Baloch separatists have foreign backing: Musharraf

Former president claims via video link that 60% of Balochistan’s population ‘is in favour of Pakistan’.


Sameer Mandhro April 16, 2012

KARACHI:


Separatists in Balochistan with foreign backing aim to destabilise Pakistan, said former president and All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) chief Pervez Musharraf.


The former dictator was speaking via video at a conference titled “Problems of Balochistan”, arranged by Pakistan First, a forum of retired servicemen at a local club on Sunday.

Musharraf alleged that certain politicians were supporting separatists for political benefits. “The chiefs of Bugti, Marri and Mengal (tribes) are involved in the prevailing condition of Balochistan. The Balochistan Liberation Army is a terrorist organisation which is targeting non-locals in the province. The present government has failed to tackle the province’s issues,” Musharraf said.

Shahzain Bugti, Talal Bugti and others have contacts with foreign elements. Not a single inch of the country would disintegrate in the presence of Pakistan Army,” he maintained.

He claimed that 60 per cent of Balochistan’s population had rejected the separatists. “He continued to downplay separatist elements in the province, saying: “The people do not know the real situation of Balochistan. Only four per cent of population of the country lives in Balochistan and 60 per cent of that population is in favour of Pakistan. Just three to four thousand people are involved in terrorism and those are supported by foreign elements,” he added.

The former president claimed that billions of rupees were spent on development projects in the province during his tenure.

Members of the Pakistan First forum, (conceived in January 2012), which has over 200 members affiliated with the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society, urged the government to implement the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package and the National Finance Commission Award.

Members highlighted how the province had been ignored and how its problems could be readdressed during their briefings. They stressed the significance of Gwadar Port which remains cut off from the railway system. They also expressed the geostrategic importance of the province as well as its abundance of unexploited natural resources.

General Farooq in his keynote address said: “The future of Balochistan is at stake and so is that of Pakistan,” while highlighting the province’s importance.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2012.

 

COMMENTS (83)

Tribune Reader | 11 years ago | Reply

@S Khan: let me guess you belong to that school of thought which wants to dismiss any type of conspiracy theory put forward, no matter how thought worthy it is, if people want more proof on foreign interference in Balochistan, look up these articles i suggested, also google, BLA in Jerusalem, so called free Balochistan government inexile has its office in Jerusalem. It is not uncommon for Israel or the United States to support seperatist movements within Muslim countries, Israeli government recently admitted to supporting South Sudan rebels in waging war against the Arab Muslim North and they provided them with arms, money, technical support, both countries have admitted to that. Sure the government has neglected the province over the decades, sure but it does not mean you adopt the path of traitors and start havoc through out the provinces and kill innocent settler civilians. the Baloch nationalists have never denied they have killed thousands of civilians and proudly admit to the ethnic cleansing. Shamful and disgusting

S Khan | 11 years ago | Reply

@Deen Sheikh:

Good story. Did Zaid Hamid told you that story?

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