Akhtar Mengal (; born 6 October 1962) is a Pakistani politician from

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

who is the chairman of

Balochistan National Party (Mengal) The Balochistan National Party or Balochistan National Party (Mengal) (Urdu: بلوچستان نيشنل پارٹی ; ) is a political party in Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan, Pakistan. BNP believes in more provincial rights and greater auton ...

. He is also serving as a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

since February 2024. He previously served as the

Chief Minister of Balochistan The Chief Minister of Balochistan () is the head of government of the of Balochistan. The prime minister leads the legislative branch of the Government of Balochistan, and is elected by the Provincial Assembly. Given that he has the assembly' ...

between 1997 and 1998 and later as a member of the

Balochistan Provincial Assembly The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Balochistan, and is located in Quetta, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of ...

. Mengal also served as a member of

from August 2018 till August 2023.

Early life

Mengal was born on 6 October 1962 in

Wadh Wadh () with a population of 26,875, is the fourth largest urban centre in the Khuzdar District, in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. It serves as the administrative centre of Wadh Tehsil. The majority of the town's population belongs to th ...

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

(now, Balochistan, Pakistan) to the former

Ataullah Mengal Ataullah Mengal (; 24 March 1929 – 2 September 2021) was a Pakistani politician and feudal figure. He was the head of the Mengal tribe until he nominated one of his grandsons, Sardar Asad Ullah Mengal, as his tribal successor. He was also the ...

. He is from the

Mengal Mengal () is an ethnic Brahui tribe inhabiting Balochistan, Pakistan. It belongs to the Jhalawani branch of the Brahui tribes, and is bilingual in Brahui and Balochi. Origins According to the official list by Mir Ahmad Yar, the last Khan of ...

tribe. Mengal has two sons, Gurgain Mengal, Brahem Mengal and a daughter, Banari Mengal.

Political career

Mengal returned to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on 25 March 2013 after ending four years of self exile in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

to participate in the 2013 general elections. His party only has two seats in the 51-member provincial assembly. One held by Mengal and the other by Hamal Kalmati, who represents

Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...

. Two candidates of the BNP, Esa Noori and Raouf Mengal, won National Assembly seats from the

Makran Makran (), also mentioned in some sources as ''Mecran'' and ''Mokrān'', is the southern coastal region of Balochistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in the Balochistan province in Pakistan and in Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. I ...

coastal region and

Khuzdar Khuzdar ( Balochi, , ) also known as ''Hozdar'', is a city and the administrative headquarters of Khuzdar District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Khuzdar is surrounded by mountainous region of the southwestern portion of the country near ...

, respectively. Akhtar Mengal took oath as a member of

on 13 August 2018. On 3 September 2024 Mengal handed his resignation from the National Assembly of Pakistan citing the deteriorating situation in Balochistan.

Arrest and release

Akhtar Mengal was arrested in September 2006, along with around 700 other political workers, in a government crackdown in Balochistan. He was held because he was planning a long march against

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

's military rule. Mengal was released on May 9, 2008 and all charges against him were dropped by the

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh () () is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions under its authority and ju ...

. The Balochistan government withdrew all cases, including those of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

, against Mengal. On 25 March 2013, Mengal returned to

from

to take part in the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

on 11 May 2013. He was arrested on 24 October 2024, for protest against reforms.

Uneasy relationship with the Baloch insurgency

Akhtar Mengal has been historically criticised by the Baloch insurgents as well as the security establishment. In an interview in 2013, he lamented that, “The Baloch militants consider me a traitor while the security establishment also treats me as an enemy." He is an elder of various such influential families who have their members on both sides of the political divide. Currently a part of the

Pakistan Democratic Movement The Pakistan Democratic Movement (; PDM) was a coalition of List of political parties in Pakistan, political parties in Pakistan. It was founded in September 2020 as a political movement, opposition movement against Imran Khan, accusing his I ...

(a 13-party coalition currently in power at the federal level), the association of his brother and nephews with the

Baloch Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Balochistan region. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Pakis ...

has long been an obstacle to his entry into the mainstream national politics. Javed Mengal (brother) and Nooruddin Mengal and Bhawal Mengal (nephews) have allegedly been involved in armed militancy in the restive province of Balochistan. However, Akhtar Mengal has condemned the insurgents and publicly called for a political solution to the myriad problems in the province.

References

External links

"The Man in the Iron Cage""Nawaz's mistake"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mengal, Akhtar Living people 1962 births Baloch nationalists Balochistan MPAs 1997–1999 Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Chief ministers of Balochistan, Pakistan Aitchison College alumni People of the insurgency in Balochistan Balochistan National Party (Mengal) MNAs Akhtar Pakistani prisoners and detainees Balochistan MPAs 2013–2018 Leaders of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan People from Khuzdar District Balochistan MPAs 2024–2029 Pakistani MNAs 2024–2029 Politicians from Balochistan, Pakistan