Sardar Akhtar Mengal | |
|---|---|
اختر مینگل | |
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| 9thChief Minister of Balochistan | |
| In office 22 February 1997 – 15 June 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Zulfikar Ali Magsi |
| Succeeded by | Jan Mohammad Jamali |
| Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan | |
| In office 29 February 2024 – 3 September 2024 | |
| Constituency | NA-256 Khuzdar |
| In office 13 August 2018 – 10 August 2023 | |
| Constituency | NA-269 (Khuzdar) |
| Member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan | |
| In office 2013–2018 | |
| Constituency | PB-37 Khuzdar |
| In office 2008–2013 | |
| Constituency | PB-35 Khuzdar |
| In office 2002–2007 | |
| Constituency | PB-38 Khuzdar |
| In office 1997–1999 | |
| Constituency | PB-38 Khuzdar |
| In office 1993–1996 | |
| Constituency | PB-27 Khuzdar |
| In office 1990–1993 | |
| Constituency | PB-27 Khuzdar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-10-06)6 October 1962 (age 62) Wadh,Khuzdar,Balochistan |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
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Akhtar Mengal (Urdu:اختر مینگل; born 6 October 1962) is a Pakistani politician fromBalochistan who is the chairman ofBalochistan National Party (Mengal). He is also serving as a member of theNational Assembly of Pakistan since February 2024. He previously served as theChief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later as a member of theBalochistan Provincial Assembly.[1] Mengal also served as a member ofNational Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023.[2]
Mengal was born on 6 October 1962[3] inWadh,West Pakistan (now, Balochistan, Pakistan) to the formerChief Minister of BalochistanAtaullah Mengal. He is from theMengal tribe. Mengal has two sons, Gurgain Mengal, Brahem Mengal and a daughter, Banari Mengal.[4]
Mengal returned toPakistan on 25 March 2013 after ending four years of self exile inDubai to participate in the2013 general elections.[5] His party only has two seats in the 51-memberprovincial assembly. One held by Mengal and the other by Hamal Kalmati, who representsGwadar. Two candidates of the BNP, Esa Noori and Raouf Mengal, won National Assembly seats from theMakran coastal region andKhuzdar, respectively.[6][7] Akhtar Mengal took oath as a member ofNational Assembly of Pakistan on 13 August 2018.[8]
On 3rd September 2024 Mengal handed his resignation from the National Assembly of Pakistan citing the deteriorating situation in Balochistan.[9]
Akhtar Mengal was arrested in September 2006, along with around 700 other political workers,[10] in a government crackdown in Balochistan. He was held because he was planning a long march againstPresidentPervez Musharraf's military rule. Mengal was released on May 9, 2008[11] and all charges against him were dropped by theGovernment of Sindh. TheBalochistan government withdrew all cases, including those ofsedition, against Mengal.[12][13]
On 25 March 2013, Mengal returned toPakistan fromDubai to take part in thegeneral elections on 11 May 2013.[14]
He was arrested on October 24 2024, for protest against reforms.[15][16]
Akhtar Mengal has been historically criticised by the Baloch insurgents as well as the security establishment.[17] 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."[17] He is an elder of various such influential families who have their members on both sides of the political divide.[18] Currently a part of thePakistan Democratic Movement[19] (a 13-party coalition currently in power at thefederal level), the association of his brother and nephews with theBaloch Liberation Army[17] 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[17] 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.[17]
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