KARACHI, Sept 14: The Baloch National Movement has demanded that the "due rights" of Baloch people as a separate national entity be recognized, besides ending the alleged state 'repression' in Balochistan.

At a news conference held at the Press club on Tuesday, the BNM chairman, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, said the federation could not survive by using force and without the consent of the federating units.

Presenting a grim scenario of the province, the BNM leader claimed that it was the outcome of the state policies, which, he alleged, created a sense of deprivation among the people.

He called for withdrawal of all state forces from the province, besides rejecting construction of cantonments. He also demanded scrapping of all mega projects in Balochistan, which, he alleged, were aimed at converting Baloch people into minority.

Rejecting the possibility of involvement of "foreign hand" in the present upheaval in Balochistan, he said that it had roots in the history, when Balochistan was 'forcibly' merged into Pakistan. The BNM leader categorically stated that his party was opposed to parliamentary politics, as it had never solved the people's problems.

In reply to a question, he said the BNM had opposed the formation of senate committee to find out a negotiated settlement of the Balochistan issue, as it firmly believed that such bodies would never be able to solve the problems. He made it clear that the present "resistance movement" would continue till its objectives were achieved.