New Delhi, August 15 (NIA): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support to the rebels in the Balochistan province of Pakistan which was meant mainly to deflect Pakistan’s attention from troubled Kashmir, seems to be bearing fruit, with Islamabad now offering to talk to the Baloch rebels.
In his Indian Independence Day oration from the ramparts of the Red Fort here on Monday, Modi expressed his “gratitude” to the Baloch nationalists who had sought India’s help to end Pakistan’s brutalities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
“This is an example of our humanitarian approach. But there are some countries which glorify terrorists,” Modi said.
Expressing India’s total disapproval of terrorism, the Prime Minister said that on hearing about the terrorist attack in Peshawar, “there were tears in everyone’s eyes in Parliament here.”
Earlier on Saturday, two Baloch leaders welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s bid to expose Pakistan’s brutalities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The World Baloch Women’s Forum President Naela Quadri Baloch said that the people of the region support Modi. Hammal Haider Baloch, another Baloch leader, said it is for the first time that an Indian Prime Minister has expressed a wish to support the Baloch people.
Last Friday, the Modi government launched a fresh offensive against Islamabad for igniting the latest unrest in Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by the Indian Security Forces on July 8.
“The time has come to expose Pakistan’s brutalities on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), ” Modi had said.
Indian Kashmir has been on the boil for more than a month with at least 58 killed and thousands wounded during protests against Wani’s killing.
Meanwhile in Ziarat, Balochistan, the political and military leaderships have invited self-exiled Baloch leaders to come to the negotiating table, Dawn reports.
Speaking at the Pakistan Independence Day function in Ziarat on Sunday, the Balochistan Chief Minister, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, and the Chief of the Southern Command, Lt.Gen. Aamir Riaz, said that they would welcome Baloch leaders’ return to the country.
“It will be their choice to join national politics or do politics on a nationalist basis… We will honor it if the people of Balochistan give them the mandate,” Dawn quoted Zehri as saying
But at the same time he made it clear that it would not be possible for the government to accept the leaders’ sectarian ideology at gunpoint.
“We will not allow anybody to impose his ideology by force…We have been the custodians of Balochistan for the last 500 years and became part of Pakistan at our own volition,” the CM said.
Rejecting the statement of Indian Prime Minister Modi, Zehri said that there was a big difference between the situation in Kashmir and Balochistan.
While Kashmiris want freedom from India, the Balochis want to be part of Pakistan, he claimed.
“You cannot describe what is happening in Balochistan as a freedom struggle if a few misguided youth wage war and get involved in anti-peace activities,” he said.
Zehri also launched a veiled attack on India, saying, “A handful of miscreants playing into the hands of Indian intelligence agency have been involved in anti-peace activities in Balochistan.”
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