RAW is funding Baloch militants: PM Kakar

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Monday that Baloch militant organisations were receiving funding from the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for terrorist activities in the country.

“The criminal justice system is not right. They commit 80-90 murders after taking money from India. I announce that they do all this with funding from RAW. Deny that they don’t,” he said while addressing a press conference in Lahore. He was accompanied by Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

The prime minister lashed out at the supporters of Baloch protesters who have been staging a sit-in in Islamabad against the purported enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.

“Those who think that they are right so then join BLA and BLF [banned terrorist organisations] camps so that we have clarity where they are standing,” he said.

The PM addressed those who had called for militants to be presented in courts, saying that close to 90,000 people were killed in the country yet “not [even] nine people have been convicted”.

When asked about the police action against Baloch protesters in Islamabad, the premier acknowledged that it should not have happened. However, he said stones were pelted at officials which resulted in police baton-charging protesters and using water cannons.

He also strongly criticised those who had likened the use of water cannons to the situation in Gaza, which is being bombarded by Israel, adding that such people should introspect and reflect.

“I ask them, are they comparing the Pakistani state to the Israeli state? […] Our quarrel is not at all with the families [of missing persons]. They have come before and protested, are still protesting, and will protest.

“It came to my knowledge that they had a confrontation with the police and that too was blown way out of proportion,” he said. Kakar said that many had thought they could become “heroes” by joining the movement, but added that it was not that simple.

A group of people from Balochistan that has been protesting against the killing of a youth reached the federal capital on December 20. They are being led by the Baloch Yakjehti Council. The organisers of the protest had accused police of beating women protesters and children, an allegation police have denied.

Last month, President Arif Alvi and interim PM Kakar voiced concerns over the mistreatment of Baloch protesters by the Islamabad police.