KARACHI, April 18: The secretary-general of the National Party, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, has condemned the arrests of Baloch activists in Karachi, saying that arbitrary imprisonment cannot weaken the national struggle of the Baloch people for their rights.

The Baloch leader noted with concern that law enforcement agencies were indulged in victimizing Baloch activists in Karachi. Houses were being raided without search warrants and political workers were being picked up for grilling.

The NP leader condemned the arrests of political workers in Old Golimar and Lyari. He said Mr Nisar Baloch, a human rights activist had been nabbed by the police.

It was followed by the arrests of Ghulam Abbas Baloch, vice-president of the Karachi-based Balochistan National Party.

He went on to say that JWP leaders Rauf Sasuli and Salim Baloch were already in the custody of security forces and they had not been produced in any court of law so far.

Mir Bizenjo said the government should now realize that the problems of Balochistan were not the problems of three sardars only. Rather, it was a matter concerning the Baloch people as a whole, and that the Baloch national struggle was not confined to few areas.

Contrary to the government’s propaganda, he said the Baloch people considered Nawab Akbar Bugti, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and Sardar Attaullah Mengal as their national leaders and there would be no political solution of the Balochistan issue without them, adding that the use of force would further aggravate the situation in the province.

Labelling Baloch national leaders as traitors, arresting activists and involving them in fictitious charges of terrorism would in no way solve basic issues, Bizenjo said.

The NP leader called for release of all Baloch activists including doctors and writers. He also demanded that the military operation in Balochistan should be stopped immediately and the sovereign rights of Baloch people over their resources should be accepted.