The Balochistan National Party has announced protests across Balochistan after Pakistani forces detained senior party leader Sardar Naseer Ahmed Musiani and his sons during an operation in Zehri area of Khuzdar district, calling the action an attack on democratic politics.
BNP Central Senior Vice President Sajid Tareen Advocate, speaking at a press conference at the Quetta Press Club with senior party leaders, strongly condemned the raid on the house of Sardar Naseer Ahmed Musiani, a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee and chief of the Musiani tribe.
Tareen said the raid took place after an armed clash between Baloch fighters and Pakistani forces in the Bulbul area of Zehri.
According to him, forces later arrived at Sardar Naseer’s house in 10 to 12 vehicles and took him away along with his sons, Mir Zheri Khan Musiani and Mir Khaleel Ahmed Musiani, and several other family members.
He said they were taken to a school at Bulbul Cross, where tribal elders and residents who later reached the area to protest were also held.
Women from the area continued a sit-in outside the school, while local sources said additional contingents of forces had reached Zehri and helicopters were continuing to move in and out of the area.
Tareen alleged that when forces entered Sardar Naseer’s house with armoured and security vehicles, a major pushed him, causing him to fall and sustain injuries. He said Mir Zehri Khan was beaten, while Mir Khaleel Ahmed was shot and seriously injured.
The BNP described the raid and detentions as a “shameful act” by what it called the “puppet government”, saying such actions were aimed at preventing the party leadership from raising its voice against the ongoing situation in Balochistan.
The party said Sardar Naseer Ahmed Musiani was “not an unknown or controversial figure”, but a political leader who had adopted a democratic and constitutional path, participated in elections and represented his people through a political platform.
It said action against him was not only an injustice to him personally, but also raised “a serious question” over the future of democratic politics in Balochistan.
Tareen said the BNP, under the leadership of Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, would continue its political, democratic and constitutional struggle against all forms of oppression and unconstitutional actions.
He said protecting the rights, dignity and identity of the people of Balochistan was the party’s political responsibility, adding that it would not retreat from that responsibility under any circumstances.
The BNP said the people of Zehri had been facing suffering and curfew for the past year, and that ordinary residents were being punished for acts they had not committed.
It said the solution to the situation in Balochistan was not force, but political dialogue, justice and the restoration of public trust.
“Today’s incident shows that, unfortunately, this thinking has still not been taken seriously,” the party said.
The BNP demanded the immediate release of Sardar Naseer Ahmed Musiani, Mir Zheri Khan Musiani, Mir Khaleel Ahmed Musiani, other detained family members, and all tribal elders and residents who had gone to protest.
It said that if there were any legal charges against anyone, they should be presented before a court under the constitution and the law, instead of being held in a school.
The party also demanded immediate access for families and legal representatives, a transparent investigation into reports of helicopter shelling and firing in Bulbul Zehri, and the immediate evacuation of the school and hospital, saying both were places of public need.
“We appeal to the people of Balochistan, all democratic political forces in the country, the lawyers’ community, journalists and human rights organisations to raise their voices over this situation,” Tareen said.
The BNP warned that if the use of force and retaliatory actions against political leaders and workers were not stopped, the government and relevant institutions would bear responsibility for any public reaction and the situation that followed.
The party announced protests outside press clubs across Balochistan on Thursday, 4 June, and said it would hold a meeting to decide its next course of action.