QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti declared on Wednes­day that the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan will soon meet the same fate as the Kurdish movement in Turkiye, asserting it is an India-backed conflict driven by self-interest rather than a fight for rights.

Mr Bugti addressed a large crowd celebrating Youm-i-Jashn-i-Fatah (Victory Day) at Railway Hockey Ground. Provincial ministers from PPP, BAP, PML-N, and other political leaders were present.

“The conflict would ultimately end with the victory of the Pakistani state,” Mr Bugti said, questioning the narrative of “certain self-proclaimed leaders who label the conflict a national struggle”.

“What kind of national war involves pushing ordinary Baloch into a futile conflict?” he asked.

He warned: “If the Bal­och nation does not reflect today, the realisation will eventually come that innocent people, labourers, and Baloch were killed merely on suspicion of being informants. This goes against the traditions of the Baloch, Pashtoon, and the people of Balochistan.”

“The longer this continues, the more innocent lives will be lost,” he added.

Mr Bugti criticised cla­ims that “Punjabi agents are being targeted”, asser­ting that “in reality it is innocent travellers and labourers who are being murdered. These actions have no place in Baloch history. These are not representatives of the Baloch cause; they are terrorists killing Pakistanis.”

He reiterated his call for militants “to return to the national mainstream”.

“Everyone saw what happened to your masters on May 9 and 10. Their arr­o­gance was crushed. If they faced such conseque­nces, imagine your fate,” Mr Bugti warned the ins­urgents. “The state hasn’t even fully engaged in this conflict yet. When it does, it will act with the same force it demonstrated on May 9 and 10 — and nothing will remain of you.”

Mr Bugti further said that on May 9 and 10, the “Pakistan armed forces dealt with India in a manner witnessed by the world”. Addressing those he termed India’s proxies, he warned that “if the state can inflict such destruction on an adversary nat­ion, it can completely eliminate its enemies within”.

The chief minister asserted that the people of Balochistan “are not only brave and honourable, but also stand with Pakistan like a solid wall”, and have “resolved that no ideology will be imposed on them through violence”. He claimed the “Modi government had assumed Pakistan was weak and vulnerable, but the Pakistani forces thwarted all its nefarious designs”.

Mr Bugti paid tribute to martyred soldiers, saying “their sacrifices would never be forgotten”. He condemned an attack on a PPP convoy on Sariab Road, vowing that the “killers of the martyrs would be brought to justice” and assured of government support for their families.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2025