ISLAMABAD: Sardar Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), has decided to return to Pakistan in light of the country’s current political situation.
According to sources, Mengal, who had resigned from the National Assembly in protest and left the country ahead of the constitutional amendments, is now planning to return due to the evolving political landscape.
He is expected to arrive in Islamabad tomorrow morning from Dubai and will announce his next steps after consultations. Two days ago, Mengal claimed on social media that two of his party’s senators were being harassed for not supporting the constitutional amendments. “In such a situation, our only option may be to ask both senators to resign,” he stated.
A day before, Islamabad police had visited Mengal’s apartment in the Parliament Lodges. BNP’s acting president, Sajid Tareen, alleged that the police raided the flat, though Mengal was not present. The police, however, claimed they acted based on intelligence reports regarding the occupants of the apartment. Tareen condemned the raid, asserting that such actions would not intimidate the BNP into supporting the government. He maintained that the party’s senators would not yield to pressure during the judicial reforms voting.
Meanawhile, Complaining about the mistreatment of his party members, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal stated that his lodges in Islamabad had been raided. In a late Wednesday night post on X, Mengal said his party senator, Naseema Ehsan, was confined to her apartment and her son had been “abducted”. He shared a media report as well which gave an account of the police raid at his Islamabad lodges, a claim that Islamabad Police later denied.
Meanwhile, BNP-M Acting President Sajid Tareen said he was currently staying at Sardar Mengal’s apartment where Islamabad Police came and told him that they had received intelligence reports against residents of the apartment.
Terming it a method of harassment, Tareen said he told the police to inform those who gave them the tip to come and talk to him.
The politico said he was making efforts to make sure that the party senators voted for the constitutional package as per the party position without coming under any pressure.
“I am not afraid of such tactics. Their problem is that I am trying my best to ensure that the party senators do not come under any pressure while voting for the Constitutional Court Package and maintain their party’s position,” he added.
On the other hand, the Islamabad Police spokesperson said they did not raid the Mengal’s flat, rather they went to take further information regarding the BNP acting president’s complaint that someone was following him. “Police’s arrival at Akhtar Mengal’s flat has been painted as a raid, which is not true,” said the spokesperson.
Earlier, in a statement Mengal had said he resigned from the assembly because of how they treated Balochistan. Despite this, they continued to harass his two senators and families, he said, adding his only remaining option was to ask the senators to step down. “You’ve left us with no other path.” –Agencies
