring about prosperity for the people in the province.
He said that the Baloch people would neither allow the establishment of cantonments nor permit usurpers to steal the resources of the province.
He said that eventually the rulers would have to retreat and accept the rights of the people.
DEATH SENTENCED: An anti-terrorist court in Sibi on Wednesday sentenced two persons to death for their role in bombing a mosque in Usta Mohammad while five others were given life imprisonment sentences for taking part in
an attack on a shrine in Fatehpur.
The court was headed by Mohammad Ismail Baloch.
Mohammad Haleem and Mohammad Aslam were sentenced to death in the bomb blast in Amroti Mosque in Usta Mohammad, which occurred on March 21, 2005.
The court acquitted Maulvi Abdul Qayyum, Abdur Rehman and Ghulam Nabi for lack of evidence.
Mohammad Aslam, Haleem, Obaidullah, Khalil and Mohammad Arshad were awarded life imprisonments in the Fatehpur Urs explosion, which occurred on March 19, 2005, killing more than 30 persons.
