BALOCHISTAN IS A COUNTRY

Govt keeps BNP-M long march to Quetta at bay

Saleem Shahid

Published April 7, 2025 

DAWN

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Security personnel are stationed outside the Lakpass Tunnel on Sunday, which is blocked with shipping containers to prevent BNP-Mengal protesters from marching towards Quetta.—AFP

• Law enforcement personnel encircle sit-in to arrest Mengal; party calls for strike across Balochistan today

• Almost two dozen picked up as protesters clash with police

QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party’s (BNP-M) long march to Quetta could not move towards the provincial capital — despite the expiry of its April 6 deadline to allow the marchers to proceed — while a large contingent of law enforcers were deployed around the protest camp to arrest party leader Akhtar Mengal.

In light of the government’s action to stop his party’s march, Mr Mengal announced a shutter-down strike across the province today (Monday), while vowing to continue the sit-in at Lakpass — on the outskirts of Quetta — until the acceptance of their demands.

He said the sit-in at Lakpass would continue until the government allowed the long marchers to enter Quetta. The BNP president also asked the party workers and supporters to block all highways in the province and stage sit-ins wherever they are stopped by the security forces.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan government said Mr Mengal would risk arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order if he marched on Quetta. “Security personnel encircled the sit-in camp of BNP at Lakpass for the arrest of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who refused to surrender to the police when informed about the decision of the provincial authorities,” said Shahid Rind, spokesman for the Balochistan government.

Sardar Akhtar Mengal also confirmed reports about the encirclement of the party sit-in.

“We are completely encircled and we decided to continue our protest sit-in at Lakpass and also asked the party workers and supporters who were stopped by the authorities in different towns and cities for joining the march towards Quetta to stage sit-ins and block all roads,” he added.

Meanwhile, BNP-M supporters and the police clashed in Sona Kahn, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Quetta, leading to over two dozen arrests. The workers and supporters had arrived in large numbers to welcome their party leader and marchers.

They also blocked different roads and streets in Sariab and the western and eastern bypasses, burning tires and putting up barricades and boulders. They also pelted the police with stones, while the latter used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. The clashes continued between police and protestors in different areas till late evening.

They burned tyres and erected roadblocks at major junctions, including Mughal Chowk, Faizabad, Killi Bangulzai, Burma Hotel, and Qambrani Road. The barricades at highways had brought all types of traffic to a halt, leaving commuters and transporters stranded.

The central traders’ organisation also backed the shutter-down strike announced by Sardar Akh­tar Mengal for Monday and said traders would close their business throughout the day in Quetta.

Separately, the protesters also took to the streets in Kalat, Hub, Noshki, Khuzdar, Mastung, and other districts.

Lakpass sit-in to continue

Meanwhile, BNP Senior Vice President Sajid Tareen said that the long march was not over despite the blockade. “Our protest at Lakpass continues, and we are being unlawfully prevented from exercising our democratic right to protest,” he said while speaking at a press conference flanked by the leaders of allied parties, including Agha Hassan Baloch (BNP), Shams Kurd (Jamhoori Watan Party), and Rasheed Khan Nasar (Awami National Party).

“We condemn the suppression of peaceful protests. The current regime has shut down all democratic avenues,” Mr Tareen said, announcing a province-wide strike on Monday.

He further revealed that BNP leaders had been approached by federal officials, including Sadiq Sanjrani, Ayaz Sadiq, and Khalid Magsi, who acknowledged they lacked the authority to resolve the situation, deferring responsibility to the establishment.

Shams Kurd of the Jamhoori Watan Party and Rasheed Khan Nasar of the ANP both denounced the government’s use of force. “The people are being made to suffer due to poor decisions. Roads have been closed for days, cutting off entire districts,” Nasar said, urging the government to allow the BNP to hold their sit-in at Quetta’s Hockey Chowk instead.

Meanwhile, Balochis­tan government spokesperson Shahid Rind defended the administration’s actions, stating that Akhtar Mengal had been informed that he would face arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law if he advanced toward Quetta. “Law enforcement is on-site to prevent chaos. The BNP’s call to block highways only adds to the public’s difficulties,” Mr Rind posted on social media.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2025

Balochistan deadlock

Editorial 

Published April 6, 2025

DAWN

THE state’s efforts to stifle political activity in Balochistan are unlikely to improve the situation, and instead may further enflame matters. After the authorities placed obstacles in the way of the BNP-M’s ‘long march’, Akhtar Mengal’s party has warned that it will march on Quetta today.

The Baloch leader had originally launched a long march from Wadh to the provincial capital on March 28, calling for the release of Mahrang Baloch and other detained women activists.

However, unable to reach Quetta due to obstructions placed by the state, the party transformed the procession into a protest sit-in. Negotiations with the state have failed to end the impasse, though the provincial government’s spokesperson said on Saturday the BNP-M may be allowed to march to Quetta, but not to the red zone.

In a related move, the provincial head of the JWP has also been detained. Meanwhile, political parties in Balochistan have called on the state to lift restrictions on political activities in the province.

Peaceful protest is the democratic right of all citizens, and the state should not be creating hindrances in the exercise of this right. In the context of Balochistan, where political expression has been severely curtailed, the need to protect this right is even greater. Rather than trying to stop the protests, the government should ponder over why Balochistan’s people have taken to the streets.

Akhtar Mengal’s demands to release women activists should seriously be considered. What is needed in Balochistan is sagacity and vision, not the colonial-style methods that have been employed for the past several decades, which have failed to address the situation in the province or neutralise the insurgency. Political activity should not be equated with ‘political opportunism’, and the state needs to make a clear distinction between terrorists and peaceful political activists.

Defending the right to assemble and express oneself is not the same as expressing sympathy with terrorists. If the state shuts all avenues of political expression, then the volcano of disaffection in Balochistan is likely to explode with even greater ferocity. That is why Akhtar Mengal and other moderate nationalists and rights activists should be engaged and listened to.

The militarised approach may bring temporary quiet to Balochistan, but it will not address the long-standing grievances militants tap into to fuel the insurgency. The state, therefore, must handle the situation with wisdom.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2025