President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and three-time prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has once again been urged to step in and play his part as the country's senior-most political leader to address the worsening crisis in Balochistan.
This time, the call came from a delegation of the National Party (NP), led by party president Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, amid the Balochistan National Party-Mengal's (BNP-M) sit-in, which on Wednesday entered its 12th consecutive day.
According to senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, the former prime minister assured the NP delegation of his commitment to peace, stability, development, and democratic norms in Balochistan.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, confirmed that Nawaz Sharif is expected to visit Balochistan after his return from London, where he is due to travel within two days for a medical check-up.
The NP delegation, which had earlier met President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding Balochistan's worsening state, briefed Nawaz Sharif on the rapidly deteriorating situation.
They requested him to intervene directly or indirectly through the central government, particularly concerning the BNP-M's sit-in and the arrest of women activists.
Briefing the media after the meeting at Jati Umra, former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said the NP delegation had highlighted pressing issues in Balochistan, including law and order, underdevelopment and political marginalisation.
He said that the NP has urged the PML-N supremo to play his role as the senior-most leader of the country for Balochistan.
He said that Nawaz has assured Dr Malik Baloch and his party leaders that he would play his role for peace and stability in Balochistan. He added that Dr Malik also highlighted the progress Balochistan had been making during the PML-N's rule.
He noted that during their stint, they had started a meaningful peace process that was nearing a fruitful conclusion. However, democracy was derailed, and the development and peace brought during their era were devoured by political instability.
He said Nawaz Sharif has assured them that he will engage with political players to address the challenges of the province.
Rafique said Nawaz Sharif reiterated his commitment to re-engage political players in order to address Balochistan's challenges.
NP President Malik Baloch said the province had been "bleeding for two decades" and that it was imperative for Nawaz Sharif to step in for the people of Balochistan.
He expressed hope that Sharif would play a constructive role in ensuring peace, adding that they had discussed the BNP-M sit-in and the arrests of women and political activists in detail.
According to him, Nawaz Sharif agreed to intervene and had promised to visit Balochistan upon his return to Pakistan to meet the province's political leadership.
In response to a question, Malik Baloch remarked that it was a tragedy that the public still remained unaware of the real issues facing the province, adding that the matter was inherently political in nature.
Senator Jan Muhammad Buledi, speaking to The Express Tribune, said the delegation had conveyed its deep concern about the situation in the province and feared it could spiral out of control if left unaddressed.
He noted that, besides his political stature, Nawaz Sharif holds sway in the federal government and can use that influence to engage with stakeholders in Balochistan.
"Balochistan is drifting away from the centre," Buledi warned, noting that BNP-M – a democratic party – had been pushed to launch a formal protest and stage a sit-in after being ignored by the authorities.
Instead of engagement, he lamented, the government had resorted to blocking roads.
Buledi further said that before approaching Nawaz Sharif, the NP had raised the issue with the president during his visit to Balochistan after the Jaffar Express incident, urging him to address security concerns, enforced disappearances and arrests through dialogue with local leadership.
According to Buledi, Nawaz Sharif has now assured them that he would play his role and engage with responsible quarters, particularly the prime minister.
When asked about similar assurances given earlier to the Balochistan High Court Bar Association president, Buledi said it was Nawaz Sharif's responsibility as the most senior political leader to act, and "the ball is now in his court".
He added that had it been within their power, they would have acted already. However, when pressed on whether Nawaz Sharif had provided a timeline for his visit, he confirmed that no specific timeline was given.
The latest meeting comes on the heels of protests across Balochistan and Karachi over the recent arrests of Baloch Yakjehti Committee's (BYC) leadership, including its chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch, and the crackdown on its sit-in in Quetta.
Dr Mahrang Baloch, along with 16 other activists, was rounded up from their protest camp at Sariab Road in Quetta on Saturday, a day after they had alleged that three protesters had died at the hands of police.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nawaz Sharif had earlier in March also assured of playing an active role after Eidul Azha to search for a solution framework for Balochistan's security crisis, after the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the president of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association beseeched Nawaz to break his silence and rise to the challenge to avert an even bigger crisis.
Prior to that, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had asked his party president to take cognizance of the rapidly deteriorating situation in the province, and he too had said that Nawaz would visit Balochistan after Eid.
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