Quetta:
Sardar Akhtar Mengal, head of his BNP-M faction, unleashed on Friday at the PPP for arresting the women of Balutchistan, claiming that even under Portuguese and British colonial domination or during the Martial Law regimes, women have never been placed in police custody.
He expressed these points of view during a public rally organized in Gwadar, where a large number of people, including women, children and the elderly, were present.
“We are not here for political points, but to raise our voice for the rights that have been refused in Balutchistan,” he said by addressing the crowd.
Sardar Mengal said they were not afraid to be arrested because their workers and colleagues had been detained during multiple authoritarian regimes. “We were arrested, whether the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan or the era of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,” he added.
He deplored that the PPP has always targeted the Baloutche youth, citing examples such as the Lyari gang war and the 1973 military operation in Balutchistan.
“They always say ‘bhutto zinda hai’ – thank God, he is not [alive]Otherwise, no house in Balutchistan would have been spared, “he said.
He alleged that the very foundation of the PPP is built on the blood of young baloutches.
By questioning the state institutions, he said that the courts can open at midnight to overthrow a government, but cannot listen to the grievances of the residents of Balutchistan.
He added that parliament can meet to adopt a bill, but there is no room to hear the miseries of the Baloutche people.
“The state labels each voice raised against the atrocities of Balutchistan as a terrorist. Today, Mahrang and Bebow are labeled terrorists. Tomorrow, I too will be called one,” he said.
He said that despite having the latest technologies, weapons and nuclear weapons, the state is afraid of Mahrang.
