News Analysis |
Leader of the proscribed Baloch Republican Party (BRP), Brahumdagh Bugti was dealt a severe blow when the Swiss government rejected his request for political asylum, stating his involvement in “incidents of terrorism, violence and militant activities” as the main reasons. The development came the same day when Hafiz Saeed’s house arrest was ended by a Pakistani court
A furious-looking Bugti took to Twitter to show dismay over the decision. While expressing surprise, he berated Pakistan for dining with terrorists. He tweeted: “I am still the most wanted person in Pakistan while top terrorists like Osama Bin laden, Hafiz Saeed were being protected & facilitated by the Pakistan Army. Switzerland must consider these facts before considering Pakistani allegations against us.”
This issue can further ramp up tensions in South Asia. If anything, granting the asylum will perhaps be a vindication of Islamabad’s narrative on Balochistan. It would be interesting to see how India handles this rather delicate matter.
Bugti is one of the exiled leaders who is challenging the state of Pakistan by the use of force in a bid to secede from the country. Pakistan has expressed its strong concerns of the support that Baloch militancy derives from India, something that was corroborated by PM Modi’s address at the Red Fort last year.
Read more: Kulbhushan Yadav’s death sentence: Has Pakistan pressed the self-destruct button?
Bugti had also applied for asylum in India in January this year. However, the Indian government had delayed a decision in order to assess how bilateral relations between India and Pakistan pan out. With ties deteriorating between the two countries and the release of the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, Hafiz Saeed, the Indian Twitterati has urged India to grant Bugti an asylum.
Asylum is a human right how can they deny to someone whose grand father, sister and niece killed in pakistan https://t.co/4UYO9l7bE7
— salma jafar (@Chiltan) November 22, 2017
Prime Minister @NarendraModi, the Swiss Government has buckled under pressure from China & Pakistan & rejected asylum of Balochistan’s exiled leader #Brahumdagh @bBugti.
Please intervene to save lives and allow Mr Bugti and his followers to settle in India.
cc. @SushmaSwaraj pic.twitter.com/LdH7n3jPfT— ਤਾਰੇਕ ਫਤਹ (@TarekFatah) November 22, 2017
Bugti has asserted that the Swiss government has cowered into Chinese and Pakistani influence. He said:” They[Swiss authorities] also said that there is another strong credible country that is supporting this argument of Pakistan. To my mind, that one country can only be China.”
The revelations of the sentence-to-death spy of the Research and Analysis Wing, Kulbushan Jadhav has given much-needed credibility to Pakistan’s assertions regarding India.
Will India give the asylum especially at a time when there are many reasons to believe its nefarious involvement in subverting Balochistan? The revelations of the sentence-to-death spy of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Kulbushan Jadhav has given much-needed credibility to Pakistan’s assertions regarding India.
Read more: Supporting Baloch insurgency: Where are Indian “high moral grounds”?
Will India play the tit for tat game in a bid to avenge what it calls Pakistan’s blatant support to terrorism? Delhi is miffed at why the likes of Hafiz Saeed are given a free run by Islamabad. This is primarily how both view Kashmiri struggle differently. For Pakistan, it is the legitimate struggle on part of the Kashmiris to attain freedom. While India terms it purely as terrorism.
This issue can further ramp up tensions in South Asia. If anything, granting the asylum will perhaps be a vindication of Islamabad’s narrative on Balochistan. It would be interesting to see how India handles this rather delicate matter.