Daily Times

QUETTA: Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said there is ambiguity among the government circles regarding initiating dialogue with exiled-Baloch leaders, in order to find a political solution for issues facing the province.

“Some call them angry Baloch, whereas some legislators call them terrorists,” the BNP chief told a crowded press conference at his residence on Friday. A large number of Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) activists led by Javed Baloch announced joining BNP on the occasion. Sardar Mengal said the Balochistan Assembly also recently adopted a resolution and called the exiled Baloch leaders terrorists. Most of the legislators from treasury benches supported the resolution, he recalled.

The former chief minister of Balochistan said the present government has failed to address the grievances of the masses and the issue of missing persons was yet to be resolved. He added that the missing person issue was taken up effectively by former chief justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. However, he complained that the issue has been ignored after the former CJ’s retirement. When asked about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Sardar Mengal said his party would never accept any development at the cost of turning the majority Baloch population into a minority.

“We opposed and we will oppose such agreements and development undermining our rights,” he stated. He also stated that the BNP would not allow anyone to usurp the resources of Balochistan and would resist every plan in this regard. The BNP chief also pointed out that the ruling coalition in Balochistan allotted 9,000 acres of land in Hangol Park, Lasbella District, to Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) ignoring wildlife and environmental issues. He said his party would raise its voice inside the Balochistan Assembly and would approach the court against this decision.

Pakistan and China launched this year the $46 billion CPEC project, which connects Gwadar at the Arabian Sea with Xinjiang and includes energy, transportation, and infrastructure projects. Security has emerged as a major concern in the execution of the project. Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), which is constructing 870-kilometre road network in Balochistan as part of western route of the CPEC, has lost 25 of its workers — both military personnel and civilians — in about 200 security-related incidents since the start of the work on the road.

Pakistani officials believe that India has been threatening the project because it counterbalances its (Indian) plans for exploiting Chinese weakness in the Indian Ocean by blocking the Strait of Malacca in times of conflict.