• BNP-M workers will leave Mastung for Quetta on 6th
• Govt warned of consequences if marchers stopped
• Police arrest JWP leader after party announces its march
QUETTA: With three rounds of negotiations failed to make any progress to end the BNP-M’s sit-in near Mastung, Sardar Akhtar Mengal on Thursday announced that in the next phase they would march on Quetta on April 6 to press the authorities for the release of Dr Mahrang Baloch and other BYC leaders.
As the sit-in entered its 6th day on Thursday, BNP-M Mengal, who held talks with the government representatives, reiterated that the sit-in will continue until their demands were met.
Speaking at the protest camp, he said those holding the sit-in at the Lakpass area will start heading towards Quetta on Sunday.
He asked all party workers, who were not present at the sit-in, to reach Lakpass by April 5 for making preparations for the long march.
“Party workers should hold a sit-in wherever they are stopped by the law enforcers,” said Mr Mengal, adding that if the government refused to give them way to continue their march then “we will make the way by ourselves”.
“If any hurdles are created to stop the march, the government will be responsible for the consequences.”
Meanwhile, the BNP leaders claimed that the government was digging trenches at the Quetta-Karachi Highway to stop the marchers.
JWP protest
Separately, the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) accused the governments of Sindh and Balochistan of using coercive tactics to suppress the democratic and constitutional rights of political parties and the general public.
The JWP, which has announced a long march today (Friday) from Dera Bugti to Quetta against the arrest of Dr Mahrang and others, claimed that the administration had blocked the roads connecting Sui with Sindh and Punjab.
Speaking at a presser at Bugti House Quetta, JWP Secretary General Mir Ibrahim Lehri Advocate and Information Secretary Mir Shams Kurd said local authorities had put barricades and boulders at diffident points to stop party workers from reaching Sui. They warned that if any untoward incident occurred during the march, the responsibility will lie entirely on the government and the relevant administration.
Mr Ibrahim Lehri recalled that JWP’s provincial president Nawabzada Gohram Bugti had given a 72-hour ultimatum to the government for the release of arrested women.
In a late-night development, police arrested Gohram Bugti from Dera Bugti. According to an official notification issued by the deputy commissioner, he was arrested under MPO-3 and shifted to Dera Bugti jail.
Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025