Bugti had asked for it | DesPardes.com

Akbar Bugti had asked for it. He always thrived on blackmail. This time he raised the stakes too high�and lost.

He was a frog that believed his well was an ocean. Within days of the fall of Dhaka in December 1971, he declared that "Pakistan will cease to exist within 18 months." He hoped Indira Gandhi would come to his help to create another country and make him its king.

He had to wait 35 years before an unholy alliance emerged to help him realize his dream. The intelligence agencies of the U.S., India and Afghanistan conspired to destabilize Balochistan, with each having its own objective. The U.S. wanted to create enough chaos to prevent our government from stopping covert operations into Iran if and when the Americans decided that the time had come. (Iran has many of its nuclear installations near our border to keep them as far away as possible from Israeli air strikes.) India is always keen to create trouble for us whenever it can. And anybody can rent the Afghans.

Methodical response: Big money poured in. So did weapons. Akbar, along with Marris and Mengals, formed "Balochistan Liberation Army" and hired mercenaries for subversive activities all over the country, mostly in Balochistan. A strong media campaign was started to project the subversion as a "struggle for the rights of the oppressed Balochis." The hired guns in the media and politics raised the specter of "another Bangladesh." The sky was about to fall�or so they claimed.

Rather than taking any knee-jerk action, the government moved methodically. It traced the sources of money and weapons and started blocking them. The farari camps were demolished as soon as located. India was given a message that it was a game that both can play.

The turning point came when conclusive evidence of subversion was shown to the U.S. President during his visit to Islamabad. The American intelligence was reined in, fearing that Taliban could be given a free hand if it was not done. The Indians received a few spectacular messages that forced them to back off. And Hamid Karzai stopped his adventurers for fear of serious consequences.

The sabotage activities, which the New York Times correspondent in Kabul glorified as "civil war," started petering out. (However, the money and the weapons in the pipeline continued to work at a low level). Akbar read the writing on the wall. He was too arrogant to surrender but also had little hope of any success. So, he prepared his exit strategy.

Murderer fears death: Akbar, a cruel and murderous person, found it easy to kill others. (He committed his first murder when he was just 12 and killed many more afterwards. He was also jailed for one.) But he did not have the courage to face death himself. If he had an element of bravery, he would have stayed right in his home in Dera Bugti and declared that he was not going anywhere, even if he was killed. His escape to nearby mountains was just bravado and an attempt to create a positive image in the media, particularly abroad.

It is significant that he moved into a secret hiding place near Kohlu, many kilometers away from his home area. It is also significant that he had with him 100 million rupees and 96,000 dollars in cash and two satellite phones. The money was not for his mercenaries because he could not handle personally the day-to-day operations over a vast area, nor could he allow many people to visit him for fear of exposing his secret hideout. There was nothing else to buy in the desolate desert.

The only possible use of the money for Akbar could be to buy his way out of the country. (The sons of Saddam Husain, when they were killed, also had a million dollars in cash with them in their hiding place in Mosul. They too wanted to buy their way out, to neighboring Syria.)

Akbar was waiting for his men to arrange for his escape to the Makran coast and from there in a launch to the long coast of Oman, where he could get refuge. (Oman owned Gwadar until 1958 and has a substantial Baloch population. It has very close relations with the U.S. and U.K.)

Oblivious to difference: Our media and politics have the largest number of warped minds among all professions. They are oblivious of the difference between somebody being anti-government and anti state. Opposing the government is perfectly legitimate activity. (In that case too, strikes, processions and other disruptive activities for political purposes are not permissible in any democratic state). Violence in any form, destruction of vital installations, bomb blasts in urban areas and attacks on security forces are anti-state actions, not political activities.

Akbar had been anti-state all his life. He never did anything that could be interpreted to be in the national interest. He boycotted the use of the national language for quite some time only to show his hatred for the nation. He became the Governor and later the Chief Minister of Balochistan only for selfish reasons. As Governor, he did not resign in protest against the military action by Z A Bhutto in his own province. Instead, he gave it his full support because he wanted his bitter rivals, Marris and Mengals, to be crushed.

His always used rebellious behavior and violence to blackmail the successive federal governments for money, besides satisfying his enormous ego. (This money was never spent on the welfare of his people.) However, to camouflage his selfish motives, he would talk of "the rights of the Baloch people" and "the provincial autonomy." The weak-kneed federal governments would give in and he would end up getting more money and benefits.

What "rights," what "autonomy?" By "the rights of the Baloch people," he meant that all natural resources in the province belonged to the Balochis. Now, nowhere in the world the provinces own the natural resources. Even an individual finding something in his own land has to surrender it to the national government. It is always the national government that exploits the natural resources in the interest of the entire nation. (If we go by his logic, Punjab should own all major rivers because they happen to pass through it and other provinces should pay royalty for every drop of water they take. The reality is that the other provinces do not allow even storage of river water in the Punjab and produce electricity from it.)

The natural gas in Balochistan was the major source that Akbar claimed belonged to his province. The payment of royalty on this gas (as well as electricity in NWFP) was the result of sheer blackmail�again for money. Bhutto had no MNAs of his party from the two provinces and hence could not give credibility to his constitution without the support of NAP that was in majority there. (Akbar too was a part of it.) NAP asked for royalty and Bhutto readily agreed. (After all, it was to be paid mostly by the Punjab, being the biggest consumer, for whom he had no love, despite coming into power primarily with its support.) Is it not curious that royalty is paid only on two natural resources and that too despite the fact that the federal government makes entire investment on production and distribution of gas and hydel electricity?

As for the provincial autonomy, the smallest provinces (NWFP and Balochistan) could get it right when the constitution was being discussed. They could ask for the deletion of the Concurrent List that gave legislative powers jointly to the federal and provincial governments so that the provinces could get all powers in the list. But they were more interested in money than autonomy. Hence they settled for royalty.

Up against a strong will. Akbar Bugti had always succeeded in his blackmail. Bolstered by the money and weapons from the intelligence agencies of the U.S., India and Afghanistan, he raised the ante too high. He might not have much hope of success in secession, but he certainly intended to drive a very hard bargain for more money and perks, with a high hope of success. (Zafarullah Jamali, as Prime Minister, had rushed to Dera Bugti to pay his respects, while others were also keen to placate him.)

However, he failed to realize the determination of the man he was up against. You can reason with President Musharraf. You can convince him with your arguments. But there is just no way to challenge him and expect the former commando to back down. Akbar had to surrender and give up his anti-state actions before he could ask for anything.

The chain of events. What happened during the last days of August can be understood if we ignore the distortions and hallucinations of the warped minds. The facts are reasonably obvious. According to newspaper reports, Akbar was out of touch with his favorites in the media for the previous two weeks, after leaving for his secret place.

On August 23, two helicopters were on a reconnaissance mission in the area. Akbar's guards got panicky, fearing that their sardar's hideout had been discovered and they were now under attack. They fired heavily and one of the helicopters was damaged. Another helicopter was sent to the spot to confirm the existence of a farari camp. It got still stronger fire and was also damaged. That led the law enforcement agencies to conclude that there was "a high value target" there and they decided to take ground action. (It is also possible, as a theory goes, that the Marris finally took their revenge for his excesses against them by exposing Akbar's location with their firing.)

On learning from persons outside that Akbar was inside the cave, the army officers sent a Bugti guide in. Presumably, he informed Akbar that he was surrounded and that army officers wanted to talk to him. Realizing that resistance in this situation would be futile and an exchange of fire would end in his certain death, he agreed to let them in. It was then that the army officers entered the cave. Before going in, they obviously ensured that there was no firing from their side because that would have endangered their own lives.

There was no reason to kill Akbar Bugti. The law enforcement agencies knew quite well the likely consequences of his death. If there ever was any intention to kill Akbar, it could have been done long ago. When journalists and politicians were going on sponsored visits to him, it was not difficult at all to locate and kill him. So, his arrest from his cave would have served the purpose by destroying the morale of his mercenaries. Why get the blame for the murder of a 80-year-old sick man already nearing his end? Moreover, Bhutto was enough of a lesson for all times.

By sheer coincidence, the cave collapsed precisely when the army officers were just inside it. Some explosive device in the cave detonated accidentally. The officers, as well as those on the other side, were all killed. As an expression of poetic justice, the very land that Akbar claimed as his own, buried him alive.

Why do the warped minds not accept a plausible explanation of what had happened? If they do, they cannot blame the government. And they thrive on accusations, criticism, cynicism. No wonder, they twist, distort and misinterpret whatever does not suit them. It is not surprising that they have been calling the rebellious acts of Akbar as "political activity" and clamoring for negotiations with him. They do not realize that no government talks to the openly rebellious. There are never negotiations and no compromise with those who go for sabotage and subversion. No state treats the secessionists kindly.

What next? What will happen next? The doomsayers have a standard mindset; they always predict "more of the same" because they presume things to remain as they are. The hired hacks will continue to cry hoarse in protest for some more days. The petty politicians will continue to fish in dirty waters, egged on by Akbar's family that has been banished by its own tribe. Then calm will prevail, with the remaining mercenaries also surrendering.

Meanwhile, the process of big changes will continue. The reality is that Balochistan is already transforming itself. Among many others, there are three major developments:

a) Law and order. The sardars will no longer control law and order and the judicial system, as they had been doing since the British colonial period. They used to recruit levies that served as their police and would decide cases the way they liked. The police and courts used to cover just 5% of the province, called A area, while the rest was B area. President Musharraf is the first ruler to have the determination to enforce the writ of the government all over Balochistan, which is almost half of the country's area. Under a phased plan, over half of the districts are already in A rarea. The rest will be covered soon. Sardars will no longer control life and property of their tribes.

b) Development projects. The major highways, starting from Gwadar in all directions, are opening up the province, facilitating internal movement for isolated tribal people, promoting trade, (especially regional), making easier the exploration for oil, gas and other mineral resources and increase industrial development. Then there are mega projects worth Rs 135 billions. As a result, there will be jobs many times more than the entire adult population of Balochistan.

c) Agriculture. A large number of small dams are being constructed, with a total water storage capacity twice that of Tarbela Dam. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of presently barren land will come under cultivation. Those who have been nomads and shepherds for centuries will become farmers for the first time.

The current developments will bring about the greatest transformation of the region where Mehergarh was the first cradle of civilization 10,000 years ago. The tribal system, with champions like Akbar Bugti, will find itself in the dustbin of history. And the petty minds that talk today of "nationalities" will meet the same fate as that of the Soviet Union that had inspired them in the first place. As for the countries that conspired to support the insurgency will have back home far bigger problems than they had tried to cause for us. But that is another story.

The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not reflect those of DesPardes.com

Have Your Say >

Alamzeb Khan, Peshawar, Pakistan
I do not have any sympathies for Bugti or for NAP but the article is surely a govt. sponsored one. The writer has made every endeavor to please the Govt., Musharraf and Punjab.

Waqas Ahmed, Paris
Sir, I am an engineer in France Telecom, and I am actually from Baluchistan. I am in total agreement with you on what you have written, you got to see how these culprits used to move around in Quetta -big machine guns installed in front of Bugti's residence- in order to believe the backwardness of Baluchistan and the damage these warlords have done to our country. President Mr. Musharaf is doing great in starting up this clean-up mission, I hope it doesn't stop here, there are many more culprits who are sucking the blood of our country. I congratulate you on writing such a wonderful article.

Crystal Davidson, USA
This article shows same sick mentality of PUNJABI-PANAHGIR right wingers or of their stooge that represent sick establishment of Pakistan. In other words exploiter of other Pakistani nations i.e. Sindh, Baloch, Seraiki and to some extent Pathans. Pakistan belongs to every one, not to rightwing Pubjabi-Panahgir who want to impose themselves and their language over others. You exploiters , leave Pakistan alone.

Aftab Alam Advocate (High Court) Swat, Pakistan
Bugti was anti Islam, anti Muslim, anti Pakistan, anti Pukhtun, anti cousins, anti poor, anti Baloch, anti Pakistanis, anti democracy & anti humanity. Thus by making him (Bugti) history, President Musharraf made history! It will coach manners to all the anti Pakistani elements, whether they are in clerical lot or in secular pack. President Musharraf's name shall be written in gold, given his policies in Balochistan for liberating the poor masses of Balochistan. Let the opposition bark, the caravan shall advance forward.

E-mail it to:Articles@despardes.com

Muhammad Abd al-Hameed is an IT specialist, a consultant on information and telecommunications technologies in Lahore, Pakistan.

Other article by same author:
In Defense of Punjab

DesPardesPicks

@ desistore.com
--Quran Ki Azmat Aur Uss Ki Bunyadi Talimaat
--If I Am Assassinated by Z A Bhutto
--Heera Mandi Ki Dar Pardah Saqafat
--Muslim Showers
--Indus Journey by Imran Khan
--Gandhi's Passion -Stanley Wolpert
--More..

@ amazon.com
--Jesus, Last King of Kashmir