Former Provincial Minister Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind accused the Pakistani state institutions of ‘stealing’ his mandate in the recent general elections, in which he lost the PB-12 seat for the provincial assembly. He said that he never compromised on the Baloch land and resources for personal gain, and that he was a ‘patriot’ who wanted to serve his country and its people.
Rind, who held a press conference on Sunday, said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had ‘selected’ its favorite candidates for positions, and questioned the need for holding elections if the results are pre-determined. He claimed that the ECP personnel arrived late at several polling stations in the PB-12, and that many voters were not allowed to cast their votes. He said that he had been waiting for the results for the past three days, but his victory was turned into a defeat.
Rind said that the state institutions had decided to keep him out of the provincial assembly, and that his voice had been silenced inside the Balochistan assembly. He said that he would not trade the resources of the Baloch nation for anything, and that his voice would now resonate in all the corners of Balochistan.
Rind also criticized the Pakistani authorities for bringing ‘Jamaloo and Kamaloo’ – nicknames for Jamal Raisani and Jam Kamal Khan, the former and current favorites of the Pakistani establishment in Balochistan – and said that the situation in the province was still dire. He cited the Mach incident, where the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) seized the city for two days and killed dozens of Pakistani soldiers, as an example of the Baloch resistance.
Rind expressed his solidarity with Mahrang Baloch and the families of the Baloch missing persons, who marched to Islamabad in protest, demanding the safe release of their loved ones. Addressing the people around him, he said that it is their responsibility to produce more Mahrangs in their households, who could challenge the people in power and speak for what was right. He thanked his clan members and supporters, who he said had voted for him, but were denied their choice.
It is worth noting that a few years ago, when Mahrang Baloch and other students of the Bolan Medical College were protesting on the cold winter nights of Quetta, Rind had told her that it was shameful for the Baloch women to carry out protests on the streets. In a surprising turn of events, Rind has now come to admire Mahrang for her courage and determination.