Baloch leader proposes referendum on Balochistan’s future

Quetta - Baloch leader Nawabzada Jamil Bugti has said that a referendum under supervision of the United Nations (UN) should be carried out in Balochistan, to ascertain whether the Baloch want to live with Pakistan or not.

Bugti said parliamentary politics had “completely failed” in Balochistan, adding that the situation in the province was deteriorating with each passing day, with the continuing series of forced disappearance of Baloch youth and recovery of their bullet-riddled bodies.

“Even a single person has not been apprehended for throwing away the mutilated bodies of the missing Baloch youth,” the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

Referring to the target killing of Hazaras, Bugti said that the killing of members of the Hazara community in Balochistan was a failed attempt to divert the attention of people from the “real issues” of Balochistan.

“The Baloch have no scuffle with the Hazara community,” he added.

“The operation in Lyari, a Baloch-dominated area of Karachi, was carried out at the behest of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which itself is the founder of extortionists,” he said, and invited the Baloch to unite on a single platform for their rights.

Bugti said Interior Minister Rehman Malik was “king of liars” and his statements were not worthy to be commented.