Rights activists urge India to grant asylum to Brahamdagh Bugti

Expressing solidarity with the people of Balochistan, human rights activists in Kolkata on Friday urged the Indian government to grant Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti political asylum.

President and founder of Baloch Republican Party, Brahamdagh Bugti's application seeking political asylum in India was on Thursday received by the Home Ministry, which said it was examining it.

The activists also urged the Union government to take up the issue at the world forum and expose the gross violation of human rights by Pakistan in Balochistan.

"We want to register our protest against the alleged genocide and gross violation perpetrated by ISI and its allies against the residents in Balochistan," Joydip Mukerjee, the General Secretary of the All India Legal Aid Forum, said.

"We give our moral support in their fight against the unprecedented tactics of eliminating peace-loving citizens of Balochistan under the leadership of Brahamdagh Bugti, who is in exile and seeking an asylum in India," he said.

"We feel that India should raise the issue at the world forum so that Pakistan can be exposed and this gross violation of human rights can be stopped. We also feel that India should give asylum to Bugti," he said.

Bugti is the grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader killed by the Pakistani army in 2006.

The Pakistani government had blamed India for helping Bugti flee Pakistan to Geneva in 2010 via Afghanistan.