Modi not first to talk of rights violations in Balochistan: Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not the first to raise concern over the situation in Balochistan, Congress said on Tuesday, insisting that the UPA government had consistently spoken about the “spiralling violence” and “heavy Pakistani military action”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not the first to raise concern over the situation in Balochistan, Congress said on Tuesday, insisting that the UPA government had consistently spoken about the “spiralling violence” and “heavy Pakistani military action”.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, centre, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not the first to raise concern over the situation in Balochistan.(Sonu Mehta/ HT File Photo)

“(The) Congress and UPA government have condemned the human rights violations in Balochistan as also in PoK by Pakistani forces and establishment on multiple occasions in the past,” party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, noting that the first time the UPA did so was on December 27, 2005.

Besides, he said, none less than the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in reply to a parliamentary question on March 2, 2006, categorically condemned the spiralling violence in Balochistan and heavy military action, including use of helicopter gunships and fighter jets by the Pakistan government to suppress the people of province.

Earlier, in the wake of the reported killing of 50 Baloch people in Pakistani army action, a spokesperson for the external affairs ministry had expressed hope that the government of Pakistan would exercise restraint and take peaceful recourse to address the grievances of the people of Balochistan, Surjewala said.

His statement came a day after the Congress appeared to be speaking in different voices on the issue and the AICC even distancing itself from the remarks of senior leader Salman Khurshid on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day address.

Congress termed Khurshid’s remarks as “his personal view”.

Read | Modi’s remarks will give Pakistan reason to make arrests, crackdown on Baloch

In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Monday, Modi spoke about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Balochistan, and said the people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.

Noting that Modi must realise the “folly” of the BJP and its leadership in opposing the Congress and the UPA earlier, Surjewala said the Prime Minister needs to have a sense of history and must thank his predecessor Singh, instead of indulging in self-praise and self-promotion as he did in the Independence Day address.

“Rhetoric from the Red Fort and headline management by PM Modi is fine but he needs to tell the nation about the BJP government’s actual ‘Pak policy’ that leaves even the most vocal supporters of Modi completely confused and bewildered,” he said.

Surjewala said that in August 2006 the UPA had spoken about the unfortunate killing of veteran Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, describing it as a “tragic loss” to the people of Balochistan and Pakistan. It had underlined the need for a peaceful dialogue to address the grievances and aspirations of people of Balochistan, noting that “military force can never solve political problems”, he said.

Besides, he said, a reference to Balochistan also appeared in the joint statement dated July 16, 2009, at Sharm-el-Sheikh when Pakistan “conceded for the first time” its role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack as also recognised the overwhelming evidence handed over by India.

Read | Modi targets Pak abuses in I-Day speech: Walking Baloch talk will be tough

“It is a different matter that the BJP, which was then in Opposition, had bitterly attacked Manmohan Singh, the then PM, and the UPA for compromising India’s position,” he said, adding even at that time, Balochistan leaders had thanked them for raising the issue.

Raising a number of questions about the Prime Minister’s remarks, Surjewala wondered how he proposed to take the issue of human rights violations in PoK and Balochistan further.

“Has the Prime Minister raised the issue of these human rights violations even once in bilateral talks with Pakistan over the last 24 months?” he asked.

He questioned if the government would take it up now either in bilateral dialogue or at another international forum.

Claiming that Modi’s “flip-flops” on Pakistan have become legendary, he said suddenly the Prime Minister and his government have started speaking in a different language without following up on the issue of punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks in Pathankot, Udhampur and Pampore.

Surjewala said the Prime Minister should immediately take stock of the alarming situation in Kashmir and provide the much-required healing touch.

“The Prime Minister, who even indulges in the symbolism of observing Diwali in Kashmir, has not found time to visit J-K even once, although 65 people have died and nearly 3,000 injured since the latest episode of unprecedented violence in Kashmir Valley,” he said.