Baloch party quits provincial assembly

Quetta: The Baluchistan National Party (BNP), led by Akbar Baloch, resigned on Monday from the provincial Assembly of Baluchistan.

After putting in their papers, the BNP, which has four representatives in the Assembly, said that after the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, this Assembly had no meaning, and the people of Baluchistan had lost complete faith in the provincial and National Assemblies.

The BNP has also decided to resign from the National Assembly. Its representative Rauf Mengal and Senator Sanaullah Baloch have put in their papers.

The resignation of the BNP from both the National Assembly and the Baluchistan Provincial Assembly is being read as a further deterioration of the prevailing political situation in Pakistan, especially in Baluchistan.

In another development, the leadership of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), has announced in Quetta that they are adopting a wait and watch policy to see whether Islamabad opens a political dialogue process with the Baloch leadership.

If Islamabad does not do so, then the MMA, which has more than 16 members in the provincial Assembly and runs the Government in Baluchistan, would also seriously consider quitting the provincial Assembly.

Another important player, Kachkol Ali, who heads the six-member National Party, is also on the brink of resigning from the National Assembly.

"We are no longer fighting for autonomy, but for survival. The Pakistan Army has been attacking Baloch nationalists on land and through aerial bombings since December 2005.

Combat jets, helicopter gunships and artillery have been used.

The military has been pounding tribal areas in gas-rich and strategically crucial Balochistan. Hundreds have so far been killed.

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The military-backed government and the army is claiming a tactical victory (with the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Baloch), but this is nothing but a tactical defeat," said Akbar Baloch.

He further warned that the BNP would intensify its opposition towards the Musharraf regime, as well as the movement for Baloch independence till such time as the Musharraf regime reconciled itself to the inevitability of granting self-determination rights to Baluchistan.

On Sunday, the four-party Baloch Alliance announced its resignation from the National and Baluchistan Assemblies. The party has one Senator, one member in the National Assembly and two in the Baluchistan Assembly.

The killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti nine days ago in the Bhambore Hills of Kohlu during a militaryu operation has reverberated throughout Pakistan.

So damaging has been the impact of the killing of Bugti that the provincial head of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and a district-level functionary of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) in Balochistan have also quit their posts in protest.

The resignations of various Baloch parties from the provincial and National assemblies and the Pakistan Senate is being seen as a rallying point for the Baluchistan nationalist cause, and a complete condemnation and rejection of the policies of the Musharraf regime.

There is a hope that the resignations will create a domino effect, and prompt other parties into taking similar action.