Claim: Akhtar Mengal said that Imran Khan told him he was “on the wrong side of history and couldn’t do anything” for the Baloch people after his resignation.
Fact: Mengal mentioned Mahmood Khan Achakzai in his resignation press conference, not Imran Khan. The BNP leader did not say that Imran Khan influenced his decision, nor did he mention the former prime minister anywhere in his resignation letter, social media posts or during his press conference.
On 3 September, a Facebook post by an account called “Pakistan Republic” shared news of Mengal’s resignation, while also attributing a false quote to him. According to the post, the BNP leader said (archive), “Imran Khan was right. I stood on the wrong side of the history [sic] and couldn’t do anything for my people [Balochi]. Therefore, I resign from politics.”
On 3 September, Akhtar Mengal, a nationalist Baloch politician, resigned as a member of the National Assembly: “On the occasion of the third death anniversary of my father Sardar Attaullah Mengal, I resign as a Member of Parliament as a tribute to him,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“The current situation in Balochistan has forced me to take this step. Our province has been continuously neglected by this House. Every day, we are pushed further against the wall, leaving us with no choice but to reconsider our role. With no real representation of the people of Balochistan in this assembly, even voices like mine cannot bring about any meaningful change,” he wrote.
Mengal is referring to the long history of unaddressed grievances of the restive southwest province, which include the growing insurgency, the cases of enforced disappearances, whose family members have sustained a decade-long movement demanding the release and return of those abducted in broad daylight by law enforcement agencies.
In December 2023, families of the forcefully disappeared started a long march from Turbat to Islamabad over the extrajudicial killing of Balaach Mola Baksh from Turbat by the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD). CTD denied any wrongdoing, claiming Bakhsh was killed in a crossfire after terrorists attacked them.
The families, mostly women, reached the capital only to face the police who attacked the protestors with tear gas and water cannons and arrested nearly 200 long march participants.
Similarly, in July, the authorities arrested leaders and the participants of the Baloch National Gathering, who were protesting against the enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Gwadar, the port city of Balochistan.
“Every time Baloch protests take place, their demands are met with violence by security forces and mass arrests. We saw it in December last year at the Baloch Long March. We see it now again with the Baloch Raji Machi protests in what is clearly a punitive attempt by the Pakistani authorities to deter, vilify and criminalize peaceful protesters,” said Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
In recent months, Balochistan has also seen an increase in complex terrorist attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a proscribed militant group.
The BLA carried out the deadliest terror attack late in August, killing at least 22 after checking their identity cards. This is the third instance, when a woman suicide bomber Mahal Baloch, from Gwadar, carried out the attack alongside other members of Majeed Brigade, the armed wing of the BLA notorious for using female bombers.
In March 2024, the group attacked the Gwadar Port Authority complex, an integral part of the billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Their attack on Pakistan’s second-largest naval base, PNS Siddique in Turbat, was foiled by the security forces.
Against this backdrop, some analysts say Mengal’s resignation highlights the long-standing policy of ignoring the grievances of Balochistan by the authorities.
“It has become increasingly clear that our attempts to speak or protest are met with hostility; our people are either silenced, labelled as traitors, or worse, killed. Under such circumstances, I find it impossible to continue in this capacity, as my presence here no longer serves any purpose for the people I represent,” Mengal wrote in his resignation letter.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed Mengal’s National Assembly speech, his post-resignation press conference, news reports, and found the claim to be untrue.
During his press conference after his resignation, Mengal said “Khan” at timestamps 0:05, 2:06, 2:13, 3:46, 8:50, 22:29, 29:02. He’s actually referring to Mahmood Khan Achakzai, also a member of the National Assembly, who is standing next to him and not Imran Khan.
We also analysed Mengal’s National Assembly speech available on YouTube by news channels but did not find any instance of him mentioning Imran Khan.
Moreover, a keyword search did not yield any news articles which quoted Mengal mentioning Imran Khan in his resignation speech.
Additionally, in his resignation letter Mengal wrote “I, Mohammad Akhtar Mengal, a member of the National Assembly NA256, hereby resign from my position as a member of the parliament.” He maintains his position as the chairman of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) after his resignation. According to the letter and his speech in the National Assembly, he has not resigned from politics but only from his position as an MNA. So, part of the quote from the claim “therefore, I resign from politics,” which suggests that Mengal left politics is also not true.
Soch Fact Check also did not find any mention of Khan by Mengal on his official X handle around the time of his resignation, from 2 September to 12 September.
Virality
The Facebook post was liked 689 times and shared 127 times.
It was also shared by PTI’s UK account here (archive) and here, here.
The picture carrying the quote was shared on X here. A clip of Mengal’s press conference after his resignation has also been posted with the same misleading quote here and here.
On YouTube, it can be found here.
Conclusion: Akhtar Mengal did not mention Imran Khan or credit him for his decision to resign as an MNA. The post attributes a false quote to the BNP leader.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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