Baloch separatists: Panel to hold talks with Hyrbyair, Brahamdagh

Dialogue is the only viable option of bringing harmony to Balochistan, says a Baloch parliamentarian.


Zia Khan May 31, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


The government’s fresh offer for dialogue will also be extended to separatist leaders – including Brahamdagh Bugti and Hyrbyair Marri, currently in self-imposed exile in Europe.


It remains to be seen, however, what incentives the government has to offer to the Baloch dissidents.

“It is for all … political leaders and rebels,” a federal minister told The Express Tribune on Wednesday as more details emerged of Tuesday’s meeting of the country’s top political and military leaders to tame an insurgency in Balochistan.

Science and Technology Minister Mir Changez Khan Jamali, a Baloch parliamentarian from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) leader Brahamdagh Bugti and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) leader Hyrbyair Marri will be approached for talks.

“When our committee starts the process, it will reach out to each and everyone,” said Jamali, who was one of the leaders from the province who attended the meeting. The members of the proposed panel are expected to be nominated shortly, Changez said, although the minister did not share the names of likely nominees.

The huddle, which was presided over by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and attended by both the military and intelligence chiefs, decided to form a six-member committee – consisting of three members each from the federal and provincial government – to spearhead the proposed talks.

But the huddle remained short of announcing what the country’s political leadership demanded last week during a seminar held by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) – a blanket amnesty for all those involved in the insurgency.

Brahamdagh, the grandson of slain Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, is currently in Switzerland. He sought asylum in the European state after spending some years in Afghanistan. Officials including Interior Minister Rehman Malik have blamed the separatist leader for pushing forward the insurgency in Balochistan. The Pakistani foreign ministry had also called for the extradition of Bugti when he was given asylum by Swiss authorities.

While the seeming change of heart may appear surprising, a serious Jamali said it was the only viable option under the current circumstances if the purpose of bringing harmony to Balochistan was to be achieved.

On the other hand, Hyrbyair — in exile in the UK — has received such offers in the recent past. In February this year, Malik announced that court cases against the dissident would be dropped if and when he returns to Pakistan.

According to reports, however, Hyrbyair spurned the offer because the situation in the troubled province was only worsening. It remains to be seen whether he will be willing to change his mind this time around.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2012.

COMMENTS (8)

Ilyas Khan | 11 years ago | Reply

Why has not this spineless political government enacted an anti-terrorism act defining the parameters of special powers for the security forces to deal with the terrorists and acts of terrorism? Like the anti-terrorism acts to deal with the IRA enacted by the mother of all parliaments in UK. And further acts to deal with post 9/11 terrorism in UK which have curtailed civil liberties. Why dont the law-makers do their job properly rather than leaving the burden of dealing with situation to the security forces?

am i right | 11 years ago | Reply

No point to talk with terrorists, more talks mean allowing them to spread more terrorism.

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