QUETTA: Gulzar Imam Baloch alias Shambay, said to be the founder of the proscribed Balochistan National Army (BNA), has offered to help the government and security forces negotiate with disgruntled Baloch militants.

He said that issues can be resolved in a peaceful way as he was presented before media under tight security at Sikander Jamali Auditorium on Tuesday.

Gulzar Baloch was arrested by security forces in a high-profile intelligence operation a few months ago.

He is said to be a founder of the BNA after he merged the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the United Baloch Army (UBA).

Gulzar Baloch says he now realises folly of fighting against the state, claims neighbouring countries using people of Balochistan for ‘anti-national’ purposes

He was produced before the media for the first time on Tuesday amid tight security at Sikander Jamali Auditorium. Provincial Home Minister Ziaullah Langove and Senator Omer Ahmedzai were also present on the occasion.

In his statement, he said: “The path I had chosen for achieving the rights of the people of Balochistan was not the right decision.”

He also claimed that he was involved in dozens of violent terrorist attacks on law enforcement agencies and installations, including attacks on law enforcement installations in Panjgur and Noshki.

He claimed that neighbouring countries were using Baloch people for anti-national purposes. “Now the time has come that the government, establishment, and militants who were [living] in the mountains should rectify their mistakes and play their role for the development of Balochistan,” he said.

As a Baloch, he said, it was his aim to serve the people. During his detention, he said he had the chance to reflect on his past and got a chance to correct his mistakes, realising that a constitutional and legal fight was the only way to secure the rights of the Baloch.

He said that during his captivity, he had held meetings and discussions with Baloch elders and came to the conclusion that the people’s rights could only be achieved through constitutional and political means.

“We started war without understanding the state, which was a painful process,” the ex-BNA commander said, adding that he had lost several loved ones, but had now learnt that the path he was on, was the wrong one.

The BNA founder urged all militants to put down their weapons and join the peaceful fight for Balochistan’s rights. “Stop was-ting your time fighting. Play your peaceful role in the province’s development.”

“Some inimical forces have been using the disgruntled elements as a pressure group, causing harm to the Baloch people and resultantly Balochistan has become a victim of degradation and backwardness,” APP quoted him as saying.

According to the news agency, the BNA militant leader was born in Panjgur district in 1978 and worked as a contractor and a correspondent for a newspaper before becoming a militant in 2009.

He was said to be a deputy to Baloch Republican Army (BRA) leader Brahamdagh Bugti and later, after the creation of Baloch Raj Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), he formed his own militant outfit, the BNA.

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the country and appreciated the security forces over Baloch’s arrest, calling him “one of the most” high-profile militant leaders.

“Congratulations to Pakistan for nabbing one of the most high-profile militant leaders, the founder and head of BNA Gulzar Imam Shambay. My appreciation to the security forces for their untiring efforts to restore peace,” he wrote on Twitter.

He said that the director general of Intern Services Intelligence deserved the nation’s highest commendation for carrying out with great sophistication, the “first of its kind and the most complex” intelligence operations involving various geographical locations.

“Pakistan, especially Balochis­t­­an, is well on the way to peace and prosperity, Insha’Allah. Pakistan Zindabad,” the prime minister remarked.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2023