The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has ended its 20-day-long sit-in protest at Lakpass in Balochistan’s Mastung district, party leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Mengal said the sit-in was being called off due to the hardships it had caused the public, but stressed that the movement itself would continue in a new form.
“We believe in a peaceful struggle. We are not ending the movement but will initiate a public outreach campaign from today,” he said.
In a post on X, Mengal added: “This decision has been made solely with the suffering of the people of Balochistan in mind, as the road closures have deeply affected them.”
He warned that those who believed the end of the sit-in marked the end of the protest were “gravely mistaken.”
“Our struggle will continue until Mahrang and all other detainees are released. We have always believed in peaceful resistance, and we will continue on this path until our demands are met,” Mengal said.
The BNP-M began its protest at Lakpass on 28 March, demanding the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch and other detained activists as well as a crackdown on their sit-in in Quetta.
Mengal said the decision to end the sit-in was taken after consultations with various political parties during a recent all parties conference.
He warned that if authorities continued to deny democratic space for peaceful protests, the resistance would “take another shape.”
The BNP-M chief also announced a new phase of protests, which will include district-level rallies across Balochistan.
“In the first phase, we will hold protest rallies in Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar and Surab,” he said. “In the second phase, these rallies will be held in Turbat, Gwadar and Makuran, and in the third phase, we will engage the public in Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Dera Murad Jamali and other areas.”