Adil Najam
Government sources in Pakistan have just announced that Nawab Akbar Bugti, chief of the Bugti tribe, veteran politician, and senior Baluchistan leader, has been killed in a shootout between “tribal militants and government forces” in Balochistan.
This is very sad and disturbing news that cannot bode well for anyone. While details are still coming in, BBC reports:
The battle near his mountain hideout in south-west Pakistan also caused heavy casualties on both sides, reports say. More than 20 soldiers and at least 30 rebels died, officials say. The octogenarian has been at the head of a tribal campaign to win political autonomy and a greater share of revenue from Balochistan’s gas reserves. “It is confirmed, Nawab Bugti has been killed in an operation,” Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told Reuters news agency. The battle reportedly took place near the town of Dera Bugti, not far from Mr Bugti’s hideout.
According to a newsflash posted on The News website:
Jamhori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a historical operation carried out by security forces in Kohlu and Murree tribal areas on Saturday night, Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani confirmed… Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) leader Makhdoom Amin Faheem termed Akbar Bugti’s death an incident which could worsen security situation in Pakistan.
The death, and the manner of death, of the veteran Baluch leader will indeed worsen the security situation in Baluchistan and exacerbate the feeling of marginalization amongst Baluchis. Nawab Bugti had, at various points in his life, ‘butted heads’ with just about all major leaders in Pakistan. His recent standoff with the Musharraf government was not the highpoint of his own political career but it may well be the lowest point of the Musharraf rule. However, more than the implications on immediate politics – which will become more clear and more pronounced over the next many days – this marks a tragic end to the life of an important political leader.
Born on July 12, 1927, Nawab Bugto was a ‘ tribal’ who was educated at Oxford, England, Aitchison College, Lahore and Karachi Grammar School and has served as Governor and Chief Minister of Baluchistan. Mr. Bugti’s legacy was clearly a mixed one and will be much debated and much dissected. He was, however, a major leader and this was indeed a sad and tragic way to go.
Cowasjee paints quite a true picture…and not only of Bugti…
http://dawn.com/weekly/cowas/cowas.htm
I think PatExpat touches on exactly what the main problem is with Pakistan at the moment. While Musharraf ans the people immediately around him seem to have genuine intentions, they have allied with criminals and thugs in some places. In Sindh, for instance, they have basically handed over control to a band of known terrorists.
Consider this. Those of you who’re in the U.S. know of the Tom Delay controversy and how a number of wealthy business-owners contributed to the Republican party in violation of some campaigh finance rules. After news of this started spreading, the main figures in the Republican party basically cut off all connections with those people in public and probably in private as well. Now, it’s not like the Republicans didnt know these things were not legal…but the point I’m trying to make is that stuff like this happens all of the time and STILL they had the shame to at least try to hush it up.
Now, let’s look at the current governor of Sindh. After he “won” the “elections,” there were pictures of him celebratng and exchanging mithai with the likes of Altaf Hussain and other known, convicted assassins.
We seem to have forgotten what our earlier military misadventures cost us. Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan led us to the seperation of East Pakistan, Zia ul Haq gave us Heroin, Klashinkov and Sectarian Violence. Musharraf has been here for only 7 years but he wants 5 years more. I don’t know how much more can this country take and what sort of legacy will he leave us? The way things are progressing, it appears it wont be any better than earlier ones.
We miss no chance of downplaying our politicians. But we should remember that its always our military rulers who have done the most damage with 1965, 1971 and Kargil misadventures.
If Umera is afraid of walking out in Karachi when MQM calls a strike then whose fault is it. Obviously Musharraf when he has appointed a convicted murdered as the governor of province and he talks to biggest traitor of this country “Altaf Hussain” personally when MQM ministers were about to resign. Bugti may have talked a lot but he never had such plans as Jinnahpoor etc like the MQM.
And if we think that killing/murder/martyrdom of Bugti settles the issue, we are mistaken. Smaller provinces are already seething againt the control of centre and army. And the current event has just made things worse.
He was a terrorist. He was a murderer, sabouteor and what not. All terrorists must die. End of discussion.
Azad Khan,
no one here is saying that Pakistan’s government is excellent. However, your comment about heritages and such is misdirected I think. There are many ethnic groups in Pakistan and there is undoubtedly a lot of inequity in terms of resource distribution. But, that does not mean that every group should break off and create their own country…if we follow that logic, then there simply is no end…people will come up with more and more ways to divide themselves.
I happen to be Sindhi and I personally know a lot of families who are Baloch-Sindhi “hybrids.” A lot of their people speak both languages, etc etc. So I disagree with the notion that Pakistanis do not have a national identity….you would have to try very hard to categorize these people as Sindhi or Baloch. And I’m sure there are similar examples that apply to all provinces.
Some people use the same argument to say that Pakistan should not have been created in the first place. I disagree with that notion completely because of a LOT of reasons that I need not go into here.
I actually like the provincial/federal system quite a bit. The problem lies in the enforcement of the law.