The two major opposition parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – are on the same page regarding the situation in Balochistan as the chiefs of both parties on Friday called for ending military operations in the restive province and giving political freedom to estranged groups.
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with several leaders from Balochistan, including Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Akhtar Mengal and nationalist leader Sanaullah Baloch, in Islamabad.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Nawaz called for ending atrocities in the province and to win the hearts and minds of the estranged elements in the province to avoid a 1971-like situation.
Mengal, who served as Balochsitan chief minister during the government of Nawaz Sharif, presented his “six points” to the PML-N chief during the meeting.
Talking to reporters, Mengal said that none of his six points were contradictory to the constitution. He said that the federation must implement his proposals if it wanted to keep Balochistan with it. He said that his six points should not be considered different from the six points of Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman, the dissident leader of East Pakistan which later separated to become Bangladesh.
Without endorsing Mengal’s six points, Nawaz said that the disregard of Mujeebur Rehman’s six points in 1971 had caused the fall of Dhaka. Mengal also criticized the intelligence agencies and the military, holding them responsible for the situation in Balochistan. “Those people (army) cannot be trusted, the whole world knows their reality,” he said, adding that the former generals had even denied derailing democracy in the darkness of the night.
However, he expressed his gratitude for the judiciary for taking a suo motu notice on the issue of missing persons.
Asked whether his party would take part in local body elections, Mengal said that elections do not take place during wars anywhere in the world, adding, “Balochistan has been in a state of war for last 12 years.”
IMRAN KHAN: Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the PTI, party chief Imran Khan endorsed the six points raised by Mengal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and said that all political parties should be allowed to function freely to prepare the stage for a representative assembly.
Imran said that the situation in Balochistan had deteriorated tremendously after 2008 because of a non-representative government, which was installed despite a boycott by real political stakeholders. He said the resulting assembly was full of corrupt politicians who were only interested in pocketing millions of rupees every year.
Military operations against our own people, whether covert or overt, are never a solution but a destructive process, Imran said, adding that the PTI had always opposed such steps in the country, while Balochistan had a history of five operations.
Nawaz, Imran call for political freedom to end Balochistan unrest
