KARACHI, Sept 23: Leaders of Balochistan National Party (BNP) on Thursday reaffirmed their pledge to continue their struggle for the due rights of Baloch people till the goal was achieved.

Speaking at a public meeting on Wednesday night in Kalri locality of Lyari Town, they held 'Punjabi rulers' responsible for the backwardness of Baloch people not only in their own province but in other parts of the country also.

The BNP leaders said that after subjugating Baloch people politically, the rulers now wanted to change the name of Balochistan under a sinister plot to convert them to a minority.

The meeting, presided over by BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, was also addressed by the party's information secretary Senator Sana Baloch, General Secretary Habib Jalib Baloch and Deputy Secretary Mr Jehanzeb. Also present at the largely attended meeting were MPAs Akbar Mengal and Sajid Tarin, Dr Jehanzeb and Noorudin Mengal.

Sardar Mengal, in his hard-hitting speech warned the rulers and the army against continuing the military operation in Balochistan. Demanding an immediate halt to the operation, he said the oppression would have negative impact on the country's solidarity.

"We will not allow occupation of our land on the pretext of development... Balochistan has not been gifted to Baloch people by Gen Musharraf... it has not been granted to us from Baitul Maal either."

He declared that Baloch people had every right to protect their god-gifted land from usurpers. The BNP chief also declared in clear terms: "We do not accept Pakistani laws which are always trampled under the boots of army." At the same time, he said: "We are also fully aware of the might of the army."

Sardar Mengal accused the army of using brute force to rule the over the country, subjugating people of Balochistan and Sindh, and denying them their due economic and political rights.

Referring to Gwadar issue, he said the military rulers were spending billions of rupees on the construction of mega projects in the province but they were meant for the uplift of Baloch people.

Rather, he claimed, the Punjabi rulers wanted to settle their fast-growing population in the province. This, he added, would ultimately convert Baloch population to minority and would never be acceptable to Baloch people. Every attempt by the rulers to occupy the land of Balochistan would be resisted, he vowed.

Karachi had once been the city of Baloch and Sindhi people. There were areas dominated by Baloch and Sindhi families, he said giving the examples of Lyari, Malir, Manghopir, Gadap, Malir, Mauripur, etc. However, he deplored, these areas were systematically disfigured and deprived of basic facilities.

The Sardar said that youths were denied employment and thus forced into addiction and crime. "We are fully aware of the invisible forces which are pitting our youths against each other to achieve their nefarious designs," Sardar Mengal said, and asked those involved in gang wars to stop bloodshed.

He urged the warring groups to turn their guns to their common enemy instead, which was bent upon destroying their culture and identity by occupying their mother land.

He told the responsive crowd that they must now wake up and join the national emancipation struggle to save the land of Chakkar (Baloch legendary figure) from the occupation of Punjabi rulers.

He appealed to Baloch people to attend the Sept 26 public meeting to be held at Kakri Ground. Earlier, BNP leaders Sana Baloch, Habib Jalib Baloch and Hameed Sajna, in their speeches, asked Baloch people to shun their petty differences and join the national struggle for the protection of their rights.

They demanded an immediate halt to the military operation in Balochistan, release of political workers and acceptance of Baloch people's due rights. Later, Sardar Mengal opened a party office at Haat Chowk.