Veteran politician from Balochistan, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, has died at the age of 93. He was ill and had been hospitalised at a private hospital in Karachi for the last one week, his family has confirmed.
His funeral will be held in his home town of Wadh, in district Khuzdar.
Mengal was born in 1929 in Lasbela and was the first chief minister of Balochistan. After spending his childhood there, he moved to Karachi. In 1954, he was declared the chief (sardar) of the Mengal tribe.
It was Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, a founding member of the National Awami Party (NAP), who introduced Mengal to the world of politics. In 1962, Mengal was elected to the West Pakistan provincial assembly.
Mengal, along with three other Baloch leaders and members of the NAP, was imprisoned soon afterwards under what is known as the “Hyderabad Conspiracy case.”
Ataullah Mengal was the father of Balochistan National Party chief Akhtar Mengal.
