On Independence Day, PM Modi said leaders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan had thanked him.
Highlights
- 5 cases, including one of sedition, registered against 3 Baloch leaders
- Crackdown comes after Balochistan Chief Minister Zehri's comments
- Zehri said India "fully supports" the insurgency in Balochistan
Pakistan has taken legal action against three top Baloch leaders who had allegedly backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima, a senior police officer said.
In Paris, exiled Baloch leader Munir Mengal said, "Baloch has been seeing this side of Pakistan for 70 years. Pakistan has sometimes tried to lure us by promising rewards and sometimes assaulted us". PM Modi, he said, had made the remarks on humanitarian grounds.
The crackdown came after Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri, in a speech last week, said the Indian government "fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan". His speech came days after exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti showed appreciation for PM Modi's words. A video of Bugti's statements is still being circulated on social media in Pakistan.
In Delhi, Mazdak Dilshad Baloch, who has come to garner support for the Baloch cause, said PM Modi has taken a "huge step" by referring to the "humanitarian crisis" in Balochistan. Other world leaders, he said, should follow his example.
On Independence Day, PM Modi in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, said people from Balochistan had thanked him for highlighting the atrocities by the Pakistani state on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
His comments came as a marked change from India's earlier policy on Pakistan. Tension between the two countries has spiralled since the shooting of terrorist Burhan Wani by security forces on July 8 and the subsequent unrest in the Valley, in which more than 60 people died and 5000 have been injured. As Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif eulogised Wani, India said Pakistan had exposed its support of terrorism.
Pakistan said PM Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan and asserted it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at next month's the UN General Assembly session.