GWADAR: A Baloch nationalist leader, who remained affiliated with a resistance movement for over 20 years, has announced abandoning the armed struggle against the state and joining mainstream politics.

Master Salem Baloch along with some other people of his group vowed to work for the betterment of the country and people.

Official sources said that Saleem Baloch and the other members of his group announced this decision during a ceremony held in the Tump area of Kech district a few days ago. They said that Saleem Baloch surrendered to the authorities and joined mainstream politics. He announced that he and his colleagues would now struggle for rights of the people.

They said that Saleem Baloch was a member of the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).

However, the sources said, a few years ago he had developed some differences with some leaders of the BLF on organisational issues and established his own group called Baloch National Liberation Front (BNLF). Later some of his supporters had surrendered to the authorities and abandoned the armed struggle against the state.

They said Saleem Baloch had later merged his organisation into the Baloch Republican Army (BRA).

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2020