Balochistan CM Zehri lashes out at Brahamdagh Bugti

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Saturday said people of Dera Bugti and Sui have completely rejected negative approach of Brahamdagh Bugti, a Baloch separatist leader who is seeking political asylum in India.

Dera Bugti is the hometown of Bugti clan in Balochistan, which has faced a low level insurgency waged by nationalists.

People from across Balochistan took to streets against India, and it should serve as an eye opener for Brahamdagh, said the outspoken chief minister.

Bugti formally applied for asylum in India last week, in a surprise move that political commentators think has ended prospects of a negotiated deal between Pakistani government and the separatist leader who last year had meetings with former Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik Baloch and Federal Minister Lt. Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch in a bid to hammer out a deal.

Brahamdagh Bugti’s move came amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India when the latter blamed Islamabad for an attack in Indian occupied Kashmir that killed 18 troops at a military base.

The alleged militant raid followed months of violence in the occupied valley sparked by the killing of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

--Originally published in The News