QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Wednesday told the provincial assembly that no individual or group could be allowed to take up arms and kill innocent people under any pretext, as he addressed the recent wave of violence that disrupted parts of the province late last month.
He argued that attempts were being made to frame militancy as a reaction to lack of development, a reasoning he rejected. He said uneven development existed across the country and questioned why violence was not witnessed elsewhere on that basis.
His remarks came about ten days after coordinated attacks on January 31 paralysed several districts for days. Security forces later said 216 militants were killed in a follow-up action named “Operation Radd-ul-Fitna-1”.
Speaking on the floor of the house, the chief minister said there was a troubling “confusion” in how terrorism was viewed in Pakistan, which he linked to propaganda narratives that, in his words, sought to create distance between the state and young people in Balochistan.
Bugti maintained that the authority to use force rested only with the state and could not be claimed by any group in the name of grievance or ideology. He warned that efforts to rationalise violence were dangerous and risked pushing the Baloch youth into what he described as a futile conflict that would only result in further bloodshed.
The chief minister also claimed that militant groups sought to carve out a separate state based on ethnic identity and were using a combination of violence, social influence and digital platforms to advance their agenda.
Referring to the National Action Plan, he said it provided a consensus framework to treat terrorism as a national threat, but added that acts carried out in the name of “so-called nationalism” were sometimes viewed differently in public discourse.
On the question of dialogue, Bugti said he remained open to talks but drew a line at engaging with those who continued to attack civilians and security personnel.
He said he had repeatedly urged opposition members in the assembly to take the lead if they believed a political solution through dialogue was possible, adding that meaningful talks could not take place “through the barrel of a gun.”
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