Brahamdagh Bugti plea forwarded to MHA

The ministry of external affairs has forwarded the request of Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti’s request seeking political asylum in India to the home ministry. Sources said the application was received on Wednesday and now the home ministry will carry out the due process of verification and security checks but the final decision on the issue will have to be a ``political one which would be taken at the highest level in the Government.’’

“We will merely process the application in terms of doing the verification and background check and prepare our report accordingly. But whether Mr Bugti is to be given asylum or not is entirely a political decision,’’ a senior ministry official said.

The asylum will help the Baloch leader get a valid Indian ID as well as travel documents, including a long term-visa, that will help facilitate his movement within and outside the country. The last time an asylum request was granted by India was in 1959 to the Dalai Lama.

Mr Bugti had filed the request seeking asylum with the permanent Indian Mission in Geneva on Tuesday. He had earlier thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Balochistan. “It is a very good move and we are hopeful of India’s continued support,” he had said.

Mr Bugti is the president and founder of Baloch Republican Party. He is the grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader killed by the Pakistani Army in 2006. The Pakistan government had blamed India for helping Bugti flee Pakistan to Geneva in 2010 via Afghanistan.

India does not have a comprehensive asylum policy and even the term “refugee” is not mentioned in any domestic law. India has not signed the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees, or its 1967 Protocol that stipulates the rights and services host states must provide refugees. In case Mr Bugti is not given asylum, the other possibility is that he may be granted a registration certificate which will also help him travel anywhere.