Omar Ayub says people of Balochistan are more patriotic than us

Islamabad: The opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on Wednesday said that the people of Balochistan were more patriotic than the rest of the country.

PTI leader passed these remarks during his speech at the Nation Assembly floor. He insisted on taking Mengal's resignation seriously, asking for redressal of the grievances pertaining to the province's stakeholders.

"A fact-finding mission should go to Balochistan and assess the situation," the politician said, demanding the formation of a committee that could talk to Balochistan's people.

A day earlier, Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal resigned as a member of the NA over the "worsening situation" of his province, declaring no confidence in the state, the president and the prime minister.

"I announce my resignation from the Assembly today. I made this decision after witnessing the situation of Balochistan," said Mengal during the lower house's session. 

Regretting that he could not do anything for the people of the province, the politician said they had not been given the right to rule for a year and that he had a lack of trust in the whole system.

"People are not interested in the issues of Balochistan and every time this issue is raised, we face a blackout," he said. "This assembly does not listen to us, what's the point of sitting here?"

Meanwhile, speaking on the NA floor, Ayub insisted that the ministers of the Balochistan government cannot talk to people and the province's youth does not want to listen to them.

"They [people of Balochistan] have a right to their resources. Talk to them," he said, claiming that the federal government doesn't want to talk to them.

"If they do not talk, how will the federation work?" he added.

Hinting at the lack of interest by the government in resolving the issue, the PTI leader said, "The tragedy is that dictation is taken from elsewhere."

The politico also spoke about the "persecution" being faced by his own party and its founder Imran Khan.

"The PTI people are being forcibly disappeared. Our prime minister [Imran Khan] is sitting in jail. The entire leadership has been put in jail in false cases."