QUETTA: The Balochistan government has got released women and children related to leaders of banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) from the custody of the Frontier Corps, Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said on Friday.
Three women and four children — family members of BLF’s chief Allah Nazar Baloch and commander of BLA Aslam Achou — were arrested last month from the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman while traveling illegally into Pakistan. “Security forces had detained four women and three children from Chaman on October 30. Later on, it transpired that the women and the children included wife and daughter of BLF chief Dr Allah Nazar,” Bugti told a news conference. “The other women included sister of Aslam, alias Acho, commander of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) who was killed in a security operation, and wife of Dileep, another leading commander of the BLF,” he added.
“Today, the security forces handed over all the women and children to Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and we have released them … Allah Nazar’s wife left for Karachi with his [Allah Nazar’s] brother Mehrullah,” Bugti told reporters, adding that all women and children had been released in keeping with the Baloch traditions. “We are not ones to target women and children,” he said. “We released them in accordance with our tribal customs.” He denied reports doing the rounds on social media about the mistreatment of the arrested women. “I have met the women and I am assuring you that they were treated with full respect and honour in accordance with the Baloch traditions,” he said. The minister said that during investigation, it was revealed that the women were involved in distributing funds to the banned outfits – BLA and BLF. “Despite committing crimes of illegally crossing border and distributing funds among terrorists, the government treated them with respect,” he said. “This is the difference between them and us. They are killing our women by planting landmines but we present their families and women Balochi shawls and pay them respect,” he said. “There are many families of terrorists living in various cities of Pakistan and we are personally aware of their whereabouts but we are true Baloch, unlike Allah Nazar, Hyrbyair Marri and Brahamdagh Bugti.”
Published in Daily Times, November 4th 2017.