Balochistan Official Questions Akhtar Mengal Over Missing Persons Issue

QUETTA:Balochistan Chief Minister’s Adviser for Information Shahid Rind has questioned Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal over the issue of missing persons, asking about the whereabouts of 500 people whom the party has previously claimed were released.

Speaking to a private digital platform, Rind questioned what practical measures were taken to address the missing persons issue during previous Balochistan governments led by Nawab Aslam Raisani, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and periods when BNP-Mengal was part of government.

Rind said that the issue of missing persons existed during Raisani’s tenure as chief minister beginning in 2008. He asked what concrete steps were taken at the time to resolve the issue.

He said the issue remained unresolved when Dr Abdul Malik Baloch served as chief minister from 2013, asking what practical measures his government had taken to address the concerns surrounding missing persons.

Rind also referred to the political role of Akhtar Mengal and his party during the subsequent period. He said that although Mengal was not himself in a leading government position in 2018, his party was part of the political arrangements at both the federal and provincial levels.

The adviser questioned what concrete steps had been taken during these periods to address the missing persons issue, saying that an assessment of the actions of successive governments would provide the basis for judging their record on the matter.

Rind further referred to a claim attributed to BNP officials regarding the release of 500 people around the time of former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension. He asked Mengal and other BNP representatives to clarify the current whereabouts of those individuals.

He questioned whether the people in question had returned to their homes or had subsequently joined militant organisations again. Rind presented the latter possibility as a question and did not provide independent evidence in his remarks establishing the whereabouts or status of the 500 individuals.

Similar remarks by Rind about the alleged release of 500 people have previously been reported by Pakistani media. In a September 16 statement, he publicly asked BNP-Mengal to explain where the individuals it claimed to have secured release were currently located.

The missing persons issue remains a longstanding and politically sensitive subject in Balochistan, with nationalist parties and rights groups repeatedly raising concerns about people whose whereabouts are unknown, while state authorities have disputed or challenged some claims surrounding individual cases.

Rind’s latest comments are part of an ongoing political exchange between the Balochistan government and Akhtar Mengal’s BNP-Mengal over governance, security and the province’s political and human-rights issues.

The adviser argued that political leaders should also explain what was done when they themselves held governmental authority, rather than focusing solely on the issue while in opposition.