QUETTA: The federal and provincial governments have failed to restore peace in Balochistan despite spending billions of rupees, BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal said on Thursday, stressing that the situation in the province could not be changed unless its real issues are understood.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Mengal claimed Balochistan had always been exploited through projects like Reko Diq, Saindak and Sui gas, and other means, with the outgoing ruling coalition putting the final nail in the coffin.

He said that almost all people and political parties had participated in the 2023 census, but the population was reduced to 7.3 million just to deprive the province of its more share in the federal resources and National Finance Commission award.

On the occasion, Raja Jawad Advocate announced that he was joining the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) along with his supporters and colleagues. The BNP’s central secretary general, Waja Jahanzeb Baloch, and former MPAs Malik Naseer Shahwani, Akhtar Langove Ghulam Nabi Marri, Musa Baloch and Shakeela Dehwar were also present.

Mr Mengal said six censuses had been held in Pakistan, and nobody had any reservations about them. However, when genuine numbers of Balochistan’s population came up in the recent census, a special meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was called to decrease the population of province.

“I have been informed that the former chief minister, Qudoos Bizenjo, was in Karachi before the CCI meeting but was sent via courier to Islamabad,” he said. He said Mr Bizenjo could explain his position about the CCI meeting himself.

The BNP-M chief said the arrangement of constituencies as per the recent census was a justification that was being used to postpone the elections. He said that given the current law and order situation in Balochistan, campaigning for polls was a far-fetched dream and citizens would be deprived of their right to vote. In the past, individuals with just 25 votes had won the elections, he lamented.

“There is a tradition of desk thumping during our speeches, but our voices aren’t heard in the president’s or prime minister’s offices,” he said, adding that some people had made false claims that the number of missing persons was a mere 150 even though about 450 were recovered during their own tenure.

“When our party went into a coalition with the PTI, the issues of development, missing persons, and protection of the population in Gwadar were included in signed arrangements, which is a testament that these issues are genuine,” he elaborated.

He underscored that the party had protested during the last government, but due to being less in numbers, it failed to achieve the desired results. “PPP and PML-N have been well informed about the issues of Balochistan. There is no need for further explanations,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023