From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Veteran politician and founder of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Sardar Ataullah Mengal, passed away in Karachi on Thursday, party leader Sanaullah Baloch said. He had been ill for a long time and was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi, according to the BNP. Born in 1929, Mengal spent his childhood in Lasbela and later moved to Karachi. He was declared the chief (sardar) of the Mengal tribe in 1954.
Mengal was introduced to politics by Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, a founding member of the National Awami Party (NAP), who also briefly served as the governor of Balochistan in 1972-73. In 1962, Mengal was elected to the West Pakistan provincial assembly; Bezinjo ran his election campaign.
Mengal became the first chief minister of Balochistan in May 1972 and remained in that position until his government was dismissed by then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Feb 1973. Mengal chose to go into self-exile in London during General Ziaul Haq’s era. He returned to Pakistan in the 1990s and formed the BNP.
