Negotiations with Baloch groups: Taking cue from Centre, Balochistan will initiate talks

Home minister claims ‘substantial progress’ in mass graves probe; denies Shazain Bugti’s allegations.

ISLAMABAD:

The Balochistan government is set to take the Centre’s lead and appoint its own intermediaries to initiate negotiations with Baloch insurgents in the coming weeks, according to the provincial home minister.

“Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch will convene an all-party conference (APC) shortly which will recommend modalities for
peace talks with different Baloch militant groups,” Mir Sarfraz Bugti told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview.



On the basis of these recommendations, the Balochistan cabinet will appoint negotiating committees – similar to the one appointed by
the federal government for talks with Taliban intermediaries – to open dialogue with Baloch militants, he added.

Bugti said the APC is expected to adopt a resolution urging all insurgent groups and concerned tribal leaders to join the peace process.

He added that the provincial government was already studying different options to bring the insurgents into the political mainstream.

“The government will use all of its resources to reach out to all insurgents in Balochistan, both those hiding in the hills and those based outside the country.”

The home minister blamed Baloch militants for the mass graves discovered in Khuzdar district last month.

“I am convinced the insurgents are responsible for such a heinous crime… Baloch militant groups, funded by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and other foreign spy agencies, have been involved in such crimes in the past,” he said.

“These ‘separatists’ have used the garb of nationalism to kill hundreds of innocent people who refuse to join them. This bloodshed has also forced over 100,000 people to flee Balochistan,” Bugti added.



While saying investigators probing the mass graves had made ‘substantial progress, the minister refused to divulge any information learned during the investigations. “I cannot disclose details of the investigation since the matter is sub judice.”

Responding to allegations made by Shazain Bugti – the grandson of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti – that the provincial government was preventing thousands of displaced Bugti tribesmen from returning to Dera Bugti, the home minister said the statement was ‘mere propaganda’.

“Both the federal and Balochistan governments have spent millions to facilitate the return of displaced Bugti tribesmen… why would we bar them from returning to their hometown.”

He also disputed the number of tribesmen Shazain claimed had been displaced by the military operation in Dera Bugti. Only 5,000 members of the Bugti tribe were displaced, as opposed to the 178,000 claimed by Shazain, he added.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, however, the number of displaced Bugti tribesmen is much higher than the figure claimed by the home minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2014.