By Staff Reporter
MASTUNG: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) ended a 20-day sit-in protest in southwest Pakistan on Wednesday after deadlocked negotiations with authorities over the release of detained rights activists, its leader said, vowing instead to escalate the campaign through province-wide rallies.
BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced the decision in Mastung district, where his party had camped since March 28 following a stalled “long march” to Quetta, the provincial capital, to demand the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) activists. Key BYC figure Sammi Deen Baloch was freed on April 1, but Mahrang Baloch remains in custody.
The unrest began with the arrests of BYC figures, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, on March 22 in Quetta after a police raid on a sit-in that left three dead.
“We believe in a peaceful struggle. We are not ending the movement but will initiate a public outreach movement from today,” Mengal told reporters, accusing the state of blocking protests over alleged rights abuses in Balochistan. “There wasn’t a single moment without danger at Lakpass,” he said, referring to the protest site.
Mengal outlined a three-phase strategy to mobilize public dissent, starting with district-level rallies in Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, and Surab, followed by demonstrations in Turbat, Gwadar, and Makran. A third phase will target Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, and Dera Murad Jamali. The first rally is slated for Mastung, with a Kalat protest scheduled for April 20.
The BNP-M’s initial march faced heavy resistance. On April 6, authorities deployed law enforcement to block their advance toward Quetta, threatening Mengal’s arrest. The party responded with a province-wide shutter-down strike and roadblocks, paralyzing key highways linking Quetta to Karachi and Taftan.
Mengal condemned the arrests of over 250 BNP-M workers near Lakpass on March 29 and the use of tear gas against protesters. “All others have the right to protest but we don’t?” he said, criticizing perceived bias. “Protests were allowed on the Kashmir issue but not on Balochistan.”
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, however, dismissed the BYC as “abettors” of separatists during a press conference in Islamabad. “They burn Pakistan’s flag wherever they pass through. They are not peaceful; they are abettors of those from the separatist movement and terrorists,” he alleged, noting the BYC is not a registered entity.
Bugti defended the state’s handling of protests, asserting that while everyone has the right to demonstrate, the government retains authority to designate venues. On Mahrang Baloch’s detention—criticized by Mengal as “unconstitutional”—Bugti said courts would decide her case, which the Balochistan High Court has referred back to provincial authorities.
Balochistan, rich in resources but Pakistan’s poorest province, has faced decades of low-level insurgency fueled by allegations of state exploitation, enforced disappearances, and marginalization.
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