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.
Imagine a person who have killed so many thousands of people in his own country using army and targetted killing of ulemas etc., can he think properly. Is he able to distinguish between good and bad anymore? 5, 10, 50 or 100 people died does not mean anything to him now? ARD and MMA have already wasted so much time. Lack of proper leadership who can invite people to streets seems evident. Leadership who is afraid of rulers cannot do anything. A movement msut be started earliest to rid Pakistan of this regime and wrong guys be brought to justice.
This is a serious and tragic incident and another one in series of killing being perpetrated by musharaf using army with greyish ulterior motives. Also this seems like another nail in the coffin of pakistan. This clearly was a target killing. It preceded a jirga in dera, demonstrations in islamabad by mundrani people and announcements that people wanted revenge against bugti. Imagine these revenge statements being broadcast from TV. The case was clearly being prepared for something awful we feared was coming. People responsible must be brought to justice. Many army jawans also lost their precious lives for no good cause. Everyone must understand that mentally retarded derainged Mush must be forced to leave as early as possible otherwise he will incur more harm. Somewhere in my heart I wish pakistan is peacefully broken now and balochistan let go because this is not the way to live together. Why should muslims kill other muslims?
Benazir getting her own brother killed…
I don’t approve of everything Benazir did or what Murtaza was involved in especially through the 1980s…BUT, it is naive (and for that matter very convenient) to think that she had her own brother killed. A lot of people think it was Zardari acting on his own and I think that is possible but even that seems far-fetched. Anyone who read reliable news coverage Murtaza’s assassination would not come to this conclusion.
Also, I don’t agree with what Bugti and crew were doing in Baluchistan…but it did seem like the federal government delibrately tried to cast him as a person committing treason or leading a secession.
To be able to move forward, one thing Pakistan needs much more urgently is UNITY amongst all of the provinces and things like these assassinations are certainly not helping in that regard. What Pakistan needs is a leadership that has as little ethnic baggage as possible.
Adnan, the operation in waziristan is just as justified. A few trouble makers in that area can not be allowed to provide a safe haven to terrorsits and criminals. It is high time that the writ of the government is established throughout the nation’s borders.
Fakir, the statements are similar because the crimes are similar. You guys should realize that these trouble making sardars control only a small part of the province. There are dozens of other tribes and sardars in the province. It’s just that these ones are sitting on resources and holding the security of those resources hostage. These are the guys who have been using terrorist tactics within the province and outside and stoping development. Their ‘Baloch Ittehad’ had a 2-point agenda: Stop building new army cantonements and stop new development projects.
A friend of mine said, Today the poor man of Balochistan can start dreaming of better future for his family. I have been waiting for this government to show some resolve for a long time. I hope this trend of dealing with enemies of the state conclusively continues. The other trouble makers and feudals should be sh….ing their shalwars now and seriously reevaluating their politics.
Someone said it well that death should never be celebrated. I place this blame for this situation on Nawaz Sharif. In the 90s he moved the tribes who were neutrilizing the akbar bugti effectively, from dera to multan to please him thus making nawab stronger than ever before. At a much more macro level this was similar to what aurangzeb did by moving the shias from the south (for sectarian reasons) who were neutilizing the marhatas and giving marhatas an open hand. What happened yesterday was coming for a long time. Those who have lived in the interior of the country know that it is about time that these small armies are gotten rid of. That being said, perception is reality and govt. has an issue to deal with here. Time is an interesting dimension in such situations and we’ll see how people look at this issue a week from today.
On a personal note, one of nawab’s wives lived in my vicinity in karachi and he used to come visit her and her son from her while we would play cricket on the street. He was a commanding personality. I remember when he was fighting with the tribes later displaced by NS and one of his numerous sons (Talal I think) was murdered in a karachi hospital; being young for me it was amazing to see the way he took the news.