Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) founder Brahumagh Bugti on Wednesday fired fresh salvos at Pakistan, saying Balochistan never was a part of that country. He also "wholeheartedly" thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "raising the issue of atrocities faced by the Baloch people."
Bugti, grandson of Baloch Freedom Movement founder Akbar Bugti, on Wednesday said Pakistan never cared for Balochistan, and administered the area with an iron fist.
He started by taking his first shot at news outlets in Pakistan. "Pakistani media never talks about the torture and atrocities faced by the people of Balochistan. People are murdered every day," he said. "I want to ask them [Pakistani news outlets] why they have a problem now when someone else has raised issue and is talking about it."
He was echoing the sentiments of Baloch Students Organisation chief Karima Baloch, who had said in a video: "Many brothers in Balochistan are either missing or have been killed by the Pakistan Army. They have been made to disappear by the thousands." In the video, she had also addressed Modi as a brother and urged him to raise his voice across the world to help his "sisters" in Balochistan.
Bugti, however, also showed inclination towards a more peaceful solution to the issue. "We never said 'no' to talks. We are ready to talk even today, [but only] if the Pakistan military leaves Balochistan, like it left Bangladesh in the 1970s."
However, he also did not shy away from delivering a warning: "Abhi bhi waqt hai Pakistani fauj ke pass ki woh nikal jaye, warna Bangladesh se bhi bura haal hoga Pakistani fauj ka Balochistan mein [The Pakistani military still has time to get out, otherwise their condition will be worse in Balochistan than what had happened to it in Bangladesh]."
On Pakistan's claim that Balochistan was a part of it, Bugti said: "Humara mulk na Pakistan kabhi tha, na hai. Humein zabardasti iske saath milaya gaya. [Pakistan never was and neither is our country. We had been forced to merge into it.]" He also said: "Hum Pakistan ka hissa na the, naa hai aur naa rahenge [We never were, are or will be a part of Pakistan]."
In the end, he said: "I want to thank Modi wholeheartedly on behalf of our people for raising the issue of atrocities faced by the Baloch people." Modi had talked of Balochistan during his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on Monday, Aug. 15, as well as a few days earlier, during the all-party meeting on Kashmir at the end of the monsoon session of Parliament.
