Mengal resigns from NA over Balochistan conundrum
Sacrifices will not be allowed to go waste, say commanders
ON the day when corps commanders expressed their resolve to never allow army men’s sacrifices against scourge of terrorism in Balochistan run to waste, chief of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced his decision to resign from the National Assembly (NA).
Mr Mengal is the first mainstream politician from the province to come up with a sharp reaction over the situation obtaining there. Army commanders’ reaction was also unequivocal.
The BNP-M chief was elected to the National Assembly (NA) from Khuzdar in the February 8 polls and his resignation comes amid worries about security and stability in Balochistan after several deadly terrorist attacks in the past week and months of protests over enforced disappearances.
In a resignation letter addressed to NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the veteran Baloch leader said: “The prevailing situation in Balochistan has compelled me to take this step…. Our province has long been overlooked and disregarded by this House. With each passing day, we find ourselves backed further against the wall, compelling us to reassess our stances.”
Mengal's resignation letter.
Speaking of Baloch leaders like him, he said: “It has dawned on us of late that our efforts to speak or protest receive a hostile welcome; our people are silenced or branded as traitors or worse, killed.
“Given these circumstances, I find it impossible to continue in this role, as my presence here no longer benefits the people I represent,” Mr Mengal said. He urged the NA speaker to accept his resignation, reiterating that he wanted Balochistan “to be protected and to prosper”.
Speaking to journalists outside the Parliament House, he remarked: “Thousands of voters would get angry with me, but I am sorry to them.”
He said the judiciary had killed “everyone from all over the country, whether they spoke Urdu, Pashto or Baloch, as they have not provided justice to anyone.”
In an interview with CNN, he stated, “The biggest murderers are politicians who turned politics into a business.”
He took to X to term his resignation as a “tribute” to his father Sardar Attaullah Mengal, the founder of BNP. “Upon the third anniversary of my father’s death, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, I hereby submit my resignation as member of Parliament to mark his memory,” he wrote.
Mengal's post on X.
Generals’ meeting
Image taken at the Corps Commander Conference today at GHQ.
In a press release about a meeting attended by corps commanders, which was chaired by Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, the Inter Services Public Relations said: “The forum reaffirmed that the Pakistan Army, with the unwavering support of the people, will not allow the hard-earned successes against terrorism to be reversed.”
The handout said that recognising the “urgency and significance of a robust and effective legal system”, the army chief stressed the army would continue to extend “comprehensive support to the government, administrative apparatus and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in taking swift and lawful action against terrorists, anarchists, and criminal mafias”.
The commanders also “expressed satisfaction over ongoing efforts against illegal spectrum operating in collusion with terrorist networks” and underscored the “critical need” to safeguard national cyberspace through “stringent cybersecurity measures”.
The tone and tenor of the press release indicated there has been no change in the army’s stance over the Balochistan problem. According to some analysts, the army’s traditional stance doesn’t seem to be working. “But the army, and the government, seem intent on pursuing the same old policies towards the troubled province”.