KARACHI: Senior Baloch leader and former Balochistan chief minister Attaullah Mengal said the province would refuse to be part of Pakistan until atrocities against the Baloch people were not stopped.
He was talking to reporters after a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif on Monday. During the meeting, Nawaz assured the Baloch dissident leader that the PML-N would contest the case of Balochistan across the country. However, Mengal told Nawaz that the PML-N chief had no authority over the army and could not stop the action against the people of Balochistan. Mengal said Nawaz was not in a position to make any decisions and the “youth who were forced to go to hills will now decide the future of Balochistan”. Nawaz told Mengal that he would do something for the people of Balochistan before coming to meet him again.
After the meeting, Mengal told reporters that the people of Balochistan had been driven to the point of no return. “I cannot lie or sell hope falsely, nothing is in my hand. All decisions are made by the youth who are living in the hills,” he said.Mengal said he did not think Nawaz had the power to control the army, because he would not have been sent to Saudi Arabia. “All powers are with the army of the country.”“Today I want to declare and make it clear that Balochistan will not live with you anymore.
This decision has been made by the youth of Balochistan. They are not willing to live in a country where they find a tortured body everyday,” he said. “Rehman Malik threatens us everyday and asks us to put down weapons first. I ask Malik what language does he understand, I will explain in that language,” Mengal said.
To a query on President Asif Ali Zardari, Mengal said he had nothing to say for a person whose family did not agree with him.Nawaz told reporters that he was pleased that Mengal had been straight forward. “What Mengal is saying is right. It is a fact that ruthlessness was committed in Balochistan. I agree with him and we have come forward to resolve the problem.
We will fight the case of Balochistan. My party and I will fight the case of Balochistan across the country,” he added.He reiterated his demand for the arrest of Akbar Khan Bugti’s murderers, adding that the government must come forward to resolve the issues of Balochistan. To a question, Nawaz said his party would happily form an alliance with the Balochistan National Party (BNP) if Sardar Attaullah Mengal allowed. – PT
