New Delhi: Frustrated at the lack of interest in Balochistan issues and the continued state oppression of Baloch people, Akhtar Mengal, the veteran leader from Pakistan’s troubled province Tuesday submitted his resignation from the National Assembly.
The resignation comes amidst the continued crackdown by the Pakistan Army against Baloch activists who have been fighting for their rights for decades.
“The prevailing situation in Balochistan has compelled me to take this step. Our province has consistently been marginalised and ignored in this House. Each day, we are pushed further to the wall, leaving us no choice but to reconsider our roles,” Mengal said in his letter to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the Speaker of the National Assembly in Pakistan.
Not mincing words, he said, “It has become increasingly clear that our attempts to speak or protest are met with hostility; our people are either silenced, labelled as traitors or worse killed.”
Mengal, the chairman of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), noted that the “lack of genuine representation in this Assembly” for the people of Balochistan has left voices like “mine unable to bring meaningful change”.
Later, he posted an image of the letter on his social media handle on ‘X’
Speaking to the media, outside the National Assembly, Mengal delivered a stark warning, recalling that a parliamentarian had remarked that “Balochistan is slipping out of our hands.” He countered this by declaring, “Balochistan is not slipping out of your hands; it has already slipped out”, Pakistan Today reported.
He said this resignation was his “personal decision” and that the party leadership was not involved. He won from Khuzdar (NA-256), in the elections held in February.
In a post on ‘X’, Mengal added that his resignation is a tribute to his father—Atuallah Mengal—on the third anniversary of his death. Atuallah had died on 2 September 2021.
میرے والد سردار عطاء اللہ مینگل کی تیسری برسی کے موقع پر، میں انہیں خراج تحسین پیش کرتے ہوئے بطور رکن پارلیمنٹ استعفیٰ دیتا ہوں۔ میں، اختر مینگل، رکن قومی اسمبلی، بطور رکن پارلیمنٹ اپنے عہدے سے مستعفی ہوتا ہوں۔
بلوچستان کی موجودہ صورتحال نے مجھے یہ قدم اٹھانے پر مجبور کر دیا ہے۔…
— Akhtar Mengal (@sakhtarmengal) September 3, 2024
Mengal’s BNP did not vote in favour of any candidate during the election of Pakistan’s prime minister earlier this year, but he supported the candidacy of Mahmood Khan Achakzai—the candidate backed by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Achakzai lost the vote to Asif Ali Zardari, who was backed by both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Mengal later chaired a meeting of six opposition parties, where the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) was launched in April.
Balochistan is home to the ethnic Baluch minority, who claim discrimination and exploitation by the central government. This has led to separatist insurgency demanding independence.
According to Mahrang Baloch, the leader of the Balochistan Human Rights Activists, over 5,000 Baloch civilians have been forced to disappear in the last 13 years.
Baloch militant groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have now become more active since the regime change in Afghanistan and the subsequent tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan.
Last month, the BLA carried out a series of coordinated simultaneous attacks that left at least 70 people dead, mostly Pakistan security personnel.
Located in the South West of Pakistan, Balochistan is a resource-rich province and makes up about 44 percent of the country’s land area—the largest in the nation—while remaining one of the poorest. It is home to the port of Gwadar, as well as a key province for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—a network of infrastructure projects.
The $65-billion CPEC has a number of projects in Balochistan, including the port and a gold and copper mine. Chinese investment has come under attack in recent months, with a convoy of six people—five Chinese workers and a Pakistani driver—being killed in the country’s North West in March.
In 2015, Mengal was sceptical of the CPEC-led projects benefiting the province, according to local media reports. He suggested it could be exploitative, in the way the revenues are shared, among the Chinese companies, the federal government, and the province of Balochistan.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: After Pashtuns in Bannu, Pakistan Army ‘opens fire’ on Baloch protestors injuring several