QUETTA, March 16: The Balochistan National Party (Mengal) has demanded that its chief and former chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who is under detention in Karachi, should be sent abroad for treatment.

At a public meeting held at Shuhada-i-Balochistan Chowk in Khuzdar on Sunday, the party also demanded that all political detainees be released and ‘missing’ persons recovered.

BNP-M leaders condemned the continuation of military operation in Balochistan and vowed that the party would continue its struggle against denial of rights to the oppressed Baloch people.

The acting president of the party, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldani, said Akhtar Mengal was seriously ill and his condition was deteriorating because he was not getting proper treatment in a hospital in Karachi.

He said the BNP-M chief had earlier been treated in a hospital in London.

Keeping in view his poor health the government should immediately make arrangements to send him abroad for treatment, he said.

He said the BNP-M had launched a campaign for the release of political prisoners, including of Akhtar Mengal, who had been behind bars in Karachi since Dec 12, 2006. Dr Jamaldani said atrocities could not force the BNP-M and the Baloch people to give up their struggle for their rights.

He said political issues could not be resolved with the use of state apparatus against political parties.

He said the government had failed to crush the political movement through military operation.