Sardar Akhtar Mengal on Friday termed his six-point formula, submitted before the Supreme Court for working out a tangible solution to the Balochistan issue, no different from the one proposed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which he had made part of his election manifesto before the fall of Dhaka.
The 'Six-Point Movement' was a nationalist movement in the former East Pakistan spearheaded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which eventually led to the separation of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The dissident Baloch leader was talking to media persons along with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif after a meeting in the capital.
The latter also announced his support to the efforts of the Baloch leader for recovering missing persons and an end to use of force in the province. Mengal, a former Balochistan chief minister, blamed the country's security establishment for the plight of the Baloch people, and recommended "peaceful liberation of Balochistan" if the people of the province were not going to be considered Pakistani citizens.
He said that the sensitivity of the situation in Balochistan would have to be considered seriously as none of the six points presented before the apex court were against the Constitution of Pakistan, which he disowned. He said that his six points should not be considered different from the six-points presented by Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman before the fall of Dhaka, adding that if his recommendations were not implemented, the people of Balochistan would not be able to continue with Pakistan.
Submitting before the Supreme Court on Thursday, Mengal recommended that immediately cessation of all covert and overt military operations against the Baloch people; all missing persons should be produced before courts of law and disbanding all proxy 'death squads' allegedly operating under the supervision of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). He also called for allowing all Baloch political parties to resume their political activities without any interference from intelligence agencies and bringing to justice all persons responsible for inhuman torture, killing and dumping of bodies of Baloch political leaders and activists. He also called for initiating measures for the rehabilitation of thousands of displaced Baloch people living in appalling conditions.
"Why shouldn't we part ways peacefully...It is better to separate quietly, instead of shedding each others' blood," said the Baloch nationalist leader. He declared that Baloch leadership would not enter into any talks with Pakistan if his six points were not implemented.
However, he made it clear: "If the situation is to be resolved, then the force, which ruled the country for the past 65 years, should be harnessed. Elements who acted as masters, instead of servants, invisibly and visibly controlled the affairs (of the country), considered themselves above the Constitution, people and the public representatives." Furthermore, he said that genuine Baloch leadership should be given priority over the hand-picked leadership.
The Baloch nationalist leader recalled that the situation in Balochistan was not too different from the one which prevailed in the now defunct East Pakistan. To a question about killing of non-Baloch people in the province, Mengal said that whatever was happening in the province was not part of the Baloch tradition, instead it was imported and the targeting of the Hazara community was part of the game. He said that the situation in Balochistan would not have worsened if elements who were at the helm of the affairs had realised the gravity of the situation earlier.
When asked whether he would take part in the upcoming elections, he said that election was not a priority for Baloch politicians, adding that their first priority was to recover the missing Baloch people and stopping their bloodshed. "No country in the world holds elections during war, and Balochistan has been in a state of war for the past 12 years," he maintained.
He also lauded the Supreme Court for its efforts for resolving the missing persons' issue and described the court's move a ray of hope. Speaking on the occasion, PML-N chief announced his support to the efforts of the Baloch leader to recover the missing persons and stopping the bloodshed in Balochistan. He also called upon the entire nation to learn from history and not repeat whatever happened in the former East Pakistan.
He said that the people needed to put their heads together and think what had alienated the people of Balochistan. "The reasons, atrocities and the situation that made the Baloch people think of separation is a point to ponder," he pointed out. He said that the arrest of killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti was critical for peace in Balochistan, adding that killing of Akbar Bugti had aggravated th situation in the province. Urging the government to take immediate measures to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan, he said that they needed to be brought into the mainstream politics.
Blaming dictators for ruining the country, he said that they should be brought to justice, adding that it was because of their (dictators') inefficient policies had antagonised "our own people". Earlier, in the meeting, also attended by BNP's central leader Sanaullah Baloch, the PML-N chief discussed the upcoming elections and the name of the caretaker prime minister. The party sources said that the BNP chief presented his six-points to the PML-N leadership for the resolution of the Baloch issue.
Comments
Comments are closed.