Bugti�s death � the saga of a death valley Munazza Siddiqui

Bugti�s death � the saga of a death valley

Munazza Siddiqui

Published on September 06, 2006

The killing of the most prominent Baloch nationalist leader during a military operation in Pakistan�s largest province Balochistan is proving to be a Pandora�s box for the Musharraf government. Not only has it further fuelled the political crisis in the country, it has also sparked a new wave of riots and protests in this impoverished province. 79-year-old Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti had been actively leading a tribal insurgency in Balochistan for the last few months. And now his death is being viewed as the beginning of the biggest political nightmare and apparently a defining moment in the chequered history of Pakistan.

This southwestern province of Pakistan has been in the grips of a low-level insurgency for decades, but the last two years of unrest have seen a dramatic rise in attacks on gas pipelines, railway tracks, security checkposts and government installations. The Baloch rebels, supported by nationalist parties, have been demanding more provincial autonomy and a greater share in the oil and gas wealth of the province. Numerous attempts to negotiate the problem have failed. The rebel tribes, led by the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, have accused the federal government of exploiting the province�s wealth while the government has been blaming anti-state elements as well as neighbouring country India of supporting the rebel movement with weapons and financial aid.

A rocket attack by rebels last December during President Pervez Musharraf�s visit to Balochistan sparked a military operation in the area. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a former governor of Balochistan, had to flee his tribal stronghold and take refuge in a remote cave-hideout. He has been accused of consolidating influence by thwarting government efforts to bring basic health and education facilities to the tribal areas under his control. Besides being blamed for the deaths of dozens of soldiers and policemen, he has been frequently criticised for supposedly operating private jails and maintaining his own army.

Now his killing has sparked riots across Balochistan and in parts of Sindh by hundreds of his supporters. Although the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz has insisted that the military was responding to militant attacks in the Dera Bugti area and that Nawab Bugti�s death was an accident, but the opposition parties -- referring to President Musharraf�s address to the nation on August 20 -- have condemned this incident as an extra-judicial killing. President Musharraf had, in that address, had accused the nationalist Baloch tribal leaders of blackmailing the government and exploiting their own tribesfolk: �I would say that these leaders are not only anti-government but they are also anti-Pakistan. As far as Bugti is concerned he has earned millions of rupees from PPL, the company operating the gas fields in Balochistan, and more than that he has illegally taxed his own people and earned millions more. He forcefully evicted more than 16,000 people from his lands and now the military operation has enabled those people to return without fear.�

However, a leader of the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group, Ahsan Iqbal, is of the view that this incident is reminiscent of the 1971 operation in the former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh: Bullets don�t unite nations, they create hatred. The same thing was done in case of East Pakistan. Bengalis were ruthlessly killed in the name of saving Pakistan. But actually Pakistan was not saved then, it was broken.

"For the past many weeks the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy in Pakistan (ARD), a coalition of opposition parties, has been unsuccessfully trying to bring about a vote of no-confidence against the government. This incident has already started to catalyze the political crisis in the country. A series of nation-wide protests and strikes has been announced by the ARD. Its chairman and leader of Pakistan People�s Party Makhdoom Amin Fahim said: �We have condemned this incident. The target-killing of civilian and political leaders will not benefit Pakistan and it will have far-reaching consequences. We have saying from the beginning that there should be a process of negotiation with the people of Balochistan as equal partners. The government can�t earn respect without giving it first.�

The Pakistani media has also denounced the killing of Nawab Bugti. It is being said that this decision was made by those who are clueless about the forces of politics, history and nationalism. Political commentators have declared his death as the second biggest blunder by the military after the execution of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, as it is likely to further fuel the nationalist movement in Balochistan. A Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal voiced similar sentiments: �Those who think that this incident will demoralise the people of Balochistan are quite foolish in their thinking. People will definitely react with rage but it is early to tell the extent to which their anger will take them. It appears that in some way or the other this country will have to pay for the mistake.�

Voicing the sentiments of Baloch nationalists, veteran politician and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Wazir Ahmed Khan Jogazai said: �The future politics of Balochistan will rest on the dead body of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. This is not a small incident. It�s a great tragedy which should be condemned as much as possible.�

This fiery statement is a testament to the fact that Nawab Bugti�s killing is the unfortunate yet expected outcome of the government approach to tackling the issue of nationalism. It once again underlines the need for political dialogue and non-military solutions to such problems.

The article is forwarded by our MM member Maskwaith Ahsan, the editor, Deutsche Welle Bengali-Programm, Germany.