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Former Balochistan chief minister Akhtar Mengal delivered a scathing assessment of the situation in the province while addressing a gathering organised by the Asma Jahangir Foundation, arguing that decades of force have failed to resolve what he described as an essentially political dispute.
Mengal said repeated attempts to subdue dissent through military operations, arrests and enforced disappearances had only deepened the divide between the federation and Baloch citizens. Quoting revolutionary poet Habib Jalib, he remarked that Balochistan was not simply "burning" but had already been reduced to ashes. Tracing the roots of mistrust, the former CM referred to early understandings involving Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Khan of Kalat. According to Mengal, commitments related to autonomy and self-governance were gradually abandoned, setting off a chain of betrayals that continued in later decades through dismissals of elected governments, executions, and prison terms for tribal leaders. He maintained that even mainstream representatives from the province are today confined to limited areas of influence and often unable to move freely among their own constituents. Appeals made before courts, parliament and successive governments, he added, yielded little progress, while those demanding dialogue were frequently labelled anti-state. Mengal described how sections of the local population now display openness toward armed groups while remaining wary of officialdom. He attributed this shift to accumulated anger and fear born of years of heavy-handed policies. Mengal said he personally felt a profound sense of despair after exhausting institutional avenues. Conversations with national leaders, he revealed, reinforced the perception that the crisis may have crossed the point of no return. Even so, he urged decision makers to adopt urgent political measures to prevent further bloodshed. History, he stated, would not be rewritten through later justifications, and failure to act now could permanently damage the relationship between the state and the people of Balochistan. (ANI)
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