Balochistan govt warns of detaining Akhtar Mengal if BNP-M heads to Quetta

QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Sunday warned Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNPM) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal that he would be arrested if his party marched towards Quetta, amid ongoing protests against the imprisonment of Baloch activists.

In a statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said Mengal was alerted at 6am about the orders to arrest him under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

“Mengal refused to surrender. The administration and the police have clearly told him that if he moves towards Quetta, he will be arrested, and this is why law enforcement agencies [LEAs] are present there,” the spokesperson added.

He said that the BNPM’s call to block the national highways at this time would only add to public hardship. “The administrations of all districts have been instructed that national highways will not be shut,” Rind added.

The BNPM began a “long march” from Wadh to Quetta on March 28, protesting the detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and activists, including Dr Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch, alongside the police action against their sit-in in the provincial capital.

Sammi was freed on Tuesday, while BNPM’s sit-in has been going on for the last 10 days.

The BNPM’s sit-in is currently at the Lakpass area of Mastung. The party has warned of heading to Quetta as deadlock persists over its demands to release the BYC activists

Rind, a day earlier, said they had held two rounds of talks with the BNPM, where the party expressed the wish to protest in the Red Zone. He said that the demand could not be allowed, and hence, the government offered the Sariab Road location as an alternative.

He mentioned that three main demands had been presented during the two meetings with Sardar Akhtar Mengal, including the release of Baloch activists. However, the government refused to permit the protest in the Red Zone, maintaining that it should be held at the Sariab Road.

The Sindh government had removed the name of BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch from detention order under Section 3 of the Sindh Maintenance of Public Order (3 MPO) with “an immediate effect”. Police detained the BYC leader after she led a protest in Karachi against the arrest of the movement’s leadership, including Dr Mahrang Baloch, in Balochistan.

Mahrang was taken into custody earlier, along with 16 other activists from their protest camp in Quetta, a day after they accused police of beating up three of their protesters to death during an anti-riot action.

Officials alleged that Sammi, along with Abdul Wahab Baloch, Raza Ali, and others, was inciting road blockades and sit-ins, which could disrupt law and order in the city.

Mengal and other party workers also survived a suicide attack on the party’s rally in Mastung on March 29.