KARACHI, June 2: Describing the Balochistan situation as grim, Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has ruled out the possibility of any negotiations on the issue with the government in near future in view of the ongoing military operation and current law and order situation unless certain confidence building measures (CBMs) are taken.
Addressing a public meeting at Kakri Ground in Lyari Town on Sunday night, Sardar Mengal criticised the government for the atrocities being carried out in Balochistan and said that kidnapping of innocent people and illegal confinement were order of the day.
The BNP leader said, “We firmly believe that rulers have never been serious about finding a lasting solution to the Balochistan issue since they considered the Baloch people as slaves and branded them traitors.”
Mr Mengal was of the view that statements about a dialogue were merely a lip service as talks would yield no results unless the government changed their colonial approach and took remedial measures. “Had they (the rulers) been serious the situation would have been different today and we would not have been reached this stage,” he said.
He said that ground realities were quite different. The question was who would hold talks with whom, considering the fact a credibility gap also existed, he remarked.
He came hard on the establishment while recalling how successive governments humiliated the Baloch in a bid to capture their land and resources. He said: “How could we forget the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, Balaach Marri and Hameed Baloch and the way they were buried?”
Declaring that Balochistan is the land of all the Baloch people whether they live in or outside the province and each one of them has a right over its resources, he made it clear that all those who wanted to resolve the Balochistan issue would have to accept this. He said, “We have never compromised on sovereign rights of our land and if any Baloch dared to commit it he would be treated as a traitor.”
“Pakistan is heading towards ‘a very serious situation’ and currently no solution is in sight,” he said and held the establishment responsible for it. He said it was the establishment that had antagonised the Bengalis and now the Sindhis and the Balochs. He lamented that corruption was rampant, all institutions were on the verge of collapse, and there was no rule of law in the country because of the ill-advised policies of the Musharraf regime. He said, “The Balochistan issue is not the issue of three Sardars as was claimed by Musharraf, but it is the issue of the national rights of the Baloch people, who will continue their struggle.”
Deploring the plight of the Baloch people in Lyari, he asked the warring gangs to stop killing each other and join the struggle of the Baloch people for their rights. He accused the agencies of engaging them in the war of fratricide to divide the Baloch community in Karachi.
Other BNP leaders former MNA Rauf Baloch, Dr Jehnzeb Baloch, Sajid Tarin, BSO leader Mohyuddin Baloch and National Party leader Kachkol Ali Baloch also spoke.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/06/03/local14.htm
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