If Baloch sovereignty tops agenda, we can talk with Pak: Brahamdagh Bugti

Switzerland, Mar.12 (ANI): Leader of the Balochistan Republic Party (BRP) Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti has called for a political solution to Balochistan, and asked Pakistan to set the agenda first.

The grandson of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti said that the sovereignty of Balochistan must be at the top of the agenda, if talks with Pakistan were to take place.

"If they (Pakistan) want to hold talks with us, we only agree to talk about our independence. If Pakistan do not agree with this, I don't think it is significant to move ahead, as for several years, Pakistan has made us a slave and is forcibly occupying our territory," Bugti told ANI over phone from Switzerland.

Brahamdagh also insisted on the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from Balochistan who are guilty of committing human rights violations in the territory.

Recently, Amnesty International (AI) had criticized the Pakistan Government and called for an end to the "enforced disappearance" that target Baloch nationalists.

As per the Amnesty International report, at least 249 Baloch activists, teachers, journalists and lawyers have disappeared or have been murdered between 24 October 2010 and 10 September 2011 alone, many in so-called 'kill and dump' operations.

The Baloch leader, while supporting the U.S. Congress resolution said that it is necessary to have international intervention in Balochistan to end the decades-old resistance.

Bugti said: "Pakistan has been using American arms provided to them to act against the Taliban and al Qaeda."

Strongly denying India's intervention in Balochistan, he said: "If there was India's interference in Balochistan; we would have gained freedom a long time back."

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik recently claimed that Brahamdagh Bugti operated training camps in Afghanistan that were later dismantled.

However, Brahamdagh refuted the allegation, saying that the camps are of Bugti refugees.

"The refugee camps of Bugti tribe still exist in Afghanistan and the allegations by Rehman Malik were just to cover their own misdeeds."

Bugti said that Pakistan is adopting the same policy as it did with Bangladesh before its independence in 1972.

"We are dying everyday. The mutilated bodies of missing Baloch people are found everyday. Our women and children are also being targeted, as recently my sister and 9-year-old niece were killed in Karachi. Pakistan did the same with Bangladesh before its independence," said Bugti.

Bugti said that Baloch people are living a miserable life under Pakistan's rule.

"The more people they kill, our struggle will gain momentum. Pakistan will not get rid of us by implementing strict laws," said Brahamdagh, whose grandfather, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was killed in a massive military operation in the Bhambore Hills in 2006. (ANI)