Little do political parties in Balochistan realise that the noose of disaster, devastation and desolation will tighten around the neck of the people
Ironically, an irony that escaped him, Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s decision to participate in the forthcoming elections coincided with March 27, the day Baloch nationalists observe as a ‘Black Day’, because that day in 1948, Balochistan was forcibly annexed, depriving the Baloch of their freedom. Interestingly, on March 25 on arrival he had said that nothing had changed since his last September Supreme Court (SC) appearance. He said since then 70 bodies had been dumped and 60 target killings had taken place. He said institutions were mistakenly trying to impose their views by force and had pushed Balochistan to the present critical situation. He added he would not have lived four years in exile had there been constitutional rule in the country and was of the view that free, fair and transparent elections could not be held without ending interference by the intelligence agencies, and moreover, the caretaker government was unlikely to succeed in restoring law and order in two months, where previous rulers had failed. He emphatically added it was not clear how the elections would be held in a ‘bloodstained’ Balochistan.