QUETTA, July 5: Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has said that people will retaliate if they are forcibly dislocated from their land and homes in Sui. Speaking to a group of Quetta-based newsmen in Dera Bugti on Tuesday, he said the government was planning to shift the local population from Sui to some other places. “File work is in progress for shifting the local population from Sui,” he said, adding that the board of revenue has been asked to obtain land for the purpose.

He said that according to the plan the people belonging to Mondrani clan of the Bugti tribe would be shifted to Tilimat area some 12 km off Sui while tribesmen of Kalpar clan would be shifted to the “Go” area in the north of Sui township.

He said that the provincial board of revenue had been directed to get around 2,300 acres of land in those areas on nominal rates.

“Shifting of the local population is a programme about their destruction, not their settlement,” Nawab Bugti said and added that the government had also planed to shift the employees living inside the fenced area of the PPL gas plant.

He said that 1,000-acre land was allocated for establishing 100 industrial units in the area while Tilimat would be linked with Kashmoor-Rajanpur and Dera Murad Jamali through rail.

The JWP chief said the plan could be aimed to provide jobs to the people to divert their attention from Sui, which was the main issue. “It is the plan to divide people,” he said, adding that the divide and rule policy was an old tactic of the rulers.

He warned that people would not accept their dislocation forcibly and they would resist any such move.

Replying to a question, he said that the rulers in Islamabad were planning to launch another military operation in Dera Bugti to achieve their goal, which they failed to achieve in the March operation.

He said that presently around 12,000 to 13,000 troops including regular army were deployed in Bugti area while Punjab and Sindh Rangers were also sitting at the borders of Bugti area.

Replying to another question, the JWP chief said that the government was trying to make Baloch as “Red Indians”.

Regarding his idea of single Baloch party, he said that nobody had shown interest accept Balochistan National Movement and some factions of the Baloch Students Organization. “Some Baloch having wisdom welcomed the idea,” Nawab Bugti said.