March 26, 2025
Staff Report
LAHORE
Former Chief Minister of Balochistan and head of National Party (NP), Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch has demanded that the government immediately release all the arrested women of the Baloch Solidarity Committee (BYC), including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and try to resolve the issues through dialogue instead of force.
While talking to host Munizae Jahangir in Aaj News’ program Spotlight, he said that since the Jaffer Express incident, the state has been cracking down hard, however things will not improve like this. He said that there had been some hope that the leadership of the PML-N and the PPP, would deliberate upon Balochistan’s problems, and instead of conducting an operation in the province, they would resolve the issue of missing persons.
Dr. Abdul Malik further said that ‘they are in favor of the federation, they we cannot remain silent while they are using excessive (force and discrimination) against (the Baloch).
“Our demand is that you release the girls who are there because now Balochistan will not be ruled by sticks,” he said.
Senior PML-N leader and advisor to the Prime Minister on political affairs Rana Sanaullah, who also participated in the panel of the show, assured Abdul Malik Baloch that he would talk to the Prime Minister to resolve the issue of the arrested women amicably. Rana Sanaullah further said that after Eid, the Prime Minister will meet Dr. Malik and discuss the solutions to the problems of Balochistan.
Context
On Saturday, a sit-in of the Baloch Solidarity Committee in Quetta was cracked down on and sixteen workers, including BYC leader Dr Mahrang Baloch, were detained, after which the protest that started in Balochistan spread across the country.
After this, Sammi Deen Baloch, a key leader of the Baloch Solidarity Committee, living in Karachi, was arrested along with four other women during the protest as well as a senior party leader Lala Wahab.
Support for BYC demands and issues
Following these arrests, Balochistan National Party (BNP) chief Akhtar Mengal called for a strike across Balochistan on March 25 and also announced a long march from Wadh to Quetta on March 28.
However Dr. Abdul Malik said that even today he has hope pinned on party leaders Nawaz Sharif and President Zardari. He further said that to establish an atmosphere of trust in Balochistan, the issue of missing persons must be resolved first. He said that we are not saying to release all the missing persons. We are just saying to bring them to the public and keep them in one place and tell about those who have died so that their families can know who is alive and who is not.
‘Legislation will have to be made to resolve the issue of missing persons’
However, Rana Sanaullah said that the issue of missing persons is not that simple, there are many complications in it and many in-camera meetings have been held in this regard. As the Interior Minister, he said, he had also earlier explained the solution to these issues in the Islamabad High Court, but no one was ready to tackle it.
He further said that when the issue of missing persons was raised during the PDM era, the establishment had said that legislation should be made in this regard so that we too have the power to arrest, but human rights activists are making noise about this.
Rana Sanaullah said that we should now distance ourselves from those who carry weapons and kill people. There is no room for sympathy with them.
Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch said that I request all parties, especially the Tehreek-e-Insaaf, to be on the same page regarding Balochistan because until all parties are united, the killings will not stop in Balochistan.