After the tragic murder of Habib Jalib Baloch, the Baloch nation, BNP (Mengal) in particular, have lost another of their proud sons. Mir Nooruddin Mengal, a central leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, was gunned down in Kalat town, about 160km south of here, on Wednesday (13 October 2010). We offer our sincerest condolences on behalf of the LUBP team.

According to daily Dawn, Mr Mengal, who was a member of the party’s central executive committee, was going home when armed men on a motorbike opened fire on him. He was seriously injured and was taken by police to a local hospital. Doctors referred him to Quetta but he died near Mangochar.

Police said both the assailants had escaped. [most probably to the local headquarters of the ISI?]

Protesting against the murder, activists of the BNP-M gathered on the outskirts of Kalat and blocked the National Highway by putting up barricades and burning tyres. Traffic between Quetta and Karachi was suspended as the protesters pelted passing vehicles with stones. They also marched on the highway raising slogans against the government [why not against the Pakistan Army, or was it censored by the media].

The killing of Mr Mengal is seen here as a setback for the party because after the assassination of Habib Jalib Baloch he was the senior most leader in the absence of Akhtar Jan Mengal who lives in Dubai.

BNP’s Response

Mir Nooruddin Mengal was the first cousin of Justice Amirul Mulk Mengal, a former Governor and Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court. He was involved in politics for many decades and even served time in prison for fighting for Baloch national rights. He was considered to be very close to BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal.

BNP leadership termed the incident a case of targeted killing by state functionaries and linked it with the murder of Jalib Baloch and other leaders. Acting president of BNP Dr Janzeb Jamaldini has condemned the incident and termed it a pre-planned strategy to create a serious law and order situation in the province.

Jamaldini said it was part of the ongoing target killing of BNP leadership in order to eliminate them from political surface of the province.
“BNP will not be cowed down or made to deviate from the struggle of national rights,” he said. He announced that BNP will hold a protest demonstration on Thursday (today), as well as a shutter-down strike throughout Balochistan on Friday. He also announced a ten-day mourning period. (Source)

Addressing a press conference at Quetta Press Club, BNP Secretary Information Agha Hassan said the party would also hold protest rallies on October 17 across the province. He held establishment responsible for the latest killing, saying the same elements had previously targeted Habib Jalib Baloch, Liaquat Mengal and Naseer Langov. Hassan said such moves would not deter the Baloch leaders and the workers from their struggle for the right of self-determination. Later, the BNP-M workers staged a demonstration in front of the Press Club. (Source)

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