QUETTA: Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal used his address at the Ziarat sit-in to deliver what appeared to be one of his strongest appeals yet for Baloch-Pashtun solidarity, acknowledging past divisions while urging both communities to stand together against what he described as shared repression.
Addressing Pashtun protesters, Mengal said, “Today is not a day for complaints. In the Baloch people’s difficult time, our eyes were on you, but no one came. Today, we stand with you in your sorrow and grief.”
The remarks marked a rare public admission of the disappointment felt among many Baloch over what Mengal described as the absence of broader Pashtun political support during years of enforced disappearances, killings, and other abuses in Balochistan. Rather than dwelling on those grievances, however, he said the moment demanded unity.
Mengal argued that the violence now affecting Pashtuns was part of the same cycle of repression that the Baloch had experienced for decades, saying Baloch leaders had long warned that such policies would eventually extend beyond one community.
He assured the protesters that the BNP-M would stand with the Pashtun people in their struggle and support any peaceful course of action decided by the sit-in committee.
Mengal also renewed his demand for a judicial commission to investigate the Hanna Urak incident, questioning why the government would oppose an independent inquiry if the judiciary was free to act.
His remarks framed the Ziarat sit-in not only as a protest over a single incident but as an opportunity to forge closer political unity between Baloch and Pashtun communities in Balochistan despite past differences.
