News
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Malik alleges Indian role in Balochistan unrest* Interior minister says FIRs for 80 percent of missing Baloch people have been registered
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday informed the Senate that the government had undeniable proofs of the Indian government’s involvement in sabotage activities in Balochistan.
Malik said he could divulge the information to parliamentarians in an in-camera meeting, adding that those carrying out terrorist activities in the province were trained in other countries and were being provided arms and funding from abroad.
He said the list of missing persons had many dubious names, including some people who were in Afghanistan to receive militant training and some who were in Dubai perpetuating anti-Pakistan activities. He said the issue had been raised with Afghan President Hamid Karazi and Afghan intelligence chief during their visit to Islamabad, adding that both had admitted that around 5,000 Baloch people had taken refugee in Afghanistan.
FIRS: Malik said the FIRs for 80 percent of the missing Baloch people had been registered, with the list that once had over 1,100 names had now squeezed to a couple of hundred names, as a majority of the cases were fake.
He said it was reported that some Baloch people had gone missing, but it was usually found later that those people had crossed the border or got visas of some other country to get militant training. The minister said in accordance with the demands of the Baloch people, the government had abolished checkposts across the province. However, the minister’s claims were confronted by senators from Balochistan representing nationalist parties, who said that the government needed to take up the province’s issues in detail instead of blaming everything on India.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk