Quetta, Apr 06, 2025, IANS

Quetta, April 6 (IANS) Pakistan's Balochistan National Party (BNP), continues to hold a protest on Sunday for the 10th consecutive day despite the warnings by the Balcoh government to limit its demonstration to Quetta's Shahwani Stadium. The government threatened that strict legal action would be taken against any law violations if the party marched into the provincial capital's red zone, local media reported. The protest, spearheaded by the BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal, has vowed to reach Quetta from the Lakpass area of Mastung on April 6 as the deadline for the acceptance of its demands, including the release of Mahrang Baloch, ended on Saturday midnight. The party has been protesting against the enforced disappearances of political workers in Balochistan and the illegal detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders, including Mahrang Baloch, for the last 10 days, Pakistan's leading daily, The Express Tribune, reported. Addressing a press conference on Saturday in Quetta, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind stated that the provincial government held a dialogue and proposed that BNP-M will be allowed till the Shawani Stadium on Sariab Road. However, the party did not agree and wanted to hold the demonstration in the Red Zone, and the government refused to accept that and warned of strict action if the city's Red Zone was breached. Meanwhile, BNP-M accused the government of unleashing aggressive tactics, adding that security forces have surrounded their leader, Mengal, and the people present at the sit-in protest. "We are currently stationed at Lakpass, completely encircled by security forces. A major operation against us is imminent. I call upon all districts to immediately shut down all national highways in protest. Let the world witness this injustice," Mengal posted on X. "We remain peaceful but resolute. Whatever unfolds today -- the consequences, the blood, the fallout -- will rest solely on the shoulders of the government and the local administration," he added. The sit-in protest of BNP-M continued in the Lakpass area on the outskirts of Mastung, as earlier three rounds of negotiations between the BNP-M leadership and the provincial government ended without success. The party refused to call off the protest until the release of Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders.