ISLAMABAD, 5 September 2006 — Balochistan Nationalist Movement (BNM) deputies handed in their resignations to the chairman of the Senate, speaker of the National Assembly and speaker of the Balochistan Assembly yesterday to protest the killing of Akbar Bugti.
Akhtar Mengal, a former chief minister of Balochistan and the BNM chief, had announced on Sunday that the party lawmakers would quit the assemblies to register their protest over Bugti’s killing.
A BNM spokesman said yesterday that Sen. Sanaullah Baloch and member of the National Assembly Rauf Mengal had submitted their resignations to the Senate chairman and the National Assembly speaker while two members of the Balochistan Assembly Akhtar Langho and Akbar Mengal handed in their resignations to the provincial assembly speaker. Mengal urged other opposition parties to do the same.
In another development Baloch militants attacked and destroyed a gas pipeline at Lakpass on Sunday night disrupting gas supply to thousands of domestic consumers.
Although Bugti’s killing has united the opposition, there are now divisions in their ranks over the political strategy that needs to be adopted to confront the government.
Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Sunday said the opposition has decided “in principle” to resign from the assemblies en bloc.
But the dilemma of the rightwing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is that it is part of the governments in Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The MMA is unlikely to resign to make an issue of Bugti’s assassination, The Nation newspaper said yesterday.
Earlier reports had indicated that the MMA might quit to seize the leadership of the movement to protest Bugti’s killing.
The News reported that MMA ministers who went to Bugti House to condole the death and offer prayers were turned away by family members of the slain leader.
MMA has 15 ministers in Balochistan of which at least six visited Bugti’s home and were turned away.
Leaders of other parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were, however, allowed in, the newspaper said.
Media reports indicate that Bugti’s killing has aroused sentiments that the opposition parties feel compelled to respond to.
Reflecting the opposition mood, Fahim said: “Gen. Ziaul Haq gifted Sindh the body of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto while Gen. Musharraf gifted Balochistan the body of Nawab Akbar Bugti.” Seeking to draw a parallel of the two actions of 1979 and last week, he said the results would be “dangerous for national integrity.”
Peace Deal Likely
Militants and Pakistan’s government are expected to complete a peace deal within two days in a northwestern tribal region where Al-Qaeda militants are believed to be at large, the government said yesterday. The deal aims to halt fighting in the North Waziristan region between Pakistan’s military and pro-Taleban militants that erupted after the US-led invasion that toppled the Taleban regime in neighboring Afghanistan.
