Baloch leader Brahumdagh Bugti has initiated the move to seek political asylum in India, a spokesperson of the Baloch Republican Party told The Hindu over phone from Geneva. Mr. Bugti’s decision to seek asylum in India follows a meeting of his party Baloch Republican Party (BRP), where the decision to shift to India was examined and cleared.
“Baloch Republican Party’s Central Committee has ratified Mr. Bugti’s decision to seek political asylum in India. At the moment, we are concerned about the safety of the president of the party and that is why the decision for political asylum was cleared. We have not yet decided who all will accompany him on his journey to India, but that is up to him decide and the party will volunteer members to accompany him to India as the need arises,” said Azizullah Bugti, former secretary general of BRP, Switzerland chapter.
>The Hindu had earlier reported Mr. Bugti’s decision to seek asylum in India. Speaking over phone from Geneva, he had stated that India should consider supporting his quest for independence for his homeland in the way it supported the Dalai Lama and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Mr. Bugti is grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the patriarch and head of the Bugtis — the largest tribe of Balochistan. Akbar Bugti was killed in a police action by the Pakistani state on August 26, 2006, during the presidency of Pervez Musharraf.
Mr. Bugti escaped the police action and travelled to Switzerland via Afghanistan where he had been living on with an Afghan passport. He told The Hindu that the Swiss authorities had pressured him not to indulge in political activities.
“Mr. Bugti will initiate whatever legal proceedings are necessary for fulfilling the asylum procedure,” Mr. Azizullah Bugti said.
