Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has accused the government of committing genocide of Baloch people in their province through the armed forces. “As a war has been imposed on Baloch people, they have every right to defend themselves against the onslaught by the government forces.”

He maintained that it was the responsibility of the United Nations to play its due role in a situation where a country’s armed forces are indulged in eliminating their own people. In this situation, he added, the people of Balochistan would welcome a UN role if it came out with mediation or monitoring.

Nawab Bugti was speaking at the Karachi Press Club’s Meet the Press programme on the telephone on Sunday.

Describing the situation as ‘grim and serious’, he said that the government had launched a massive operation against Baloch people on the pretext of chasing the ‘miscreants’ involved in a rocket attack aimed against Gen Pervez Musharraf in Kohlu area.

The JWP chief argued that although such attacks on the general had been carried out in the past in other parts of the country, no military operation was carried out against culprits in those areas.

“This indicates that the actual motive for the operation in Balochistan is to usurp the province’s resources.”

He also gave a brief account of the bombardment on Bugti and Marri areas in which many people, including women and children, were killed and injured.

“Their guns did not fall silent even on the occasion of Eid as 12 people were killed in a Bugti area on the first day of the holy festival when security forces carried out a ‘revengeful’ attack.”

The JWP chief claimed that the security forces also refused to hand over the victims’ bodies to their bereaved women, asking them to send their male family members to collect the same.

“The bodies are still with the security forces because the bereaved fear that any male member of such families who would try to collect the bodies would be arrested and killed.”

When he was asked about prospects of any dialogue with the government, he evaded the question, and simply said: “Talks? For what? He also denied that there had been any agreement with the government on vital issues pertaining to the post-March situation.

He, however, spoke of an understanding have been reached in talks with Mr Mushahid Husain on the question of disengagement of forces in Sui area in March under which some check posts had been dismantled.

Nawab Bugti said the situation had totally changed after Dec 17 when the full-fledged army action had been launched in Marri-Bugti areas. The operation, he added, had now been extended to other areas.

He said that according to his information, heavy fighting was under way in Kahan and other Marri areas. Many causalities were being reported, he said, adding that the Marri House was also bombarded heavily on Saturday.15.1.06