* BRP leader says PPP has shown its real face by not ending military operation
* Says his party not linked to organisation that has kidnapped UNHCR official
* BRP workers protest against ‘missing’ leaders
By Malik Siraj Akbar
QUETTA: While hundreds of Baloch Republican Party (BRP) activists protested on Monday in front of the Quetta Press Club against the 'disappearance' of BRP Secretary General Dr Bashir Azeem Baloch, the BRP’s fugitive chief Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti pledged to 'repay' the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for its 'brutal anti-Baloch policies' during its ongoing rule.
Bugti, a grandson of late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, told a telephonic press conference at the Quetta Press Club he had previously predicted that the PPP government was unlikely to bring an end to the military operation in Balochistan. He said the “real designs” of the ruling party had now been exposed.
“The PPP has shown us its real face and done the worst it could do with the people of Balochistan. Now, it should wait and see how we repay the ruling party for the brutalities it has committed on our land since coming into power,” he said.
Bugti has been operating underground since he took to the hills along with his 79-year-old grandfather in 2005. While the senior Bugti was killed in a military operation, Brahamdagh, 27, has been leading the Baloch insurgency from an unknown location and runs the BRP. The Balochistan Republican Army, founded last year, rejects parliamentary politics and spouses the cause of an independent Balochistan.
Bugti rejected all forms of government offers for negotiation and reconciliation by saying that his struggle was not for provincial autonomy or ownership of the Baloch resources, as claimed by other nationalist leaders. The ultimate goal of the Baloch struggle, he said, was to seek national liberation.
He regretted the policies of the Balochistan government, headed by Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, whom he billed as “a man who does not deserve to be called Baloch or a son of the soil”.
UN official: Bugti said he did not know much about the Baloch Liberation United Front, which had accepted responsibility for the kidnapping of UNHCR official John Solecki. However, he added that his organisation did not support the kidnapping of foreigners and aid workers. “We have never kidnapped a foreigner nor will we do it in the future. Those who abducted the US citizen, with whom we have no links, can better explain their stance,” he said.
Protest: Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of the BRP protested on Monday in front of the Quetta Press Club against the disappearance of their central secretary general and Chakar Qambarani, a member of the BRP Central Committee. The protesters were carrying posters, banners and placards of 'the martyrs of the Baloch movement'. They chanted slogans against the government and gave an ultimatum of 72 hours to the government to ensure the release of their missing leaders.
Both the nationalist leaders went missing from Quetta on Friday.
“If the government does not bring our leaders to the surface within 72 hours, we will resort to the line of protest which we think suits our demands the best,” said Riaz Badani, a central BRP leader. “The government would be responsible if violence breaks out after the passage of the deadline set for the release of our leaders.”
Baloch and Qambarani are the first important Baloch leaders to go ‘missing’ since the restoration of democracy in the country and the ouster of former president Pervez Musharraf. The Baloch nationalists maintain that thousands of Baloch political workers and tribesmen went missing during Musharraf’s nine-year rule, which witnessed a deadly military operation in the province.
While the PPP government claims to have released a majority of the missing persons, the Baloch contend that a majority is still missing and the government has initiated a new phase of oppression of political opponents in order to muzzle political and social dissent in the provinc.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009 210story_10-2-2009_pg7_28 |
