Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti addressed the issue of terrorism in the province on Wednesday, asserting that no one was allowed to take up arms and kill innocent people.

He made this statement while addressing the Balochistan Assembly, around 10 days after a spate of attacks on January 31 brought parts of the restive province to a standstill for several days. Security forces responded to the attacks by killing a total of 216 terrorists during “Operation Radd-ul-Fitna-1”.

Speaking about terrorism today, Bugti said there was, unfortunately, “confusion” on the issue in Pakistan. He linked this “confusion” to the use of “propaganda”, which he said was used to create distance between the state and the youth of Balochistan.

Moreover, he claimed, “a forced narrative has been created against Pakistan that is purely based on perceptions and devoid of reality”.

The minister decried that terrorism in Balochistan was linked to the lack of development in the province, adding that the problem of “unparalleled development” existed across the country.

Why were arms not being taken up elsewhere, the CM said, adding, “How are you rationalising violence?”

Again criticising the linking of terrorism with the lack of development, he remarked: “The monopoly of the right of violence is only with the state [sic]; be it whichever state in the world.”

The CM then emphasised that no one was allowed to take up arms and kill innocent people on any issue.

He said that those involved in terrorism in Balochistan wanted to “break the country and create a nation state on the basis of Baloch identity”.

Bugti further said the aim behind the creation of such a nation state was to employ it for the use of three “tools”.

“The first tool is of violence, the second is of social manoeuvre and legitimate voices, and the third is of social media,” he outlined, without elaborating any further on this.

Bugti said that the “Baloch are being pushed towards a futile war. What can be gained of this futile war except for bloodshed?” he said, reiterating that he “feels that attempts are made to rationalise violence”.

“This is very dangerous,” he added.

The CM said that the National Action Plan was the most important document after the Constitution. In the NAP, he added, terrorism in the name of religion had been recognised with consensus as an act of terrorism.

But, he continued, “terrorism in the name of so-called nationalism is treated differently”.

The CM said that as far as the prospect of dialogue was concerned, “what will be the end result? What do you want from it?”

He said he had requested the opposition in the provincial assembly multiple times to “take the lead” if they believed a resolution was possible through dialogue.

“I, on behalf of the state of Pakistan, am ready to talk. But I cannot talk to those who are talking to us with the barrels of guns, those who are killing us, those who are killing our innocent children, those who are killing our innocent teachers, our doctors, our policemen and our security forces.”