LONDON: Exiled leader of the banned Baloch Republican Party (BRP) Brahamdagh Bugti has formally asked Indian government to give him asylum and Indian nationality so that he could live in India and move around the world to campaign against Pakistan.
In a world exclusive, Geo News had revealed on 15th of September that Brahamdagh Bugti is set to apply for Indian citizenship and a deal has been reached between the banned BRP leader and the Indian government but the Indian government and the BRP denied the news and said Geo News was carrying a wrong news. Just four days later, the news turned out to be correct and Brahamdagh officially announced that he will apply for Indian citizenship for himself and his family.
This correspondent understands that a key aide of Brahamdagh Bugti reached New Delhi days ago and has been looking after the arrangements. Geo News had reported that Brahamdagh Bugti has been in touch with the Indian establishment for a long time now but the full-fledged cover was blown last month by none other than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, confirming Pakistani view that India has been sponsoring violent terrorist groups in Pakistan including Balochistan. Credible sources have told this scribe that several meetings were held in Geneva in the last few months to discuss various options. Senior officials of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) attended these meetings along with diplomats from the Indian mission.
At a press conference on Monday morning, Brahamdagh announced that he has been given go ahead by his party leaders to apply for asylum in India for himself and family members. "We have decided to formally file asylum papers to the Indian government soon. We will follow the legal process for the application," he told reporters in Geneva.
The News understands that applying for asylum at the Indian mission is only a formality and a deal between India and Brahamdagh was struck several months ago. A top Baloch revealed to The News that “all matters were settled months ago. Brahamdagh Bugti decided to go for the Indian nationality route after realising that the Swiss authorities were making excuses on his asylum case. Indian option has always been there and it’s a known fact.”
He said that at the central executive committee meeting members from across the Europe were invited and all of them unanimously agreed that Brahumdagh should go to India. He said that India has been asked to open doors for all supporters of Brahamdagh Bugti.
When asked how Brahamdagh will campaign against Pakistan, he said that help will be sought from India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and everything will be done against the interest of Pakistan.
“Baloch Republican Party’s Central Committee has ratified Mr Bugti’s decision to seek political asylum in India. At the moment, we are concerned about the safety of the president of the party and that is why the decision for political asylum was cleared. We have not yet decided who all will accompany him on his journey to India, but that is up to him to decide and the party will volunteer members to accompany him to India as the need arises,” said Azizullah Bugti, a spokesperson for the banned BRP.
