BNP-M announces long march to Quetta as deadline given to govt 'expires'

• BNP-M announces long march towards Quetta as talks with govt fail.
• Protesters demand releasing BYC leaders including Mahrang Baloch.
• “Powerless” delegation came to hold talks last night: Mengal.

MASTUNG: Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal has announced launching a long march towards Quetta today as the deadline set by his party for the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders “expired”.

The sit-in protest staged by the party has been ongoing at Lakpas since March 28.

In a statement on late Wednesday, Mengal said the deadline given to the government has expired and the participants of the sit-in will begin their long march towards Quetta today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, the provincial administration is taking various measures to prevent the BNP convoy from entering Quetta

Trenches are being dug at various locations along the National Highway at Lak Pass and Dast and various areas are being sealed off by placing containers.

The development came as BNP talks with the provincial government have so far failed to make any headway.

The sit-in led by Akhtar Mengal and other party leaders was announced from Wadh to Quetta last month to demand the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and activists, including Dr Mahrang Baloch.

Addressing the sit-in participants on Wednesday, Mengal said last night “powerless” delegation of the provincial government came to hold talks with the them.

“If the women are not released by tomorrow, the containers will be removed from the road,” he warned, adding that women along with their children will also march to Quetta.

He said Sindh government has released BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch but “powerless” Balochistan government “is looking somewhere else”.

A day earlier, Sindh government removed the name of BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch from detention order under section 3 of the Sindh Maintenance of Public Order (3 MPO) with “immediate effect”.

Police detained the BYC leader after she led a protest in Karachi against the arrest of the movement's leadership, including Dr Mahrang Baloch, in Balochistan.

Mahrang was taken into custody earlier, along with 16 other activists from their protest camp in Quetta, a day after they accused police of beating up three of their protesters to death during an anti-riot action.

Officials alleged that Sammi, along with Abdul Wahab Baloch, Raza Ali, and others, was inciting road blockades and sit-ins, which could disrupt law and order in the city.

Mengal and other party workers also survived a suicide attack on the party’s rally in Mastung on March 29.