Indian PM Modi's pictures waved during protests in Balochistan

Days after Baloch leaders' in-exile hailed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for highlighting the atrocities committed on their people by Pakistan, the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) activists showered praise on him while holding the Indian flags and his pictures in their hands and vented their ire against Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri for declaring Brahamdagh Bugti a traitor.

Holding the pictures of the Indian Prime Minister, late Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and his grandson Brahumdagh Bugti, the protestors, including children, with their faces covered raised slogans against Islamabad and also burnt Pakistan's national flag.

The protestors raised slogans against Zehri for declaring Bugti a traitor for thanking the Indian Prime Minister for making references to Pakistan's mistreatment of Balochistan and the atrocities meted out to the people in the region.

Challenging Zehri, one of the protestors dared the former to visit the Quetta market without security.

"Zehri said that Bugti cannot even assemble 50 people. We want to tell him that Bugti lies not just in the hearts of just 50 or 50,000 people, but over 50 lakh people. If you are a man then we challenge you to come to Quetta market leaving your security then we will see if you are a Baloch or not. Thousands of Baloch people are ready to sacrifice their lives just on Bugti's one gesture. But Zehri makes such statements just to satisfy and please his bosses," he said.

"He should stop seeing us as slaves. Then he will get to know who is in majority. I want to tell him that Baloch people are with Bugti," he added.

The protests have been going on for the past four days in Sui, Dera Bugti, Jafarabad and Nasirabad among other locations in Balochistan province.

Speaking on his country's 70th Independence Day, the Indian Prime Minister signalled a distinct hardening of posture against Pakistan by raising human rights violations in Balochistan and PoK.

He said that the people of PoK and Balochistan had thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses by Pakistan's security forces.

The Prime Minister's comments were criticised as "crossing a red line" by the Pakistan Government, a charge rejected by New Delhi.