Balochistan governor Awais Ghani has said the government is ready to open the grave of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti to carry out DNA test for verification but only if it is desired by his family.
He was addressing his first news conference after August 23-26 military action in Kohlu district and subsequent events connected with the Bugti's burial here, Saturday evening.
The governor said after retrieving the body from rubbles, the government had invited Talal Bugti, Jamil Bugti and other family members to take it and offered them protection and all facilities for burial at his ancestral graveyard at Dera Bugti, but this offer was not availed of because of family's internal differences over the place of burial.
Awais said the government does not want to hide any fact from the people, though so many speculative stories are being printed and aired.
"I want to assure that Akbar Bugti's death was not the result of target killing; rather he died because of collapse of his hideout as four army officers-one colonel, two majors and one captain-also lost their lives at the mouth of the cave," he added.
He said he had been personally holding parleys with Akbar Bugti during past two years to solve issues like gas royalty, provincial autonomy, NFC award, etc, through peaceful means.
"Despite his provocative acts, the federal and provincial governments always took a forgiving and lenient view of Akbar Bugti's activities and spared his life though it was not difficult to kill him," the governor pointed out.
He said the President gave clear instruction to deal with these misguided elements through parleys and dialogue as they were also compatriots; that is why a committee of the parliament headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain went to Dera Bugti several times to sort out issues.
He declared amnesty for those, who surrender their illegal arms and ammunition and dissociate themselves from terrorists and saboteurs in the province.
He said those few hundreds living in the farrari camps or associated with the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army are innocent Pakistanis, who have been misguided by the foreign-sponsored enemies of the country.
"We do not want to harm them; rather our effort is to bring them back in the mainstream national life so that they could participate in the nation-building activities and enjoy their life," he added.
The governor said there were 30 farrari camps in the Dera Bugti area which have been eliminated and only 6 out of 15 such camps remain in the adjacent Marri area.
He said during operation against miscreants in Dera Bugti and other places since December last, law-enforcement agencies have recovered huge Soviet-made arms and ammunitions worth billions of rupees, which were sufficient to arm a division or three brigades of the army.
He said these arms and ammunitions were smuggled into Balochistan from Afghanistan and the Afghan government's hue and cry over the military operation speak volumes of its intentions.
The governor also updated the print and electronic media about activities of miscreants and recovery of hidden arms and ammunitions from various places during past eight months till August 31.
The governor said though Pakistan is facing a geo-political storm because of its geographical position, yet the future of Balochistan was very bright and it would play a role in the overall development of the country.
He said completion of mega projects launched by the present government in near future is bound to bring about a revolutionary socio-economic change in the life of common man. But it will also hurt interest of tribal sardars like Akbar Bugti and eliminate their centuries-old cruel system of private justice, jails, economic exploitation and slavery.
"This is the reason why these few Sardars are fighting a losing battle against the tide of history under various garbs, including "rights of the people", he added.
Awais said normal life, including air, road and train traffic between Balochistan and other provinces has resumed and all political parties have called for complete ethnic harmony and peace in the province.
The governor disclosed that smuggling of narcotics, including heroine from Afghanistan has assumed alarming proportions as smugglers are putting nearly $2.8 billion into Afghanistan for poppy cultivation and production of narcotics.
He said the Balochistan government has totally eliminated cultivation of poppy in the province; yet the powerful international smugglers are using Balochistan route for smuggling of 75 percent narcotics from Afghanistan.
=======================================================
SER ACTIVITIES NOS
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Bomb blast 270
2. Indigenous explosive device/mines 120
3. 107 MM Rockets fired 2648
4. Railway track damaged 24
5. Gas installation damaged 21
6. Electricity installations damaged 16
-------------------------------------------------------
WEAPON RECOVERY
-------------------------------------------------------
7. Multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) 1
8. 75 MM recoilless rifle 43
9. RPg-7 rocket launcher 133
10. 82 MM mortar 124
11. 14.5 5
12. 12.7 7
13. Machine gun/light machine gun 169
14. Rifle all types 752
15. Pistols 124
-------------------------------------------------------
AMMUNITION RECOVERY
-------------------------------------------------------
16. Surface to air missile 24
17. 107 MM rockets 924
18. SPG-9 343
19. 6FT rockets 365
20. 75 MM recoilless rifle 387
21. RPG-7 rocket launcher 3280
22. 82 MM mortar 1776
23. AGS-17 2823
24. 14.5 16824
25. 12.7 56276
26. Machine gun/light machine gun 25974
27. Rifle all types 1162995
28. Pistols 4663
29. Hand grenades 4659
30. Explosive 4222KG
31. Anti tank mines 199
32. Anti personnel mines 1165
-------------------------------------------------------
CASUALTIES
-------------------------------------------------------
33. Miscreants killed 112
34. Miscreants injured 63
35. Civilians killed by miscreants mines etc 65
36. Civilians injured by miscreants mines etc 114
37. Law enforcement agencies, killed 69
38. Law enforcement agencies, injured 208
=======================================================