KARACHI, June 25: Nawabzada Jamil Bugti alleged that chemical weapons had been used in the assassination of his father Nawab Akbar Bugti during a military operation in Balochistan.

He was speaking as chief guest at a conference attended by Baloch intellectuals, writers, journalists, advocates, political leaders representing different schools of thought and student leaders. The theme of the conference was ‘Karachi Baloch: Social Economic Problems’.

The meeting, chaired by Salman Murad Baloch, was organised by the Karachi-based Baloch Unity Conference (BUC), a non-party political forum, formed by Baloch political activists belonging to different schools of thought. The event was held in Malir on Sunday evening.

Criticising the policies of the US government, Mr Bugti claimed that sophisticated arms being supplied to Pakistan by the US were used against the Baloch people in Balochistan, saying that as a result of military operations in the province several hundred people had been killed, injured and more than 8,000 people had been kidnapped, confined illegally or abducted by the government’s secret agencies but the US by describing the situation as an internal matter of the country was not uttering a single word against these actions.

In his first public appearance in Karachi after joining the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Mr Bugti severely criticised the establishment’s policy towards the Baloch population of the country, saying that the Baloch were being subjugated and treated as slaves. He also accused the establishment of usurping the oil and gas reserves and coastal resources of the province and being bent upon turning the majority into a minority.

The JWP leader said that the Baloch people would never accept the minority status in their own land and would fight till the recognition of their due rights. He urged the Baloch people to shun their petty differences and work for greater unity.

Deploring rampant poverty and illiteracy among the Baloch population, he also stressed the need for promoting education among the Baloch people in Karachi and other parts of the country, saying that in the modern era only literate people could fight for their rights and independence.

The National Workers Party (NWP) Secretary-General, Yusuf Mustikhan, accused the rulers of implementing the US global agenda in Balochistan.