Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has questioned the results of military operations in Balochistan, saying the region is “burning” and its youth have taken to the mountains.
Mengal said operations had been justified as efforts to combat militancy, but questioned how many had been conducted in Balochistan and what they had achieved.
“Today, Balochistan is burning, and its youth have taken to the mountains,” he said.
Referring to the arrests of former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi and his associates, Mengal said the elected chief minister and assembly speaker were missing and their government had been taken away.
“They are not even allowed to protest peacefully. Such a system cannot last,” he said.
“The people of Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are made to feel that they are slaves, but until we become one nation, we will continue to be kept as slaves.”
Mengal said the speaker held a constitutional office and argued that even during martial law, those holding that position had not been arrested. Yet the speaker had disappeared in broad daylight, he said, questioning the basis for claims of democracy under such circumstances.
He added that elected representatives and ministers were missing while members elected through what he called “Form 47” were sitting in the assemblies.