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Balochistan Watch: They want to knock me down, says Bugti

By Sarfaraz Ahmed

“They (troops) have entered Dera Bugti and Sui in big numbers,” Sardar Akbar Bugti tells me on the phone. “They are coming to our areas in big numbers for the last five days and they are repositioning themselves in Sui and this time they plan to encircle us,” claims Bugti, who has not stepped out of his native Dera Bugti for the last five years. At 80, Bugti terms this ‘development’ the second round of action against him by Gen Musharraf.

“It was a pre-planned attack (by the security forces) and I was their target. They wanted to knock me out...,” Nawab Bugti had told Daily Times in an interview at his Dera Bugti residence last July about the clashes that took place between the law enforcement agencies and his tribesmen resulting in the death of 15 people following an attack on gas installations in Sui in January. Sui was already in the grip of simmering tensions because of the rape of a doctor there. The Bugtis had accused an army officer of committing rape, a charge vehemently denied by the army.

The situation was normalised following hectic efforts by Chaudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussain who immediately rushed to Dera Bugti to hold talks with the Sardar in this respect. They were able to affect a ceasefire and 16 FC morchas and pickets were removed along with those by the Bugtis tribesmen.

Monday evening, Akbar Bugti was speaking from Dera Bugti, an area which is so far tranquil and peaceful, but in Turbat, three people were reportedly killed when a locally-made device exploded in a house. Those three, according to the police, had been planning to carry out some terrorist activities. Turbat and adjacent areas are said to be in the grip of violence where some unidentified people attacked an FC convoy last week. Little known organizations like the Baloch Liberation Army and the Baloch Liberation Front have accepted responsibility for the attack on paramilitary forces.

The Balochistan scenario has presented a highly depressing picture for the last three years. While the three Sardars—Mengal, Marri and Bugti—-have shown little or no signs of reconciliation, the government seems to have lost interest in appeasing these Sardars any longer. For example, a sub-committee formed by the parliamentary committee on Balochistan under Mushahid Hussain completed its work last May with regard to the clearance of gas royalty arrears, abolition of the Concurrent List, the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, provincial autonomy and the development of gas rich areas. However, another sub-committee, which is more important than the first one and which is headed by Senator Wasim Sajjad, has apparently failed to carry out its task of addressing constitutional issues with a view to suggesting required amendments in the Constitution. The government, it seems, has adopted a “carrot and stick” strategy. This may be because of the rejection of the government’s economic package by the Balochistan parties known as Baloch ‘nationalist’ parties who reportedly continue to support the perpetrators of terrorist activities in the length and breadth of the province. The present government policy on Balochistan seems to be a denouement in which the fate of the three Sardars in particular is explained or settled.

When asked whether he had been maintaining contacts with Gen Musharraf’s close aide Tariq Aziz, Sardar Bugti says that Mr Aziz came to Dera Bugti last year. But for some time, there’s no contact with him. “Maybe, they’re very busy because of the earthquake, “ he opined, adding “and we are also busy out here”.

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