Handling Balochistan
No death in the world is a cause for celebration. Given the present geo-political and domestic circumstances, Nawab Akbar Bugti’s reported demise is a moment of extreme concern for the nation. Riding a camel he left Dera Bugti holding aloft a rifle as symbolic of his revolt, it was pure showmanship and he well knew how to exploit the media. He exchanged the camel for a “4 by 4” jeep a mile or so down the metalled road. Akbar Bugti’s followers were certainly targetted, he was scrupulously left alone to avoid his being killed, this has now come to pass more by accident than by any design. The location of the caves he was residing in was well known to the authorities, Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan could have got him anytime during the past year or so. In the emotive circumstances availing, announcement of such deaths at the hands of security forces have to be carefully crafted. Indeed what was the need to do so without recovering his body? Mohammad Ali Durrani can grandstand for his two bosses, what he says as Federal Minister for Information cannot be delivered like a speech in Nishtar Park. The national forum is not a “Pasban” pulpit, Durrani’s display of his “more loyal than the king” posture can adversely affect the destiny of the nation.
Educated by Baloch standards (though certainly not in Oxford), Akbar Bugti lived a dual personality Dr Jekyll – Mr Hyde existence. An urbane autocrat in the drawing rooms of the elite and sophisticated, he was an absolute despot for his tribe, not tolerating dissent and doling out death as easily as one gives out sweets. A self-confessed murderer at the age of 12, he boasted killing over a 100 of the recalcitrant Kalpar sub-tribe in one gory period alone. Twice convicted under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for murder, the first time in 1961 for slaying a close relative, he was shrewd and cunning, his immediate family was all that he really cared for. Cruel to even his dedicated followers, many more hated him than those who loved him. Bugti commanded fear among the Baloch, an irony of fate is that he may well become in death what he tried but could not be in life, a cult hero for the Baloch. His demise will be held up as martyrdom by the ignorant and/or the motivated.
Would any country in the world permit his private army, the arsenal putting third world armies to shame? Among the weapons recovered by FC over the year, 25 surface-to-air missiles, 65 RPG-7 Rocket Launchers, thousands of small arms and over a million rounds of ammunition, over 2 tons of explosives (with 2000 detonators) and nearly 750 land-mines, etc, etc? Are we to condone acts of sabotage and terrorism against the economic infra-structure of the country, approximately 600 bomb blasts, 4000 rockets fired, 130 land mine blasts, 75 or so attacks against gas plants, more than 50 against railway installations? The economic lifeline for industry, Sui Gas is used in 60% of the kitchens in Pakistan. Besides the sufferings of tens of millions, successful sabotage of the plant would have put Pakistan on its economic knees. Whether a government is democratic or dictatorial, they cannot appease the blackmail of one man. From time to time giant-stature aberrations like Akbar Bugti do come along on the national stage, one has to cope with them in the greater national interest. No one can have any satisfaction in the manner he died but Akbar Bugti had gone beyond the pale of civilized behaviour. In open rebellion by his own choice, he revelled publicly in the casualties inflicted on the FC and Army personnel, 43 killed and 100 injured to date, not counting 101 civilian dead and 142 injured. Will some of our politicians shed a stray tear for them?
The casualty figures are officer-heavy as they should be in any special operations, officers must lead from the front. Two army helicopters on routine patrol were fired upon on August 23, 2006, one was severely damaged but managed to return to base. Another helicopter sent to survey the area also sustained damage due to heavy firing. As opposed to only FC responding, a “search and apprehend” operation was then launched by a Special Services Group (SSG) unit with FC in support. Four officers, including the CO (Col Amir Hameed and an FC officer), paid the ultimate price for their country. Bugti’s followers died out of their love (or fear) of Akbar Bugti, what about the precious lives of those who had no personal grievance with Bugti or his followers but died for the cause of Pakistan? What about their adherance to duty “even to the peril of (their) lives?” The tragedy is that they died trying to get Bugti out alive! On the receiving end of ambushes, bomb blasts, land-mine explosions and bomb/rocket attacks on infra-structure installations, etc, would our politicians deny FC Balochistan the right of self-defence? Akbar Bugti and his followers thought they were on a turkey shoot for the last 18 months, inevitable that “the turkeys” would shoot back one day and eventually get him.
Most Baloch areas (as opposed to the more populated Pakhtoon areas) of Balochistan reacted badly to Akbar Bugti’s demise, Kalpar sub-tribe (and others) opposed to him celebrated in Akbar Bugti’s hometown in Dera Bugti. One cannot (and should not) dismiss the violent protests out of hand as a knee-jerk reaction. He did strike a chord for the grievances of the Baloch, the government would do well to exercise maturity and handle the situation with care. Akbar Bugti’s contemptuous treatment of most Baloch chieftains (other than Marri and Mengal) has been conveniently glossed over.
A dialogue did begin after Ch Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain’s meetings with Bugti in 2005. Why did it become “dialogue of the deaf” thereafter? The government has to take their share of the blame of allowing this present situation to come to pass, they must get involved in “constructive engagement” on an urgent basis, viz (1) to defuse the situation and thereafter (2) to alievate the grievances of the Baloch on a long-term and lasting basis. The government has to be sensitive to the intricacies of nationalistic emotions. We have been thrust into another national crisis, mostly because of a newly created “martyr”, but also partly due to the shortcomings of our rulers in not being sensitive to the needs of a small but vibrant section of our population. Have we learnt nothing from 1971?
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