KARACHI, Jan 22: Prominent Baloch leader and founder chairman of the National Party Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch has said that the rulers in Islamabad have not changed their policies regarding Balochistan and are still following the policies of their predecessors.

“Had they been serious, the situation would have been different today after the February elections,” the NP leader said while talking to journalists after a meeting with his party officials here on Thursday. Earlier, Dr Hayee went to Wadh, the hometown of Sardar Ataullah Mengal, where they reviewed the present situation of the province.

The government forces had launched a fresh offensive in Balochistan after the Feb elections, Dr Hayee claimed.

He said talk of dialogue and reconciliation was nothing but eyewash as the military operation had actually been intensified. He alleged that Baloch activists were being picked up and kept in detention camps. He described the Balochistan provincial government as a puppet of the establishment in Islamabad, who, he said, were elected only because the nationalist parties of the province had boycotted the elections.

The NP leader said the Balochistan issue could not be resolved unless the rulers changed their colonial approach and recognised the sovereign rights of the Baloch people on their coastal and natural resources.

He said “we will never compromise on our basic rights and we will never accept our colonial status come what may.”

He dispelled the impression that there were differences among the nationalist forces.

He said he had a detailed meeting with the founder of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Sardar Ataullah Mengal, and they agreed on the all issues.