Brahumdagh says no Pak government contacted him for negotiated solution

Baloch Republican Party (BRP) exiled leader Brahumdagh Bugti has revealed that he “inherited over $100 million” from his slain grandfather Nawab Akbar Bugti.
In an exclusive interview with this correspondent, Brahumdagh Bugti said baseless propaganda has been spread against him but he proudly said that he “doesn’t need to get money from here and there to afford my lavish lifetime”.
“Let me clarify it that I don’t need help from anyone to afford my lifestyle and our work in Balochistan or elsewhere. I am not a poor man. I inherited over $100 million from my grandfather. Not a single penny of this amount is the proceeds of crimes or corruption. It’s legitimate money. It’s not the loot. There is not a single case against me on Pakistan on account of financial corruption and my grandfather was never accused of corruption either,” said the exiled Baloch leader who has been living in Zurich for nearly five years now but still hasn’t got the passport. Brahumdagh is brother in law of Mehran Baloch, Balochistan’s representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) who is also heir to the late Baloch leader Nawab Khair Bux Marri.
Brahumdagh said that it normally takes up to twelve years to get the Swiss passport but he believes that the Swiss government doesn’t want to do anything which upsets Pakistani government. “The Swiss government never told me anything officially but I come to know of it now and then that they are sometime not very happy with us as they don’t want state-to-state level relations marred,” said Bugti who had around 50 people from his tribe and party living with or around him in Geneva and Zurich.
Brahumdagh stressed that the BRP is a political party which believes in dialogue to solve the issue of Balochistan peacefully. “However, nobody has contacted us so far for negotiations or dialogue on the issue of Balochistan. We heard that the PML-N government is trying to resolve the issue of Balochistan like the PPP government but it’s a lie. I have come to know of the government making approaches to us only in media, in over 5 years nobody has contacted me at any level.”
On the question of making a united Baloch alliance of nationalist parties, Brahumdagh said that BRP is a political party which can join with other political parties of Balochistan like Balochistan National Movement or Akhter Mengal’s BNP but in a dig at UK-based Baloch leaders Hyrbyair Marri and Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Khan Dawood, he ruled out joining hands with “individuals who don’t represent any party”. Brahumdagh said he didn’t think that Khan of Kalat is the “representative of Baloch people”.
“Who gives Khan of Kalat the right to call himself the leader of Baloch people? Which party does he represent? Does he even have a programme for Balochistan and its issues? We think that he is closer to the establishment than the Baloch people. We believe in engaging with the political parties who work on the ground, not those who want to usurp Baloch resources for their own sake.”
He said such individuals can make any deal with the government or their representatives but will make no difference on the ground. He, however, accepted that Baloch parties have made mistakes and have been unable to deliver. “There are many internal problems we face. There are many factors behind this and one of these is also the involvement of the establishment. It’s important that we learn lessons and make better decisions.”
Brahumdagh Bugti has been busy holding meetings of his party in several European cities but believes that the United Nations is “not the right forum for raising the issue of Balochistan” as it has been a “useless exercise so far”. He said that he meets representatives of various countries and updates them about the situation in Balochistan but Brahumdagh added that these representatives express their sympathy but in the end there is issue of diplomacy and “state relations” and we are realistic that states make decisions in their national interest.
Brahumdagh said that he has no personal clash with the state of Pakistan but believed in standing for the rights of Baloch people. He said that he will have no issue if the people of Balochistan wanted to live within the framework of Pakistani constitution.
“We are working peacefully at many levels. We are against forced disappearances and extra judicial killings. We work all the time to highlight rights violations of our people who get targeted illegally. I would like to ask the Pakistani government to allow media and NGOs to work freely in Balochistan.”
Brahumdagh said that he faced relentless propaganda to discredit him but he assured that he has not received funding from any foreign country for his movement. “The money that I have is not looted money for sure. Swiss banks are full of the looted Pakistani money and all of those who have stashed their money in these banks are from the ruling elite of Pakistan. It’s a known fact. Alhamdullilah I have never been involved in corruption or underhand deals.”
Brahumdagh said that he was against the exploitation of Baloch resources and wanted local control over the rich resources of the province. Brahumdagh Bugti lives in Zurich with his wife, mother and three children. He is most of the time accompanied by his loyal assistants Azizullah Bugti and Sher Muhammad, who joined him after the Baloch leader first left Afghanistan for Switzerland.