Mengal’s six points on Balochistan

Mengal’s six points on Balochistan

Baloch leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal put forth his six-point charter for the resolution of problems in Balochistan, in the Supreme Court last week. The charter demands an end to forced disappearances; that ‘death squads’ working in the province be disbanded; to allow Baloch political parties to function and resume their political activities without interference from intelligence agencies; persons responsible for inhuman torture, killing and dumping of bodies of Baloch political leaders and activists should be brought to justice; and measures should be initiated for rehabilitation of thousands of displaced Baloch living in appalling condition.

While the points raised by Mengal have brought hope for some form of reconciliation on the Balochistan issue, the response, if any, from the security agencies and the establishment will be key to revealing if any real progress will be made.

Political parties and their leaders have come forward to support Mengal, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf. However, the government has continued on its stance that there is no involvement of security agencies in the disappearances and target killings in Balochistan, with government officials condemning Mengal’s statements.

Interior Minister Rahman Malik has said that the government is ‘serious on the issue of recovering the missing persons and that all valid grievances of the former chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Akhtar would be addressed” but no progress has been made.

Hearing on the Balochistan missing persons’ case resumes on October 8, and it remains to be seen what turn the case will take after Mengal’s appearance and statements.

How will Sardar Mengal’s appearance before the court and his six-point charter affect the situation in Balochistan?

Will the government take note of the grievances, now that its political opponents have also supported Mengal’s stance?

Is the support from the political parties being voiced in order to garner support before the elections?

Who are the true representatives of the Baloch people? How can the inhabitants’ voice be heard?

Dawn.com invites its readers to share their views and voice their suggestions…

 

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34 Responses to “Mengal’s six points on Balochistan”

  1. Bilal Jan says:

    The demands of Baloch, according to Akhtar Mengal’s 6 point charter, should be fulfilled
    MR( pathan says:) be a human; so don’t write foolish words;

  2. Nafy Achakzai says:

    The demands of Baloch, according to Akhtar Mengal’s 6 point charter, should be fulfilled but Pashtun should not be ignored because Pashtun is a separate nation in Balochistan.Pashtun are ignored in all fields of life both by federal and provincial governments.The Pashtun-Baloch national equality, according to 18th constitutional amendment, should be implemented in all walks of life.Akhtar Jan Mengal should have demanded the implementation of Pashtun-Baloch national equality in his 6 point charter.

  3. akhter husain says:

    Mr Mengal’s six points,even if resolved completely, will not help the people living in Baluchistan because the “Six Points”are to divert the attention of Baluchs from the real issues.Mr Mengal has not ,as yet given his mind about sharing of natural and God gifted resources with the people in general that is ,the center, province,division,district and so on.

  4. pathan says:

    if baloch leader want freedom we will give them one way ticket. get out from Pakistan, Baluchistan belongs to Pakistan it will never happen to get freedom we love Pakistan and if u don’t like Pakistan u can go elsewhere. Stop talking trash. Pakistan Zindabad.

  5. Mohdudul Huq says:

    It is another strategy to break Pakistan. Enemy of Pakistan has established their base in Pakistan and giving fuel to the opposition parties to create an unrest in the country that leads to total destruction of the country and ultimately to break Pakistan. Due to weak government the army and law enforcement bodies became helpless to tackle this situation. Now mob wants power in the government to become a ten percent man. Mob has no feeling about Pakistan and the country. Enemy of Pakistan can able to buy mob leader with handful of Pakistani rupees.

  6. hasan says:

    In a corrupt system it is hard to fix anything. This is the main reason Pakistan has seen problems since it was found. The first thing that will be the right step toward solution to this and many other problems will be to systematically overcome corruption from top to bottom.
    The idea of and independent Balochistan is a dream for those who had the area colonized for centuries and could never see it prosper, and it is a nightmare for Balochistan and Pakistan. The enemy will be happy to see country shatter but people will suffer.
    Islamabad need to take this issue seriously and form a special committee to bring Baloch leaders on board as fellow countryman. Respect is earned when we respect others, specially when they are our family members. But a the same token no one should be above law, nor should get a penny or paisa of money that belong to the people. And that’s where we have to curb and control corruption. We cannot eliminate corruption which we have even here in the USA.

  7. Agha Ata says:

    Hey … Commentators, do you think Mengals’s gesture in this picture resembles with that of Mujib?

  8. YOUSUF HUSSAIN says:

    I may be wrong but I will tell what I saw,the problem is not that serious as the media explain one day I was watching talk show on TV the host person a lady crying that Balochistan has gone I have visited most parts of balochistan but I do not have found any disturbance in that area,Yes there are certain problems that are created by local Sardar e.g there is Winder city that is about 110 kilometers from Karachi, Govt. has started the Winder Dam project and all the machinery was there but the local sardar not allowed to start the work ,but this problem may solve with the discussion I do not know that the Govt. has started any talk or not.

  9. Laeeq, NY says:

    With all due respect, solution of Balochistan is neither in the hands of Balochi Sardars nor in the hand of Government of Pakistan. These Sardars have not done any thing for their people in last 65 years except collecting billions of rupees in royalties from natural resources this province has. Their ordinary people remained poor and indigenous while they built castles and estates both at home and abroad. Solution of Balochistan is in the hand of Balochi people, not in the hand of few Balochi leaders.

  10. Azad Baluch says:

    First, in no civilised country in the world can an Army chief make political statements, the fact that he made a statement shows the basic problem of Pakistan. In most countries, the army serves the country. In Pakistan, the country serves the army.
    Second, Baluch people were forced into joining Pakistan after the Army’s 1948 military operation. Since then there has been a continous insurgency. Pakistan due to its army, has failed to win peoples hearts.
    Third, people look at Bangladesh and its great progress since it gained independence from Pakistan army.
    The writing is on the wall.

    • Armagan says:

      Have you ever spoken to a Bangladeshi? They all look to Pakistan for progress! Our economy is much bigger than theirs also.

  11. faz says:

    First do we really know what ordinary balochi wants , secondly are these sarder are true representative of baloch people with there lavish houses in villages and in cities enjoying the life and there sons and daughters living abroad , we should reach out to ordinary baloch brothers and sisters and listen there grievances and strive together to solve them .

  12. EmMoosa says:

    If you want to see the real life of sardars in Baluchistan go to YouTube and get into the life of Akbar Bugti that how he was treating to his personal servants and even what was his thinking about common Baluchi.

  13. EmMoosa says:

    These Baloch sardars are only responsible for the crisis. It is not today but we are watching all this since Ayub Khan’s era. Before their greedy fathers were in the battle against the governments and now their sons. The sole purpose is to control the minerals of the province. Foreign elements are surely involved in this situation and they are using these bunch of sardarzades as they have used Tajuddin and Mujib to disintegrate Pakistan. Our political parties should not support them but to think about the common man of the province who has no interest to their motives but hate them.

  14. EmMoosa says:

    The actual fact is that there are two parties in the crisis of Baluchistan. One are the bunch of sardars who are losing their power against the establishment and the others are common man who has no interest to the motives of the sardars and the sardari system. We have observed in the past that whenever the federal governments either Zia’s or Musharraf’s tried to give schools and colleges to ordinary Balochs as well as construct the roads deep into the villages of the socalled sardars, these sardars either Bugtis, Murris and Qalatis echo their voices against those developments and came up against the good approach of those governments. Unfortunately we have some parties particularly PML-N who supports these sardars hypocritically. Because of some personal enimity with a particular person Bugti’s sons were given refuge in the Raiwind palace to use them for their same sole purpose. God bless Pakistan and save us from these hypocrites who are making tonns of money from this country but have no interest to the benefits of common man either he belongs to Baluchistan or any other province.

  15. A.I.rehmani says:

    Better do justice to baluchis than cry later. its high
    time now that baluchistan is treated at par with
    other states sind,pakhtunva and punjab

  16. Armagan says:

    Let us hope this is step in the direction of sanity returning to Baluchistan. Instead of wasting time, energy and money fighting each other these 3 elements would be better spent uplifting the people of the province. We need to build more schools, and raise literacy in the area amongst women and men. Once this is done development will follow.

  17. Salma says:

    Referendum!

  18. saythetruth10 says:

    Stop killing non locals first and give them the right that every Pakistan deserve no matter wherever they are than we can listen to Balouch leaders

  19. Kashif says:

    Well well… Situation is very critical in Balochistan,an open secret. Opinion makers are unclear about what actually problem making factors are? For any phenomenon development factors are multiple. So is the case here as well. Foreign elements, Sardars, social fabric of Balochistan, our establishment and security agencies all are there in this problem. Now which factor should be given priority? Definitely, every stakeholder looks at it from his own lens. But, a pragmatic approach would be to tackle all stakeholders in parallel. Here it is important to mention that our own stakeholders, all except foreign elements, must be given due regard. And, this would result in ‘Our own house in order’. Then foreign elements would find it very difficult to make a mess in the province. And, it is also important to mention that we can address our internal issues rather easily than handling foreign elements.

    Now with this preamble i express points put in by the survey one by one..

    ow will Sardar Mengal’s appearance before the court and his six-point charter affect the situation in Balochistan?

    Yes. It has given a ray of hope. some breakthrough. At least there is one who believes in Pakistan’s institution-Supreme court. Do avail the opportunity. Certainly, it will not change the situation in all. But, here is a big But, it will play its role.

    Will the government take note of the grievances, now that its political opponents have also supported Mengal’s stance?

    Government will not do it. Because they are only to guard their power. And, their inability to make decision is there in front of everyone. They only rely on the support of agencies and establishment.

    Is the support from the political parties being voiced in order to garner support before the elections?

    Yes it is to garner the electoral support. But , at least for now, their support would further the cause. And, once this opposition in government then they would be morally bound to do ( may be in part not as whole) what they are claiming today.

    Who are the true representatives of the Baloch people? How can the inhabitants’ voice be heard?

    Political science and Law does include social aspects. And, it is customary in Balochistan that Sardars do hold power. We must accept it for now. Once things are settled and then education would bring the change we are advocating about. Certainly, it would be slow but would be there.

    Conclusion: We must learn to live with the realities. Must not impose our will on others. Rather we must choose such means that would bring desirable change.

  20. Usman Aziz says:

    Even a common man with sanity knows what is going on in Baluchistan. the so called leaders are the main problem of the area. the Sardars as Makhdooms in Southern Punjab do not want any kind of Improvement for general public so that they keep ruling them. they themselves get royalty and spend it for their own interest. media which claims to be very pious and vibrant has no access to the most areas of Baluchistan but keep harping on the same string that agencies are doing this and agencies are doing that. educate the people of far flung areas provide them facilities to flourish and many other such steps are the way that leads to solution of Baluchistan problem.

    • Mahammad Kamran says:

      Dear Mr. Usman,

      As you said ” media which claims to be very pious and vibrant has no access to the most areas of Baluchistan but keep harping on the same string that agencies are doing this and agencies are doing that. ”

      My question is how often you visit balochistan, if you have ever, to reach to the conculsion that ” Even a common man with sanity knows what is going on in Baluchistan.”

      Visit the balochistan or for your convenience visit the families of those who are protesting for the their beloved missing family members. You may find many such families infron of press clubs of other major cities of Pakistan.
      Reality will speak itself.

  21. Muhammad Kamran says:

    How will Sardar Mengal’s appearance before the court and his six-point charter affect the situation in Balochistan?
    Sardar Mengal’s appearance will surely affect the situation in Baluchistan. He symbolically linked his six points with Mujeeb’s six points. In technical terms these points are different but similar in their decisive nature. He mentioned them as pre-requisite or step one for further talks. It all resulted in great media coverage and information sharing which made the whole nation as observer and it will be harder for the officials to tag a nation as ‘traitor’. Once these points are fulfilled, then the real problems of Baluchistan will be brought on table which are the root cause of the unrest.
    So there will be affect either positive or extreme negative “ “.

    Will the government take note of the grievances, now that its political opponents have also supported Mengal’s stance?
    Government will not and can’t take note of the grievances because Baluchistan issue is solely controlled by Military and its allied agencies. All the related policies are dictated by them. Government acts no more than as their spokesperson. If all the major political parties get united and convince the GHQ to review their policy then only something is possible but it doesn’t seem so.

    Is the support from the political parties being voiced in order to garner support before the elections?
    Voice of the political parties has partial link with the elections but overall it is about the broader national interests. We still have some patriotism and humanity in our politicians.

    Who are the true representatives of the Baloch people? How can the inhabitants’ voice be heard?
    From centuries Baluchistan has been under the influence of Sardari and tribal system. Whether good or bad they are the representative of the inhabitants of these regions. The areas that don’t have any tribal chief, representatives are political leaders.
    It is true that Sardar Mengal is not the sole representative of Baluchistan but his stance is much softer than other major elders of the province. He can perform a great reconciliatory role.If some one is so keen, through direct referendum voice of the inhabitants of the Baluchistan can be heard.

    Mishandling of current opportunity will be having far reaching consequences because there are millions of baloch’s living in other provinces of Pakistan and abroad.Kill to solve the problem approach will be a self killer.There is pushton population issue in balochistan, khyber pakhtonkwa and Afghanistan.There are international interests in redefining the maps of many regional countries.

    100 times more preference should be given to any peaceful proposal which guarantees unity, strength and brotherhood, no matter how badly if affects the ego of our commercial military lords.

  22. falak says:

    these points are not enough for bringing peace and progress in balochistan

  23. chaudry says:

    We would appreciate that Dawn should publish Akhtar Mengal’s complete statement presented in the court which will help readers and researchers to understand Balochistan conflict and BNP’s solution-based charter or six points.

  24. Pujabi Brother says:

    Time has come; our government must take note of the grievances and resolve the Balochistan issue seriously and genuinely. We should welcome this reconciliatory offer from the Baloch leaders and should not let this opportunity to slip through from our hands. We must establish the rule of law and justice without any political, feudal or any power house intervention. Anybody breaking the law, should be brought to justice. Allah swt is just and like justice to be done. If we love Allah swt, we should do justice to everyone. Baloch are our brothers and all the political parties of Pakistan should genuinely raise this issue through peaceful political rallies to show it to people of Balochistan that we care about them.

    Love from Punjabi Brother.

    Pakistan Zindabad.

  25. Junaid Khan says:

    Should listen to the concerns. Can not trust the current thugs of PPP govt. PTI should mediate the dialogue and find the solution.

    I really do not think Megal represents the Baloch majority and having alot of interference from India this situation is getting worst.PPP once again is leading the country towards another disaster as they did back in 1971.

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