Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said the Pakistani establishment was suppressing political dissent in Balochistan, arguing that not every Baloch or Pashtun would remain silent in the face of repression.
Mengal was addressing a memorial gathering organised by the BNP at the Karachi Press Club to mark the fifth death anniversary of Sardar Attaullah Mengal and commemorate those killed at Shahwani Stadium a year earlier. Political and nationalist leaders, journalists and members of civil society attended the event.
“What course remains when the thoughts and pens of intellectuals and the media are placed under guard? We tried to enter the assemblies democratically and present our point of view. In Balochistan, even carrying a flag at our gatherings, placing a dupatta over a sister’s head or wiping the tears of an oppressed father has become a crime.”
Mengal described it as “a tragedy” that the anniversary of a leader who had dedicated his life to the Baloch and Balochistan could not be commemorated there, saying that holding the event in Balochistan might produce “another list of martyrs”.
“If we displayed photographs of our martyrs, even Shahrah-e-Faisal would not have enough space to exhibit them,” he said.
According to Mengal, the establishment and its supporters continued to portray conditions in Balochistan as normal despite massacres, enforced disappearances and the dumping of bodies. He also alleged that women were being taken from their homes and abandoned in deserted areas.
He said Sardar Naseer Musiani’s sons had been killed in front of him and that Musiani had not been allowed to attend their funeral prayers.
“Those who cannot vent their anger at the Indian border take it out on the Baloch. Not every Baloch can be Sarfraz Bugti or Anwaar-ul-Haq, who say that even if their mothers were arrested, they would remain silent,” Mengal said.
Referring to attacks on his party, he said a suicide attack had been carried out at Lak Pass on March 28, followed by an attack on a September 2 gathering attended by the political leadership. A year after the latter attack, he said, no investigation had been conducted and the victims had not been questioned.
“We know who is behind the organisation that claimed responsibility for the attack,” he said.
Mengal also criticised what he described as the unequal treatment of political figures and state officials, saying a former prime minister faced 100 FIRs while no action was taken against a single official. He said Mahrang Baloch and her colleagues had been sentenced without an investigation for what he called “the crime of protesting”, while Imaan Mazari and her husband had been imprisoned over a tweet.
Those who spoke against oppression and injustice were labelled traitors, he said, while those who sang the praises of those in power were called patriots.
He described the cutting down of orchards in Mastung as an attempt to conceal incompetence and wrongdoing. He also pointed to the role of women in resistance, saying daughters of women who had once considered it improper to leave their homes were now resisting.
“Sammi Deen Baloch and Dr Mahrang Baloch have become popular leaders of Balochistan,” he said.
Turning to the military’s role in politics, Mengal said successive dictators had experimented on the country through force, adding that rulers “from Ayub Khan to the present military establishment” had “played with this country and its laws”.
“Pakistan’s current system resembles Mumtaz Begum at the zoo: its body is political, but its head is military,” he said.
Mengal also opposed proposals to divide existing provinces, saying there had been no popular movement demanding such a division and warning that the move would push the country towards further fragmentation.
“Those who created One Unit are today talking about dividing the provinces, even though political elders endured imprisonment and other hardships in their struggle against One Unit,” he said, adding: “These nations can endure genocide and massacres, but they will not remain silent while their identities are erased.”
Other speakers also questioned the debate over new provinces. Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) leader Ilahi Bakhsh Bhagat said the interest of those in power lay in Karachi and Gwadar rather than Sindh and Balochistan as a whole.
“Today, these people do not want Sindh; they want Karachi. They do not want Balochistan; they want Gwadar. Karachi is already under occupation,” he said.
Paying tribute to Attaullah Mengal, Bhagat said he had followed a philosophy of non-violence, adding that leaders of his stature were no longer present. He also alleged that media coverage was being directed “from above” while children were being disappeared.
Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) leader Mazhar Rahujo said creating new provinces would not resolve the country’s problems and called for those responsible for damaging its political system to be held accountable.
“Those who speak for the rights of the people cannot be eliminated. Principles cannot be compromised, and we do not accept slavery,” he said.
Qari Usman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam said conditions in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were deteriorating, accusing those in power of raising the issue of new provinces to divert attention from the prevailing situation.
“They cannot manage four provinces, yet they are talking about creating new ones,” he said, adding that peace should be established first.
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai called for the Constitution to be restored in its original form, saying those who defended the supremacy of the Constitution, the law and the judiciary were being branded traitors.
“Imran Khan served as the prime minister of this country, but he has been imprisoned because he refused to obey the real rulers. History will never forgive those who have led the country towards destruction and ruin,” he said.
Achakzai said non-political forces could be defeated only through a sustained struggle following the political path of leaders such as Attaullah Mengal. Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas also called for constitutional supremacy and the restoration of the Constitution in its original spirit.
Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili said all institutions should operate within their constitutional limits, while criticising restrictions on the media and its failure to address people’s suffering.
“These days, programmes appearing in the media are prepared somewhere else,” he said, adding that mainstream outlets were discussing new provinces while there was a ban on mentioning Akhtar Mengal, Mahrang Baloch and Imran Khan.
Jamili also questioned the silence surrounding the imprisonment of Ali Wazir and Imaan Mazari, describing the present media as the “parrot media”.
“Leaders were called thieves and were subsequently installed as rulers. Everyone knows who the country’s real rulers are,” he said.
Muhammad Ali Talpur said democratic struggle could not produce results where people’s voices were ignored and political workers were prevented from speaking the truth, adding that resistance was the only path against oppression and repression.