Balochistan govt withdraws all "politically motivated" cases against Akhtar Mengal

Quetta, Apr 22 : The new Balochistan government has reportedly withdrawn all cases, including those of sedition, against detained former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal.

But his Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) rejected the move, describing it as a "cosmetic measure" taken by a powerless provincial government.

Province Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani convened a meeting at Chief Minister's House - attended by, among others, Balochistan Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood and Inspector General of Police Saud Gohar - at which cases registered against political leaders and activists were reviewed, reported the Daily Times.

Terming them "politically motivated," the meeting's participants recommended that all cases against Mengal and various other political leaders be dropped, it added.

The Balochistan government also said it would take up the issue of similar cases registered against Mengal in Sindh.

However, the BNP, of which Mengal is the president, rejected the decision, saying that it was "absolutely meaningless" to withdraw all except the one for which he was being held in a Karachi jail. Party Central Secretary General Habib Jalib Baloch described the decision as a "cosmetic measure" taken by a "totally powerless provincial government" to gain political mileage.

ANI