M A I N   N E W S

Bugti killing unfortunate
Military can’t solve political issues, India tells Pakistan
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28
India today described the killing of Baluch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti by the Pakistan army as “unfortunate”.

“Military force can never solve political problems”, said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs this afternoon.

It said the continuing Pakistan military operations in Baluchistan underlined the need for a peaceful dialogue to address the grievances and aspirations of the people of Baluchistan.

The following is the full text of the Indian reaction: “The unfortunate killing of the veteran Baluch leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, is a tragic loss to the people of Baluchistan and Pakistan.

This military attack in which two of his grandsons were also killed, and the heavy casualties in the continuing military operations in Baluchistan, underline the need for peaceful dialogue to address the grievances and aspirations of the people of Baluchistan. Military force can never solve political problems.

“Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti played a prominent role in Pakistani politics for over four decades. His death leaves a vacuum that will be difficult to fill”.

The cautious and remarkably restrained Indian reaction suggests that the government has chosen to merely register its view and not ruffle Pakistani feathers.

It also keeps alive hopes of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the margins of the NAM summit in Cuba a fortnight later to break the logjam.

Pakistan did not take too kindly when India expressed its concern over the situation in Baluchistan last year.

Mob defies curfew, goes on rampage in Baluchistan
K.J.M. Varma

Islamabad, August 28
Defying curfew, supporters of the slain Baluch leader Nawab Akhtar Bugti today went on the rampage in Quetta and other cities of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province targeting government buildings, banks and business establishments. At least three nationalist law-makers along with 600 protesters were taken into custody as the paramilitary forces lobbed teargas shells and fired into the air to control rioters.

A child was killed and eight persons were injured in Pasni town, south-west of capital Quetta, reports received here said.

Shops, educational institutions and business establishments remained closed in all major cities of the province in response to a general strike called by local leaders.

Rioters ransacked government offices, banks, a national airline office, a hotel and set ablaze several shops in Quetta, Gawadar and Pasni. A mob torched the regional office of the government-run National Bank of Pakistan in Gawadar.

Curfew was imposed in Quetta for an indefinite period last evening and heavy contingents of police and Frontier Corps personnel were deployed in different areas. Areas across Baluchistan province, Sindh and Karachi, inhabited by large sections of Baloch people, presented a deserted look.

“The Police has arrested 600 protesters in Quetta on charges of attacking government buildings and vehicles,” reports quoted a senior police official as saying.

At least 45 vehicles, scores of shops, banks and government buildings were ransacked or set on fire.

While two bombs exploded in Kalat, a device was planted in a building of Nadra that went off, destroying its offices. A hand grenade was hurled on a telephone exchange. District offices of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League were set on fire in the towns of Pasni and Gawadar.

Meanwhile, Bugti’s relatives claimed that his grandsons, Nawabzada Baramdagh Bugti and Nawabzada Aali Bugti were alive and safe.

The government said that Bugti’s body would be handed over to his family as and when it was found from the rubble of the cave. Nationalist groups have announced 15 days of mourning. — PTI

Pak calls it interference

Islamabad, August 28
Strongly rejecting India's comments on the killing of Baluch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Pakistan today said New Delhi’s “ill-advised” concern amounted to “blatant interference in the internal affairs” of a neighbouring country.

Hours after New Delhi said Islamabad should address the “grievances and aspirations” of people of Baluchistan through dialogue rather than military force, Pakistan Foreign Office said India should rather focus on putting its “own house in order” and do the same in its areas afflicted by insurgencies. — PTI

BJP condemns killing of Bugti
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28
Condemning the “cold-blooded murder” of Baluch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and scores of other people by the Pakistani military establishment, the BJP today said it was intrigued by the Government of India’s silence on this gross human rights violation.

“The killing of Bugti and his supporters in the army operation was a case of gross violation of human rights by Pakistan which was seeking to take up the issue of anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir as human right violations,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told newspersons here.

Replying to a question, the former Union Law Minister said the BJP did not feel that commenting on such crude killings was an interference in the internal affairs of a country because Bugti was a former Chief Minister and a former Governor of the province and could by no stretch be compared to a terrorist killed in an encounter.