• PM aide’s contention that ‘innocents may get caught up’ in the wake of action following terror attacks prompts heckling, walkout
• Dr Malik, Akhtar Mengal stress need for political, not military-based solutions
LAHORE: At a charged discussion about the situation in Balochistan, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah ignited controversy when he implied that innocent civilians were bound to get caught up in the fallout of attacks such as the ones witnessed across the province on Jan 31.
The PM’s aide was speaking during a session, titled ‘Is There a Political Will to Solve the Crisis in Balochistan’, at the Asma Jahangir Conference on Sunday.
The minister was part of a distinguished panel, which also included BNP-Mengal chief Akhtar Mengal and National Party leader Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, and was moderated by Mujahid Barelvi.
PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah at the Asma Jahangir Conference on Sunday.
The controversy reared its head when Mr Sanaullah was responding to points raised by the other speaker regarding the treatment meted out to the people from Balochistan.
Referring to demands such as the abolition of checkpoints from across the province, he said that this could not happen unless terrorism and violence were rooted out.
“If incidents like Jan 31 happen, then security forces will take action, and there is a possibility that some of the people taken into custody could be innocent,” he said.
This prompted a reaction from the audience, and some — like rights activist Sheema Kermani — got up from her seat and began to heckle the minister. He responded by chiding the hecklers, saying that their refusal to listen to him had ‘exposed them’.
Ms Kermani then walked out of the venue, with many people following suit. Speaking to Dawn outside the hall, she said: “Asma Jahangir must be turning in her grave”.
“Asma’s name is a symbol for people’s rights, for resistance, defiance and justice. If in this conference, you give a platform to such people who justify state violence, then we will not sit and hear it… If [Asma] had been here, she herself would have walked out and wouldn’t have let such persons speak.”
‘Political people’
Earlier, in his remarks, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch termed insurgency and enforced disappearances as the two major issues facing the province, which did not seem to have a solution. “Whenever I go to my area, four or five people come [up to me] daily, complaining about a missing person.”
The state and political leadership should find a solution to these issues, he demanded.
“If you deal with Balochistan as a security issue, then conditions would get worse by the day. If you involve political people and parties, then the situation may improve,” he suggested.
“For parties which have roots among the masses, in Balochistan as well as [Khyber] Pakhtunkhwa, space is shrinking on a daily basis,” he regretted.
He also regretted how those who got the votes from the people were not allowed to enter parliament, but others were sent there ‘symbolically’.
Dr Baloch, who was also part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance, recalled that they had agreed on a number of points, including an end to enforced disappearances.
He called for political reforms and the handover of resources to the province, and stressed the need to protect the 1972 Constitution, the 18th Amendment and the National Finance Commission Award.
‘Military solution to a political issue’
At the outset, BNP-M leader Akhtar Mengal posited that while the Balochistan issue was a political one, successive rulers had tried to solve it through military means, and warned that continued reliance on the coercive approach could lead to further tensions.
Going into history, he recalled the original arrangement between the Khan of Kalat and the Quaid-i-Azam, where it was agreed that most administrative powers would remain with Balochistan. However, he regretted that this and subsequent pacts were not implemented.
He also referred to past periods of conflict, including operations under different governments, the killing of Nawaz Akbar Bugti and the issue of enforced disappearances, which he said had deeply affected many families, including his own.
He also criticised recent political and electoral developments, alleging that mainstream Baloch political leadership had been sidelined, while expressing concern over restrictions on political activity, media access and civil liberties.
He also referred to jailed human rights lawyers and activists, Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, saying that they had been jailed for 17 years over a mere tweet, while those who had harmed the country and looted had not spent a single day behind bars, or were accorded A or B class prison facilities.
Sanaullah’s response
Responding to these grievances, Mr Sanaullah said nothing could be done about the past, as it could not be changed.
“Right now Balochistan had two crises, one is being represented by Akhtar Mengal and Dr Malik, and the other side being Bashir Zaib and his accomplices,” he said, referring to one of the leaders of the banned BLA.
“In my view, both these crises have different solutions and different demands. We are making a mistake by taking them as one.” He also maintained that enforced disappearances and violence in Balochistan started simultaneously, calling it a ‘chicken and egg story’, adding that they would also end together, just as they had started.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2026
