Members of the Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNP-Mengal) staged a protest at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Khuzdar on Saturday, against the electoral malpractices during the recent Wadh tehsil by-elections.
The demonstration, led by party chief Akhtar Mengal alongside key leaders and female supporters, is on major roads in Khuzdar and Wadh.
During the protest, Akhtar Mengal spoke about the bias attitude of the local election authorities, claiming the presiding officer in Wadh favored his rival Shafiq Mengal, Baloch traitor. He demanded the officer’s replacement, said that the Pak establishment was backing Shafiq Mengal, similar to their previous support for puppet politicians like Anwar ul-Haq Kakar and Sarfaraz Bugti.
Questioning the likelihood of Shafiq Mengal’s victory, Akhtar Mengal asserted his party’s strong regional influence. He criticized the efforts by Pak Army to install Shafiq Mengal in power through undemocratic methods.
He said that around a dozen puppet officers have been posted in the city on the orders of his rival candidate for rigging.
“If the agencies are so desperate to bring Shafiq Mengal into the assembly, they should have him wear an abaya or marry him to a Hindu. That way, he will be eligible for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the Balochistan Assembly,” Akhtar Mengal stated.
Shafiq Mengal and his brother were recruited in ISI and Khuzdar was assigned to the brothers to crush Baloch national movement in the district.
Shafiq Mengal, an ISI pawn in Pak-occupied-Balochistan, is involved in unleashing terror including leading a ‘death squad’ involved in enforced disappearances, murders, kidnappings for ransom, drug trafficking and other offenses. He is also linked to the 2014 discovery of mass graves in Tootak containing at least 169 bodies, as well as a suicide bombing.