QUETTA, June 17: The Balochistan National Party (Mengal) observed a ‘black day’ on Sunday in protest against the arrest of party activists by law-enforcement agencies. It also plans protest rallies on Monday.

The black day was observed in Quetta, Nushki, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar and Hub.

Addressing a workers’ meeting in Sariab, BNP-M secretary-general Habib Jalib Baloch said that excesses of the government could not isolate the party from the masses. He asked the party leaders and activists to fully participate in Monday’s protest rallies.

He urged opposition parties to launch a united movement against the Musharraf government.

The BNP-M secretary-general alleged that the government after sabotaging the party’s ‘long march’ in November had put behind the bar hundreds of activists, including party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal.

He said that implicating the BNP-M in Thursday’s killing of army personnel was another attempt by the government to suppress the party’s movement for the rights of Baloch people.