NOUSHKI: Baluchs were living in all the provinces of Pakistan and held important positions, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto yesterday [July 31] told a big crowd of Baluchi tribesmen at Noushki. … His statement drew loud cheers. The Prime Minister said besides Baluchistan, where the Chief Minister was Baluch, the Baluchs were also living in various parts of Sind, Punjab and Frontier Provinces.
In Sind, he said, he removed his brother (Mr Mumtaz Ali Bhutto) and in his place brought a Baluch (Mr Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi) as Chief Minister. The Prime Minister further said that in Afghanistan there were two to three lakh Baluchs, while the great majority of Baluchs were living in Pakistan. As such, the Baluchs of Afghanistan should join their brethren in Pakistan. …
Similarly, the Prime Minister told his audience, Pakhtoons were not only living in the Frontier and Baluchistan provinces but a good number of them were also residing in various parts of Sind and the Punjab. Their (Pashtoon) number in Pakistan was about one crore as compared to 50 lakh living in Afghanistan and he remarked: “It is natural phenomena that the younger brother joins the elder brother”. [He] said that the people of Pakistan were homogenous.
Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024
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