Brahumdagh Bugti cautions Pakistan not to sow seeds of distrust among Balochistan's neighbours

Geneva [Switzerland], Sept. 28 (ANI): Brahumdagh Bugti, President of the Baloch Republican Party, has cautioned his people that Pakistan is attempting to sow seeds of distrust among the countries neighbouring Balochistan, by floating the idea that the Baloch nationalists were seeking a 'Greater Balochistan', comprising areas in Iran and Afghanistan. Bugti made the statements at an event held on September 26, 2016, during the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, to highlight the human rights atrocities in Balochistan and the kill and dump policy of the Pakistan army. Refuting the reports that the Baloch nationalists were seeking a 'Greater Balochistan' comprising areas in Iran and Afghanistan, Bugti clarified," This was not correct and the Baloch people only sought assistance from their neighbours in their struggle against Pakistani domination." Referring to the continuing struggle of the Baloch nationalists since the illegal annexation of Balochistan by Pakistan in 1948, he said that the Baloch people will continue to fight peacefully. He, however, maintained that if pushed to the corner, the people reserve the right to defend themselves, adding the step is to ensure that the Baloch culture, customs, language etc. were not crushed under the tanks of the Pakistani oppressors. Mehran Marri, Baloch Representative to the UNHRC and the European Union present during the event highlighted that people of Balochistan were facing human rights violations, as well as annihilation of their language, culture, history and heritage. He exhorted the Baloch people not to be silent to Pakistan's attempts to wipe them out, but to stand up for their rights. Pakistan author and analyst Tarek Fatah who is also the Executive Director of the Balochistan House, in his address described Islamabad as the hub of international jihadi terrorism. Fatah said that case for the independence of Balochistan was not just because of the rights of the Baloch, and to halt the atrocities being committed by the Pakistan occupation military, but also in context of theinternational war against the forces of Islamofascism. He added that the independence of Balochistan would mean the end of this threat to human civilization, as with a free Balochistan would come the end of Pakistan, and would lead to the establishment of a Muslim nation dedicated to liberal parliamentary secular democracy, a friend of its neighbours and the international community. (ANI)