QUETTA: The opposition members in the Balochistan Assembly on Friday threatened that they would go on a hunger strike.

They alleged that the government had adopted a rigid attitude towards the opposition members and imposed a ban on media personnel from entering the police station for converge of their protest. They said the government had not withdrawn the FIR lodged against them.

The journalists who went for coverage of the press conference of the opposition parties were stopped by police at a check-post on Zarghoon Road and told that they were not allowed enter the police station.

The opposition members, who were waiting for the media, protested over the alleged police action and staged a sit-in outside the DIG office on Zarghoon Road. They chanted slogans against the government and strongly criticised it for banning the entry of media personnel into the police station.

Leader of the Opposition in the Balochistan Assembly Malik Sikandar Khan and Akhtar Hussain Langove of the BNP-Mengal held their press conference on Zarghoon Road along with other PMAs. They said they had decided to go on the hunger strike till death against the government attitude. They said they would not give up and continue their struggle and protest for the rights of the people of Balochistan.

Accuse government of preventing media from covering their protest

On the occasion, the opposition MPAs clashed with police personnel deployed there and exchanged harsh words with them. “We have received instructions from the higher authorities not to allow the media for converge of the opposition leaders’ press conference inside the police station,” a senior police officer told them.

The opposition leader alleged that for the last two days visitors and media persons had been restricted from entering the police station and meeting with the opposition members who had been staying there for the last 12 days. “The chief minister is using the police force as his tool against the opposition,” Malik Sikandar alleged and added that “we are preparing to ask the police to arrest all those whose names are included in the FIR lodged by the government so that they could fight legally with the government.

He said the opposition MPAs would launch a movement against “corruption and malpractices of the current government”.

He said five government delegations came for negotiations with the opposition parties and assured them that the FIR would be withdrawn within half an hour, but even after the passage of four days no such notification was issued. “Now we will not hold talks with any government delegation,” Mr Sikandar declared.

Akhtar Hussain Langove said police were being used for political purposes.

In his reaction to the opposition’s protest, Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani said the opposition was crossing all limits.

In a tweet, he said the opposition had first rioted outside the assembly and then inside and later staged a sit-in at a police station. “The bullying mind is more visible. Everything has a limit. The opposition is crossing every limit,” he said.

The chief minister said the provincial government had launched an automation system which would facilitate the decision-making process and bring transparency to the system.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2021