http://www.khaama.com/karzai-backs-modis-remarks-on-human-rights-situation-in-balochistan-01728
Karzai backs Modi’s remarks on human rights situation in Balochistan
By KHAAMA PRESS - Fri Aug 19 2016, 9:04 pm
- The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai endorsed the remarks by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the human rights situation in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Speaking to a group of reporters during his visit to India, the former Afghan President said India had every right to respond to Pakistan’s provocations.
“Pakistani authorities have spoken freely on Afghanistan and India, but this is the first time that the PM of India has spoken about Balochistan,” Karzai was quoted as saying in a report by The Hindu.
Karzai further added “However I don’t think India intends to go to any proxy wars in the region as it has a tradition of peaceful coexistence. The region should not go to proxy wars.”
Prime Minister Modi brought the issue of Balochistan into the light as he was speaking during the 70th indepence day ceremony of India.
“Today from the ramparts of Red Fort, I want to greet and express my thanks to some people. In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Azad Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude, and expressed good wishes for me. The people who are living far away, whom I have never seen, never met — such people have expressed appreciation for Prime Minister of India, for 125 crore countrymen,” Mr. Modi said.
The reference comes a few days after the Prime Minister vowed to take up atrocities by the Pakistani government in these three areas on the international stage, when he spoke to an all-party delegation about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, according to The Hindu.
Since then, government officials say Mr. Modi had received many messages on social media from Baloch groups and Kashmiris around the world and in Pakistan thanking him for his support.
Repeating the charge against Pakistan on its support to terror groups in Kashmir, Mr. Modi accused the Pakistan government of glorifying terrorists, saying the Sharif government’s actions came in sharp contrast to India’s empathy with Pakistanis over terror attacks there, as after the Peshawar school massacre of 2014, according to the paper.
“On the other side, terrorism is being glorified. When innocent people are killed in terrorist attacks, there are celebrations. How governments are formed through inspiration of terrorism. The world will understand this difference clearly,” he said.