Islamabad : In a move to pre-empt India, Pakistan has said it will approach Interpol for the extradition of Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti who has sought political asylum in India, a media report said. The Pakistan government has decided to write to Interpol for the extradition of Bugti. “The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will send a formal reference to Interpol within the next few days for the extradition of Brahamdagh Bugti,” interior minister Nisar Ali Khan was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.
Pakistan on Friday warned India that by granting asylum to Bugti, it will become an “official sponsor of terrorism”. Bugti, who has been living in Switzerland, on Tuesday approached the Indian Embassy in Geneva seeking asylum in India and exuded confidence of a positive response from New Delhi.
His application seeking political asylum was received by the Home Ministry in New Delhi which is examining it. Bugti is the President and founder of Baloch Republican Party. He is the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader killed by the Pakistan army in 2006. Pakistan government had blamed India for helping Bugti flee Pakistan to Geneva in 2010 via Afghanistan.
Meanwhile in Houston, Baloch nationalists along with theIndian-American community members staged a protest outside Pakistan’s Consulate here against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Holding placards and shouting slogans against Pakistan for human rights violations, abduction and killings of civilians and rape of women, protestors condemned the recent “dastardly and cowardly act of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack” in Uri.
Many protesters, mostly American Friends of Balochistan activists and Indian-Americans, carried placards highlighting the oppression of minorities, women and children in Pakistan and urged the US government to stop funding Pakistan. A placard held by a soldier described Pakistan as the “Ivy League of Terrorism”.
