SARDAR Akhtar Mengal, President of Balochistan National Party and former Chief Minister, has alleged that military operation and disappearances of people have continued in the province, despite having a democratic government in place. One should have expected that as the new PPP leadership at the centre offered apologies for the wrongs done to the people there, it would also make sure that there would no more be any military operation or disappearances. There is urgent need for the removal of this grievance and the long-standing grouse of the people of the province that they have been denied their rights on land and resources for so long. While every patriotic Pakistani would support the demand for legitimate rights as stipulated in the concept of provincial autonomy, Nawab Khair Baksh Marri has taken his bitterness too far as he makes a blanket assertion, "I can co-exist with a pig but not a Punjabi." The remark would create ill will among fellow citizens, which neither the federation can afford nor political sense justifies. His advocacy of armed struggle and support for the Balochistan Liberation Army is another jarring note that would strengthen the hands of anti-state forces and prove an embarrassment for sympathisers. With the political set-up in power the best course for him would have been to avoid creating bitterness and negotiate a formula that meets their demands within the framework of federation.