Indian authorities will soon grant exiled Baloch leader Brahumdagh Bugti citizenship, Pakistani television channel Geo News reported on Friday. Bugti’s main associates, Sher Muhammad Bugti and Azizullah Bugti, will reportedly be granted Indian citizenship too. Bugti founded the Baloch Republican Party, banned in Pakistan, that has been fighting for freedom and against alleged human rights violations in Balochistan, The Times of India reported.
Officials said negotiations for the leader’s Indian citizenship reportedly began much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of human rights abuses in his Independence Day speech. A Baloch Republican Party official said, "We will use Indian papers to travel around the world to campaign against Pakistan and to highlight our case. We have openly thanked Narendra Modi for his support and we are no more hiding anything." He added that they had "no other option" and that they did not care what their opponents thought of their support for Modi.
Bugti had earlier claimed that Islamabad was putting pressure on the Swiss government to deny his application for citizenship. He fled the country after his grandfather and nationalist leader Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in 2006. Officials said Bugti’s formal application for citizenship will be submitted by September 19 after his meeting with his party officials.
An official said, "India has facilitated Dalai Lama against the pressure from a powerful country like China. It helped Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. It will help Brahumdagh and his colleagues as well. Brahumdagh has asked for Indian citizenship for himself and all his colleagues." The official added that there are 15,000 Bugtis stuck in Afghanistan and around 2,000 are in various countries including European countries. Their asylum applications have been either approved or are in process, he said.
The leader had said his party was ready to engage in dialogue with Islamabad, but maintained that it would not compromise on its movement seeking freedom from Pakistan.
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