Soon the organization got involved in the growing Baloch national movement, protesting against Ayub Khan's policies of political restriction and functional inequality which gave rise to widespread antagonism in the Baloch population. Spearheading the movement were the tribal elites, professional classes such as lawyers and doctors, and students. The student movement was supported by the "progressive" tribal leaders, Ataullah Mengal, Khair Bakhsh Marri and Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, who were also leading members of the National Awami Party (NAP). The NAP consulted the BSO on all major issues. In early 1969, the organization conducted many demonstrations in Quetta, protesting the One Unit system and the tribal "jirga" system. They called for the release of political prisoners. Several leaders later went on to become guerrilla leaders during the 1970s. BSO leader Abdul Hayee Baloch contested the 1970 elections and got elected to the Pakistan National Assembly, as a member of the NAP.