QUETTA: As many as 70 disgruntled Baloch militants, led by a top ‘commander’ of the banned Baloch Liberation Army surrendered before government authorities on Tuesday and announced joining the mainstream and working for the development and progress of Balochistan and the country.

They handed over their weapons to the authorities at a ceremony held at the lawns of the Balochistan Assembly.

The chief of Marri tribe, Nawab Jangez Khan Marri, provincial Home Minister Mir Saleem Ahmed Khosa, senators Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar and Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, Sector Commander of Frontier Corps Brigadier Tasawar and other senior officers attended the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, the senior ‘commander’ of banned BLA, Daran Marri, announced abandoning the armed struggle against the country and said that he had now joined hands with the government and would work for the progress and prosperity of Balochistan and other parts of the country.

He said that so-called Baloch leaders had been using them for decades and they themselves were enjoying a lavish life abroad.

“They pushed us into a dirty war against the state just for their petty interests,” Daran Marri said, adding that he and his group of militants had now decided to join hands with the government and work for the betterment of the people of the country.

He claimed that he and members of his militant group had taken up arms against the state at the behest of Baloch leaders who were at the payroll of RAW and the Indian government.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2018