Baloch leader says Pak using India's name to divert attention from real issues in Balochistan

New Delhi, July 23 (ANI): A senior Baloch leader has said Pakistan is using India's name to divert attention from real issues in Balochistan, and rubbished Islamabad's claim of New Delhi playing a leading role in fomenting unrest in Balochistan.

He also emphatically stated that this is an "age old tactic" promoted and projected by Islamabad.

"Balochistan is in Pakistan, not in India It is not a border area and, blaming India, is Pakistan's old tactic," Samad Baloch, the general secretary of the Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC), told ANI over phone from London.

He also said that Islamabad's claim of a diplomatic victory in Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt, by securing the mention of Balochistan in a joint India-Pakistan statement for the first time, would be neutralized in due course by leaders of the Baloch nationalist movement.

He said the situation in Balochistan is of Pakistan's own making, and added that the country's armed forces were using every weapon at their disposal, including chemical weapons and helicopter gun ships, to kill and maim innocent Baloch civilians.

"These are the same weapons which are provided by the allied (NATO) forces to fight against terrorism in Afghanistan," Samad Baloch said.

Stating that there is widespread resentment in Pakistan's largest province over the huge large influx of Punjabis, Samad Baloch said locals often call Balochistan a colony ofakistan Punjab.

He also said that there is widespread disappointment over the disappearance of Baloch nationals.

According to Samad Baloch, a majority in Balochistan feels that countries like India and Iran should come forward and rescue them from Pakistan's clutches.

"We would like India or any other country to support the Baloch cause. They should come forward to help us in our fight for fundamental rights. We wished India were helping Balochistan. Our condition would have been much better," Samad Baloch said.

On Pakistan's accusation that Indian consulates in Afghanistan are being used to funnel money and weapons into volatile Balochistan, Samad Baloch said: "Pakistan is hiding its own sins. These consulates have been in Afghanistan since 1950. Countries will keep their consulates." By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)