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BUGTI, a Baluch tribe of Rind (Arab) origin, numbering about 15,500, who occupy the hills to the east of the Sind-Peshin railway, between Jacobabad and Sibi, with the Marris (a cognate tribe) to the north of them. Like the Marris, the Bugtis are physically a magnificent race of people, fine horsemen, good swordsmen and hereditary robbers. An expedition against them was organized by Sir Charles James Napier in 1845, but they were never brought under control till Sir Robert Sandeman ruled Balochistan. Since the construction of the railway, which completely outflanks their country, they have been fairly orderly.
The region was largely under Iranian Royalty control and the autonomous principality of Kalat. The British wrested control away from the Khan of Kalat in the early 1840s and it became the staging ground for the various Afghan-British wars (the Great Game) in the later half of 19th century. The 1876 treaty between the Khan of Kalat and Robert Sandeman accepted the independence of the Kalat as an allied state with British military outposts in the region. After the 1878 Afghan War, the British established Balochistan as a provinicial entity centered around the municipality of Quetta - Kalat, Makran, and Lasbella continuing to exist as princely realms. The British interest in the region was largely to use it as a land-mass bulwark against Central Asian encroachments. Besides a train track, the development and settlement of British holdings excluded most of the tribal population. The administrative and legislative reforms of late 19th and early 20th century India overlooked Baluchistan.
Around the 1930s, Baluchi nationalist parties emerged to contest for freedom from British rule. They took the princely state of Kalat as the focal point of a free and united Baluchistan. Iqbal's vision of autonomous federation of Muslim state included Baluchistan but the Khan of Kalat never brought into the Punjabi nationalist paradigm, arguing that the Kalat had special treaty powers. Baglar Begi Khan declared the independence of Kalat on August 15, 1947. He assured the neo-state of Pakistan that Kalat will participate in the defense and infrastructure but will be autonomous. That didn't go over well at all and the Pakistani army entered the region to occupy the area immediately.
On Mar 27, 1948, the Khan of Kalat gave in to the State of Pakistan and his old attorney Mohammad Ali Jinnah. His brother Prince Abdul Karim Khan refused to surrender and revolted until his arrest in 1950. Balochistan was put under Governor General control and no elective body formed in Balochistan 1973.
After Partition, the threat of East Pakistani hegemony (55% of population at the time), forced the military and civil elite to consitute West Pakistan as One Unit in the 1956 Constitution. This was done presumably to guarantee equal representation for West Pakistan but the measure was highly unpopular in Sindh, Balchistan and NWFP because of their regional interests.
Anti-Punjabi Sentiments
Separatist, sub-national movements triumphing local languages and cultures and protesting Punjabi hegemony arose in all the three states. Especially in Balochistan, the Khan of Kalat led a stringent opposition to the One Unit. But the wave of military dictatorships quashed all such designs. In 1970, Yayha Khan dissolved the One Unit to appease East Pakistan but the horrific damage done by the army in soon-to-be-Bangladesh proved too much.
After 1971, the sub-nationalist movements in Sindh and Balchistan demanded their fair share of the nationalist pie. With Bangladesh's independence, Punjab became the most populous and richest state in the country. It had 58% of the population while Balochistan had 4%. Led by Bhutto's central populism, Baluchistan had its first elected body in 1972. The National Awami Party won the majority of the seats in Baluchistan and started making noises about state rights. In 1973, it was clear to the (NAP) that Baluchistan was the least developed province with the majority of civil and military bureaucracy coming from Punjab. They, quite correctly, saw this as a colonial exploitation. The discovery of natural gas reserves at Sui had made the area incredibly vital to Pakistan and Iran's developmental programs. The refusal by the Bhutto's central government to allow NAP internal autonomy escalated a tense situation into an outright revolt. Bhutto dismissed the Baluchistan assembly and re-instituted Governor's rule. The Balochi nationalists launched an all-out military resistance.
Balochistan Resistance
From 1973-1978, roughly 60,000 Balochi tribesmen and militia mainly belonging to the Marri and Mengal tribes faced off against the Pakistani army. Iran, eager to quell any similar uprising in its bordering area, contributed airforce and personnel to the Pakistani efforts. They bombarbed Baluchi villages into submission.Surprisingly Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti supported the Government.Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's ouster, via Zia ul-Haq's military coup, forced a calm onto the situation as Zia launched into his One Pakistan Through Islam program. The Afghanistan war, the Iranian revolution and the Zia's policies made Balochistan into an island of outsider activity. US-UN aid for Afghani refugees poured into the metropolitan areas. During the 90s, the Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif governments did little for Baluchistan as the Balochi nationalist parties floundered in exile.
Sui Gas Incident
Presently General Pervez Musharaf tried to foster new relationship with Balchistan. Over the last three years, the Kachhi Canal, Mirani Dam, Gwadar Port, Makran Coastal Highway, Saindak Copper Project and Quetta Water Supply Scheme were announced by Islamabad. Over 300 percent increase was made in the national budget for development programs in Balochistan.
Calls for Balochistan's equal share in the national programs and right to self-administer have reached their peak in recent days due to the sexual assault on a female doctor, Dr. Shazia Khalid, by a gang of employees of the PPL at Sui. The company management, along with the local police, tried to quash the issue while the central authorities ignored all pleas to intervene. This caused the initial attack on the Sui facility. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the leader of Democratic National Party Balochistan, clearly stated that the attack was borne out of frustration on the lack of action against the employees who did the assault and was not a nationalist struggle for freedom by the tribals.
These tribal actions and the military response in Balochistan can be understood within the context of the acrimonious central-regional relationship in Pakistan. The rights of states, the rights of minorities, the rights of individuals are all negotiated within the vaccum of Islamabad military power-brokers. Having no access to that, the aggrieved parties find no alternative except violent struggle.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawab_Akbar_Khan_Bugti"
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