QUETTA, June 8: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and Balochistan National Party-A are responsible for the sufferings of the Baloch people because these parties approved the military operation in Balochistan, according to Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the chief of the Balochistan National Party-M.

He said the role of these parties in the persecution of the Baloch people would be exposed.

Addressing a public meeting in Kalat on Sunday, he criticised Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani’s recent statement that Taliban and the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army were the brainchild of intelligence agencies. Maulana Sherani is the provincial Amir of the JUI-F.

Mr Mengal said that till recently Mr Sherani was a staunch supporter of the Taliban movement and had collected donation for jihadi groups during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Criticising the JUI-F’s policies, he said that previous provincial government had approved the military operation in Balochistan. “But today, the same parties are describing the operation as an extra-constitutional measure and trying to mislead the people.”

He accused President Pervez Musharraf of pursuing policies of persecuting the Baloch people.

He said that the Baloch people would not accept the international agreements signed by President Musharraf about Balochistan’s land and mineral resources.

He rejected the agreement for the IPI gas pipeline which would pass through Balochistan and said that it had been signed by the federal government without taking Baloch leaders into confidence.

Sardar Mengal said that the Baloch people would not allow the centre to exert control over the Gwadar port or to explore the province’s resources without the consent of their leaders.

Reiterating that negotiations could not be held at gunpoint, he said that at a time when military operation was still under way, the atmosphere was not conducive for talks.