QUETTA: Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) secretary general Senator Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini has deplored that despite promises made by the district administration, the party’s kidnapped leader Jan Mohammad Gurgnari has not been recovered.

He threatened that BNP-M activists would block highways linking Balochistan with rest of the country if Mr Gurgnari was not recovered in 48 hours.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Mr Jamaldini said that “there is no government” in the province as people were being kidnapped by armed gangs and the government and its machinery were helpless.

He said that the BNP-M leader was kidnapped two days ago and his kidnappers had been identified through CCTV footage.

The party workers staged sit-ins in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat and Khuzdar and the local administration of Khuzdar assured the party that Mr Gurgnari would be recovered in 24 hours.

Mr Jamaldini appealed to the people not to travel on highways after the expiry of the 48-hour deadline and asked other political parties to join the protest for recovery of the BNP-M leader.

He alleged that the “kidnappers have the support of the rulers” and that peaceful political atmosphere of Jhalawan was being disturbed and the region was being pushed towards “civil war”.

He opposed the fencing of Gwadar and said that the fishermen of the port city had to walk 11 kilometers to get fishing permit in the name of Safe City project.

“Exploitative and colonial experiments are being carried out in Gwadar by erecting a fence in the city,” he said.

He said that the BNP-M was struggling for an end to sense of deprivation prevailing in Balochistan for 70 years and had always highlighted problems of the province in Islamabad.

“We entered into an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and gave it two years to implement a six-point agreement. However, the PTI government failed to do so which forced us to part ways with it in a democratic way. Later we joined the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement,” Mr Jamaldini said.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2020