In a significant development, the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) on Wednesday announced to call off their 20-day long sit-in protest being held in Mastung against the arrests of Baloch rights activists and police action.
BNP-M leader Akhtar Mengal announced that the party will end its protest at Lak Pass, citing public inconvenience, and will instead hold rallies across various districts.
He said that the party’s central cabinet will meet in Quetta on April 18 to decide the future course of action.
The party had been protesting for nearly three weeks, demanding the release of Dr Mahrang Baloch, Chief Organiser of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, and other detained female activists, leading to prolonged road closures.
Sindh police had arrested BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch during a crackdown on demonstrators protesting the arrest of the movement’s leadership, including Dr Mahrang, in Karachi.
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.
However, Sammi was later released, but BNP-M’s protest continued.
Key highways connecting Quetta to Karachi and Taftan remained closed, causing severe economic disruption, critical shortages of essential goods and mounting frustration among the public and business community alike.
President of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) Muhammad Ayub Maryani said that the blockade was inflicting daily financial losses amounting to millions of rupees. He stated that over 1,200 trucks and containers, including 847 tankers carrying LPG and other petroleum products from Iran, had been stuck at the Pak-Iran border.
On Monday, the All Parties Conference (APC) organised by the BNP passed nine resolutions in a joint declaration, calling for the implementation of constitutional safeguards related to the 1948 Instrument of Accession of Balochistan to Pakistan and urging a national-level dialogue to resolve longstanding issues.
