Speakers at a condolence conference on Sunday paid rich tributes to former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Ataullah Mengal for his restless struggle, and commitment to democracy in the country and rights of the Baloch people.
The late political leader was termed a man of principles who always practised principled politics at the condolence event that was organised in Lyari by the Baloch Muttahida Mahaz, a Karachi-based group of political and civil society activists.
Mengal, the founder of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), recently passed away in Karachi on September 2. He was 92. National Party chief and former Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik Baloch, BNP central leader and MNA Agha Hasan Baloch, Sindh United Party chief Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, Awami Workers Party Central Secretary General Akhtar Hussain Advocate, veteran Baloch politicians Abdul Hai Baloch and Yousaf Masti Khan, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal and Awami National Party central leader Amir Nawab were prominent among the speakers at the event.
Expressing grief over Mengal’s demise, the speakers said his death was a big loss to Pakistan and Balochistan. They said Mengal was one of the pioneers of the nationalist movement and his death was a blow to the nationalist politics.
It was said that Mengal’s death had created a vacuum in the Baloch nationalist movement that might not get filled for decades. Speakers said that the late political leader was not only the head of a political party but he also rendered many sacrifices for Balochistan. “It was because of him that the voice of the oppressed people of Balochistan reached the world,” said a speaker.