Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech sparking a debate on atrocities in Balochistan by Islamabad has now taken a new turn with top Baloch leader Brahumdagh Bugti seeking political asylum in India. In an exclusive conversation with Times Now on Friday, Brahumdagh Bugti, who is President of the Baloch Republican Party and exiled in Geneva, said, “We requested the Indian government to highlight the situation on an international level; today we are getting asylum in the western world, it is my humble request to the Indian government to open the doors for the Baloch people and the Baloch nation.”
Bugti stated that ever since Prime Minister Modi raised the issue of Baloch atrocities from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi, Pakistan has been rattled. “Balochi people are facing genocide by the Pakistani army in Balochistan. We don’t have any place for refuge. Everyone knows that they (Pakistan) have intensified their operation in Balochistan. They are issuing arrest warrants and threats. And this just because I praised the Indian Prime Minister,” Bugti said in the interview.
Earlier on Friday, reports indicated that Pakistan was preparing to approach the Interpol for a red corner notice against Bugti and Islamabad is likely to press for his extradition to Pakistan. Bugti has been charged with sedition by the Pakistan government after he welcomed the statement of Indian Prime Minister on Balochistan.
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The lineage of Brahumdagh Bugti can neither be ignored by Pakistan nor India. Bugti is the grandson of former Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who also led a rebel movement against Pakistan. Earlier in 2010, Pakistan had asked Kabul to hand him over and Bugti immediately moved to Switzerland for his personal safety appealing for an asylum.
When contacted, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup, who was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hanoi, Vietnam, said, ‘We cannot comment on such issues’. Diplomatic sources, however, confirmed that it was the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which was mandated to grant a political asylum, although in such sophisticated cases it would be the Prime Minister’s Office which would take a final decision in this regard.
Top government sources when asked if the Indian Government would consider such a request for asylum from a Baloch leader said, ‘Why not? We have His Holiness the Dalai Lama. That too from the bigger neighbour. And our another neighbour has Dawood Ibrahim to top it all. The call would be taken at the highest level once a formal request is made, considering all diplomatic and security-related aspects in mind.’
India granted Dalai Lama, the living incarnation of Lord Buddha, political asylum in April 1959 after a fierce Chinese crackdown which led to a Tibetan uprising. Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh became the seat of Tibetan Government-in-exile which functions till date, also known as ‘Little Lhasa’. While over 80,000 people from Tibet followed the footsteps of Dalai Lama and sought exile in India, interestingly, Dalai Lama became a symbol of peaceful resistance against oppression after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. If India could grant political asylum to the Dalai Lama who came from a bigger neighbour, why not a Baloch leader in exile who was made homeless by Pakistan?
In New Delhi, Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, reacting to Brahumdagh Bugti’s demand said, ‘It would be out of turn for me to address the issue directly’. Interestingly, the Minister who hails from the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir did not reject the possibility of an asylum.
‘Atrocities and oppression unleashed by Islamabad in Balochistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) indicate that Pakistan has become an epicentre for terrorism. The irony of the matter is that those who are raising issues of human rights violations there are subjected to further oppression’, Singh said hinting at the latest action against Brahumdagh Bugti by Islamabad.
Bugti’s plea for a political asylum in India has put a diplomatic test before the Indian Government. It would be pertinent to mention that the Swiss Government in Geneva rejected a similar plea earlier this year which had been pending for over five years. Sources indicate that the Pakistani mission in Geneva has been diplomatically putting pressure on the Swiss authorities to not let Bugti reside in Geneva. For now, Bugti’s appeal to the rejection is pending before the Swiss immigration authorities yet again.
New Delhi’s litmus test in diplomacy has just begun and that too from an ally without a nation. With Pakistan’s continuous provocations in the form of cross-border terrorism and raking up the Kashmir issue internationally, it is a challenge before the Indian government to sail smooth against the tide. Will South Block move beyond the confines of diplomacy to grant Bugti asylum?
For the first time, an Indian Prime Minister has reached out to the Baloch people – promising to amplify their voice against atrocities committed by Islamabad in Balochistan. The move has now made Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif jittery, who began a crackdown on Baloch leaders for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big outreach.
As India looks to globally isolate Pakistan, a decision in favour of granting Bugti asylum could hurt the power-centre of Rawalpindi more than Islamabad. Inviting yet another proxy war, leaving the Kashmir pot burning. Yet, isn’t it a risk worth taking to assert India’s domination in the region and show the terror-state a mirror?
For now, India is moving ahead on the policy shift, a step at a time. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B Ministry) has directed the All India Radio (AIR) to produce news bulletins in the Balochi language. Sources say the External Services Division of the AIR has been tasked with finding ways of introducing Balochi language content in news and features, not merely on radio but also broadcast it through the website and social media.
While the wait for asylum may continue, the Baloch people in exile could soon hear the signature tune of Akashvani in a familiar tone saying:
‘Ayy All India Radio En. Ni halaan Balochi’a gosh bedaare..’
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