BNPM senator first claims made ‘guest’, then denies

ISLAMABAD: The Muhammad Qasim Ronjho episode took a new turn when he issued a short video message on social media, claiming he was forced to hold a media conference by the party chief, some legislators and workers.

In the clip, he can be heard saying, “I was forcibly taken to a press conference by the party chief, his MPs and workers. The press conference is completely based on lies, these were forced words that were written ahead of my arrival.”

He also denied having been taken out from his home and said had been very much at his residence for the last 15 days. He also claimed that all was written before him that he was reading. “These are totally fabricated, baseless and lies, for I had been at home for 15 days. What I was forced to say was a total lie. I completely deny all these things,” he said.

Later, his son Jehanzeb Ronjho took to his social media account to claim that his father was forcibly brought to the Senate to resign, even though his father had already resigned.

In his statement, he regretted that it was sad that BNPM forced its senator to hold a press conference. He noted that the party committee had given him a statement to forcibly speak in the press conference. He condemned what he called the immoral and frivolous action of the party.

Earlier, Ronjho of Balochistan National Party-Mengal, who resigned earlier in the day as senator for voting against the party policy on the 26th Constitutional Amendment, ‘disclosed’ that some powerful people had made him their ‘guest’ for seven days.

“During those seven days, I got malaria due to mosquito bites,” he narrated his story before the media outside the Parliament House, minutes after the Senate sitting was adjourned without taking up business for want of quorum.

He shared his ordeal after the media persons asked him about his disappearance from the scene for some days. The visibly sick-looking Qasim replied that the details are not that special. “There were some strong people, whoever they were, wherever they came from, they made me their guest for 6-7 days. And, due to mosquito bites, firstly I am already a dialysis patient, in this condition I underwent dialysis twice, was taken to hospital, after mosquito bites, I was diagnosed with malaria and in this malaria, I was again taken to the hospital…,” he noted.

Qasim said he asked the powerful people to let him go home and assured them that he was not going to run away from Pakistan. About his mobile phone, he said that they took it out from his pocket in the first 15 minutes.

Before his media talk, BNP-Mengal President Sardar Akhtar Mengal informally talked to journalists in the Parliament House corridors and claimed that his party’s senator Qasim Ronjho wanted to voice his opinion in the Senate meeting, but the government broke the quorum due to shame. He said that there was no need to sit in the House which is called Upper House or Lower House, where human dignity is not protected.

Mengal was asked if the seat from Balochistan will not be lost due to resignation of Qasim as senator? He replied that BNPM is for the honor of Balochistan and “where its members are not respected, what will you do sitting down?”

Again when asked if he had accepted Qasim’s resignation, the BNP chief replied ‘yes’. About another defected senator from his party, Naseema Ehsan, Akhtar Mengal replied that she was asked to do so but no contact has been made yet with her. Earlier, when Qasim stood up to speak during the Senate session, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Ahmed Khan pointed out that the quorum was not complete in the House, which was adjourned for 20 minutes. Again when the count was made, only six members were found present in the House. Earlier, Akhtar Mengal took to the social media platform ‘X,’ declaring that the Balochistan National Party had ordered its senators Naseema Ehsan and Qasim Ronjho to resign immediately. He warned that if they failed to resign by the following day, they would be dismissed from the party. The chair adjourned the proceedings till 10:30 am Friday.