KARACHI, Sept 13: Terming the demise of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti ‘a great tragedy’ for Baloch people, Prince Mohyuddin Baloch, a former federal minister for communication and commerce, said on Wednesday that his killing was a turning point in the history of politics in Pakistan.

“It was a well thought-out target killing aimed at terrorizing the Baloch nation so that they could not raise their voice for their due rights,” he claimed.

The Prince, who is a scion of Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, leads the Baloch Rabita Ittefaq Tehrik (BRIT), was speaking at a meeting of his organisation where the situation arising out of the killing of Nawab Bugti in a military action was discussed.

A press release issued by the organisation noted with serious concern the “gruesome murder” of Akbar Bugti, and claimed that it was a planned and well-thought killing which was evident from the use of highly sophisticated weapons in the military action.

The Brit believed that the motive behind the assassination was to terrorise the Baloch nation and crush their movement for national rights.

Prince Mohyuddin, who chaired the meeting, observed that Baloch people had always been denied of their rights and this fact had been recognised by the president and prime minister.

Though the government had constituted a parliamentary committee to address the grievances of Baloch people and remove the sense of deprivation prevailing among them, it was using delaying tactics vis-a-vis implementation of the committee’s recommendations. He described the government’s attitude as part of a bigger game.

Being fully aware of this dirty game, Akbar Bugti had been establishing contacts with other Baloch nationalist parties for the formation of a single Baloch party, the Prince told the meeting.

He claimed that the government got unnerved by Bugti’s move and resorted to launching a character assassination campaign to discredit him. At the same time, he added, it started military build-up in Dera Bugti, where he had been targeted twice. Bugti had been forced to leave the area and take refugee in mountains so that his killing could be camouflaged, he further claimed.

The Brit chief observed that the tragic incident of Kohlu had shocked every Baloch individual, and vowed to accomplish the mission for which Nawab Bugti laid down his life. He declared that killers of Nawab Bugti would not go unpunished and everyone involved in this heinous crime would be held accountable soon.”