Akbar Bugti Killed | Bughtis announce end of Sardari system

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Meeh, they'd get over it. Opposition's just creating a lot of Hoo haa to take advantage of the situation while the issue is still hot. Izamam and Hair were a big just a week ago lol the opposition even raised that in the parliament. This would be replaced by the next big thing too.

I sincerely hope so.

It is snowballing out of control.

First the civilians grumbling, then some stray, though important Army voices and now the Army brass............and against whom?..................their very own man, who has not done too badly so far, excepting this issue.

But he has had a conference with his Corps Commanders.

Therefore, much is to follow.

Watch this space!

It is an ill wind that blows!

 

[Srirangan]

If you treat this issue at par with some needless controversy in a game.. sigh! Commitment?

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Actually, I would have taken this as another sad incident and an unnecessary problems that has happened.

However, since there is so much of defence on this thread for what has happened when the facts don't seem to fall in place, that I think it would be wrong not to take up the cudgel.

Notwithstanding, I hope some better sense prevails and this episode is solved with diligence and things return to normal quickly.

Instability will affect the neighbourhood and the world and that is not what is desirable at the moment or even later.

Just an excerpt that is worth noting since it is unnecassarily creating more rifts and confusion.

Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer (DCO) Abdul Samad Lasi showed reporters a pair of glasses, watch and ring after the Nawab’s funeral, saying they were taken off his body. The tribal chief’s son Jamil Bugti, however, told Daily Times that his father never wore a ring. “You can confirm it from anyone who knew him. My father never wore a ring,” he said. He said the glasses also looked suspicious. “The glasses shown on TV were gleaming. Who would believe that they belonged to the Nawab? If my father was killed by being crushed under rubble in a cave, how could his glasses not even get damaged or scratched?” he said. “We still can’t believe that the body buried in Dera Bugti on Friday was that of my father. If it were his body, then why wasn’t anyone, including the media, shown the Nawab’s face?” he said. Jamil said his father’s killing was deplorable, but the way he was buried was even sadder. “It was against human rights. We consider it un-Islamic,” he said. “It was obviously painful not catching a last glimpse of our father and not attending his final prayers, if we are to believe it was he who was buried, but the unanimous decision of the whole family of not going to Dera Bugti also demonstrates the unity in our ranks,” he said. Jamil, whose last contact with his father came on August 22, denied government claims that the Bugti family was divided. “

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\03\story_3-9-2006_pg1_2

Just for my research, if the Jamails were against the Bugtis, then who is this Jamial making such a comment in favour of the Bugti?

But then, the Governor seems to be sensible man

Sunday, September 03, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

Family can dig up body for DNA test: governor

ISLAMABAD: The government is willing to allow the family of Nawab Akbar Bugti to dig up his grave and conduct a DNA test to confirm that it is indeed the body of the slain tribal chief, Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference at Balochistan House, Mr Ghani said the government decided to bury the Nawab in Dera Bugti to prevent further riots in Balochistan. He said there was a dispute between the tribal chief’s sons over where to bury him, so the government decided to quickly bury him in Dera Bugti in the presence of tribal elders. Bugti’s body was not shown to the media because it was badly mutilated, he said. He also claimed that security forces had had several opportunities over the last few months to kill Bugti, but had not because they had instructions to take him alive. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\03\story_3-9-2006_pg1_3

But isn't it un-Islamic to distrub the dead and exhume the body?

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Sunday, September 03, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

Bugti’s killing strengthens Baloch separatist urge

ISLAMABAD: Baloch nationalist leaders believe that their survival lies in separation from Pakistan and the time has come for a “decisive battle”. “Now there is no choice but to get liberation from Pakistan. The time has now come to fight a decisive battle,” MNA Rauf Mengal of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) told Daily Times. The nationalists’ longstanding demand for independence gained strength with the killing of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, and his subsequent burial against his family’s wishes. Rauf Mengal said the actions of the “Punjab-dominated establishment” and its “political cronies” had led the people of Balochistan to lose any hope that their problems could be resolved through political dialogue. The nationalists do not believe the government’s story that Bugti was killed accidentally in an explosion in his cave hideout. “The cold-blooded murder of Bugti will never be forgotten,” Mengal said. “Now every Baloch is a member of the BLA” (Balochistan Liberation Army), he said. Nationalists also mocked the federal government’s claims it is developing Balochistan, saying even the hometowns of pro-government sardars Jam Muhammad Yousuf and Yar Muhammad Rind lacked basic infrastructure. “Water is a precious commodity in Balochistan. The roads and education and electricity infrastructure is inferior to the other three provinces,” Rauf Mengal said. Former Balochistan chief minister Akhtar Mengal agreed that the Baloch people wanted “liberation” from Pakistan, because of the establishment’s “decades of atrocities”. He alleged that security forces used chemical weapons against Bugti, and the fact that the government buried his body without showing it to anyone lent credence to this claim. He made similar allegations at a press conference in Quetta on Saturday. Dr Abdul Hai Baloch said General Pervez Musharraf appeared to be following in the footsteps of General Yahya Khan in East Pakistan. Baloch hatred of the armed forces was at its peak. He urged opposition parliamentarians to resign and launch street protests to rid the country of military rule. shahzad raza
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\03\story_3-9-2006_pg1_4

Sparten,

This runs counter to what you have said that the Mengals and Marris and others dislike the Bugtis.

What is the reality?

They are quoting the leaders of these tribes.

 

[Neo]

Those were not my father’s things: Bugti’s son

Sunday, September 03, 2006

javascript:; http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2006\09\03\story_3-9-2006_pg1_2

QUETTA: A son of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has said that he does not believe the objects shown off as the personal belongings of his father at Friday’s burial actually belonged to the slain tribal chief.

Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer (DCO) Abdul Samad Lasi showed reporters a pair of glasses, watch and ring after the Nawab’s funeral, saying they were taken off his body. The tribal chief’s son Jamil Bugti, however, told Daily Times that his father never wore a ring.
“You can confirm it from anyone who knew him. My father never wore a ring,” he said. He said the glasses also looked suspicious. “The glasses shown on TV were gleaming. Who would believe that they belonged to the Nawab? If my father was killed by being crushed under rubble in a cave, how could his glasses not even get damaged or scratched?” he said. “We still can’t believe that the body buried in Dera Bugti on Friday was that of my father. If it were his body, then why wasn’t anyone, including the media, shown the Nawab’s face?” he said.

Jamil said his father’s killing was deplorable, but the way he was buried was even sadder. “It was against human rights. We consider it un-Islamic,” he said. “It was obviously painful not catching a last glimpse of our father and not attending his final prayers, if we are to believe it was he who was buried, but the unanimous decision of the whole family of not going to Dera Bugti also demonstrates the unity in our ranks,” he said.

Jamil, whose last contact with his father came on August 22, denied government claims that the Bugti family was divided. “They are trying to create rifts within the family. They will never succeed. We are all one and have had a consensus stand: the body should be handed over to us so that we would decide where to bury him.” malik siraj akbar


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\03\story_3-9-2006_pg1_2

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I think the government is not handling the issue with finesse.

Too much of ham handedness and behaving clod foot.

Instead of solving the issue, they are complicating it and more and more people will disbelieve the story.

Reminds me of the WMD in Iraq story!

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Perphaps we may never know the truth of how Bugti was killed

 

[Srirangan]

You don't seem to believe the "cave fell down" theory Lahori?

 

[Lahori paa jee]

You don't seem to believe the "cave fell down" theory Lahori?

Absolutely not. This is a fake story.

Yesterday there were headlines that Mr. Malluk (the man who lead Bugtis funeral prayers) has been killed. Although he did not die but he will be killed for he is the only one who has seen what was in that wodden box. And with him the truth will die too

I remember back in 1996 when Benazir Bhuttos brother was murdered by army men and the blame was put on Police. The police officer appointed during those days was killed a few days after the incident.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Authority stamped?

Akbar Bugti’s death may provide satisfaction to some vengeful souls, but they know not what is afoot. The nawab may have been guilty of many crimes, including murders, but he died a brave man fighting and has left an indelible mark on the psyche of the people of Balochistan as a leader who fought for their rights against an exploitative establishment

They hunted him down and killed him mercilessly. Circumstances are getting murkier by the day. Killing one’s own people and bowing before foreign powers make the pillar of our state policy. Nawab Akbar Bugti, even when he was an octogenarian, was a major political player. Balochistan is afire, and how long this fire will take to burn out is anybody’s guess. But the supreme ruler can congratulate himself that he has removed one-third of the impediments in the way of progress by taking care of one of the three sardars. Now Dera Bugti will march ahead into the 21st century.

I remember having met Mr Bugti for the first time in 1997 when I went to call on him after assuming the charge of the provincial chief secretary. It was on the chief minister’s advice that I had called on him. He received me very cordially at his residence in Quetta, which appeared to be a fortified and well-protected place. Even the streets were closed for reasons of security. He had a large number of enemies. We sat on the neatly-carpeted floor. We had about an hour’s conversation. I found him very articulate, forthright and candid. His was an impressive figure and his white hirsute face added to his almost royal bearing. He told me that before the provincial government agreed to my appointment, the federal government had sent three names including mine. Mr Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro called Mr Bugti asking him to choose Mr Hasan Bhutto, one of the panelists. Mr Bugti refused without a minute’s hesitation. When Mr Soomro insisted that the officer had great merit, Mr Bugti said he would never accept a Bhutto, whatever his merits. Mr Soomro assured him that he had no relation with the famous man, but Mr Bugti was not moved.

It was Nawaz Sharif’s government that had come with a heavy mandate at the Centre which showed a welcome change in the attitude towards smaller provinces. Unlike all his predecessors, Mr Sharif decided to take along with him the ‘nationalist leadership’. Mr Akhtar Mengal, who headed the coalition in the provincial assembly of which Mr Bugti was a part, was allowed to form the government despite misgivings in powerful quarters. Soon after, the coalition partners fell out on something or the other and Bugti and Mengal started a media war. Since I got frequent opportunities of meeting the chief minister, I advised him to hold his punches and not to get into something that could go beyond the point of no return. But Mengal, relatively a young man, insisted on confronting Bugti head-on because, according to him, Bugti was a bully and deserved to be treated as such. I told him that any rift in the coalition partners will help the insidious forces to play their dirty games and install someone incompetent and corrupt to do their bidding and represent them rather than the people of Balochistan. Not long afterwards the inevitable happened and the government was dismissed.

Mr Sharif, as soon as he assumed office, travelled all the way from Islamabad to Dera Bugti on prime minister’s jet along with important members of his government and some senior civil servants to call on Bugti. The gesture did not seem to impress Bugti much who appeared to take it into his stride. After all, this was not the first time that he had been wooed by the mighty and the powerful. The plane landed at the Jacobabad airport and one was surprised that Mr Bugti was not waiting at the tarmac to receive the prime minister. The delegation then boarded the helicopter and took off for Dera Bugti. There was no Mr Bugti to receive the prime minister even at the helipad. The delegation then drove to the Bugti House. He was not there even at the outside gate. It was only after the prime minister and his delegation had entered the house that Mr Bugti emerged to receive him at the entrance to the hall, which was to be the venue of the meeting. The delegation was made to sit in the Balochi tradition on the floor and everyone could share the company of the prime minister and Mr Bugti. For a few minutes the two men went to a separate room to talk. Lunch was served and since Mr Bugti ate very spicy meals, he served the guests the same kind of food. Those who were careful chose to pass up the dishes and relied on yogurt and bread to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Before lunch was served, Mr Bugti called one of his underlings to bring a present for the prime minister. This looked like an ordinary stick and was perhaps hand-carved. Mr Bugti ordered his underling to present the stick to the prime minister that he graciously accepted. The chief minister told me afterwards that Mr Bugti’s gesture violated the traditional Balochi courtesy because not personally handing over the present to the prime minister implied that he treated him not on a par with himself, but at a level lower than himself. Otherwise in the Balochi tradition, if he had treated the prime minister as his equal, he would have presented the carved stick with his own hand. That was Bugti, arrogance incarnate.

When he resigned as governor of Balochistan, he did not address Mr Bhutto as prime minister. Mr Sher Baz Mazari has quoted in his book, A Journey to Disillusionment, an instance: when Bhutto visited him at the Governor’s House and showed some annoyance at children playing on the lawn, Bugti ignored the protest and told the prime minister that it was natural for children to play.

Mr Bugti was a very canny character and a tough negotiator. He knew better than any Baloch sardar how to squeeze his opponent to the limit. The Pakistan Petroleum Limited running Sui Gas fields and the OGDCL running some other wells in the area were made to pay through their nose for their presence in those areas either in terms of rent/lease for the land or the employees who had to be given jobs. Some agreements between Mr Bugti and the OGDCL read like treaties between two sovereign entities. His demands easily qualified as extortion.

Mr Sharif, known to be a man in great hurry, wished to make some amendments to the Constitution for which he had the necessary numbers in the National Assembly, but not in the Senate. Mr Bugti had five senators and so did the MQM. The need for these 10 votes acquired special significance whenever an amendment had to be carried through — and that too in a hurry. The provincial government was totally helpless in ensuring the presence of Mr Bugti’s senators in Islamabad. His five senators would hide and prove to be elusive and inaccessible unless some personal representative of the prime minister had spoken to Mr Bugti and fulfilled his demands; most of them relating to payments which Mr Bugti thought were due to him. Not unlike the World Bank, which has begun insisting on compliance of conditionalities upfront before signing a loan, he wanted payment upfront. Some deputy secretary of Fifinance Department would travel from Islamabad carrying loads of cash before Bugti ordered his henchmen to travel to Islamabad and vote appropriately.

Mr Bugti was a shrewd man. He also knew his limits. Therefore, before he died, he made it known that a stand-off between him and General Pervez Musharaff could be resolved on the basis of proposals made by a committee constituted by the regime. But General Musharaff wanted his precise location in the mountains so as to establish the writ of his government. This he seems to have accomplished by executing Bugti in a military operation involving ground troops, helicopter gunship, missiles and whatever, including satellite monitoring of his presence.

Contd...............

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Balochistan is at a standstill; Quetta is under curfew; flights have been cancelled; and rail and road links cut off; university hostels have been vacated; hundreds of students arrested; and property worth millions of rupees damaged. Writ indeed!

Akbar Bugti’s death may provide satisfaction to some vengeful souls, but they know not what is afoot. Mr Bugti may be guilty of many crimes, including murders, but he died a brave man fighting, and has left an indelible mark on the psyche of the people of Balochistan as a leader who fought for their rights against a exploitative establishment. He is a Shaheed in the popular sense and every political leader of Balochistan will have to champion his cause under his rubric and in his name. He ranks next to the Mari Nawab in tribal hierarchy, but his political standing has now surpassed all others.

The future is frighteningly bleak. The situation is reminiscent of 1971 when a military junta was confronting the combined might of public opinion in a particular province only to avoid transferring power to the people.

A turbulent Balochistan hardly suits the United States, which is fighting its war ‘against terror’ in this region by occupying Afghanistan through Nato forces. The statement of the American government spokesman that it “would like to see the Balochistan dispute settled within the framework of strong and united Pakistan” is ominous. Declassified US papers bear close resemblance to the US government position on East Pakistan. The outcome is there for everyone to see. They had Gen Yahya Khan provide Henery Kissinger a safe passage to China and here we have another general fighting their war on terror. Americans are never very squeamish about principles, least of all about democracy.

Balochistan may have slipped out of hand and it is not unlikely that gas supply to the cities of Pakistan may suddenly be disrupted with the government feeling totally helpless.

In such circumstances the United States might have to dust off some of the think-tank reports proposing realignment of boundaries. The Gwadar port has become a hotly contested issue between China and the United States. Pakistan is in no position to upset either side. If the United States offers the lure of independence to the Baloch leadership, they would be happy to hand over Gwadar as well as some districts, say Kharan, for stationing American troops to control the region.

As things stand today, a dead Bugti is far more dangerous to the writ of the government than when he was alive. One could do business with him. His intransigence was calculated and diacritical. But now ...?

Two sons, one of whom would be a Sardar, survive Mr Bugti; but both lack his competence, stature or charisma and would not be able to carry forward his legacy. Senator Shahid Bugti, his son-in-law, may perhaps represent him, but only for a while, because he lacks tribal roots. People ask, what was Mr Bugti fighting for? The answer is implicit in the question. He was not asking for the moon. Once the state turned its guns on him, made him homeless and forced him to flee into the mountains, he was left with no choice but to present himself as a spokesman for the Balochi people and their rights, and put up a brave fight. The picture of the prickly proud Sardar sitting in a chair in front of a cave somewhere in the mountains would stick indelibly in the minds of the people. Sardar Atta Ullah Mengal and Khair Bukhsh Marri have kept a low profile. Mr Bugti articulated his views on provincial autonomy including the rights of the province to choose mega projects, which the federal government always boasted as its gift to the province, forgetting that the poor province of Balochistan has been subsidising gas all over the country for the last half-a-century.

The province is in a virtual state of occupation with about 100,000 Frontier Constabulary sleuths and army troops. The provincial government does not have any say whatsoever in any matter. It is usually selected by the establishment and installed through devious means. Most of the choices are incompetent and corrupt. Akbar Bugti was the best chief minister Balochistan had besides Mr Mengal; and about others, the less said the better.

What is ahead? What needs to be done? Instead of overcoming tribalism, the state has descended into tribalism. Nothing better illustrates the point than the end of the stand-off between the ruler and the Nawab. The only answer is immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the armed forced from politics, the restoration of full and unguided democracy even if it throws up tribal leaders the military doesn’t like as members of assemblies, the thinning of troops in the province and the equitable as well as fair distribution of resources.

The greatest danger to the federation is the lack of provincial autonomy, and the greatest threat to provincial autonomy is the military, which rules the roost. Some people in the province holding a monopoly over patriotism glibly allege the leadership of smaller provinces of lacking patriotism. That is utter nonsense. The people of the smaller provinces are as patriotic, if not more, as anybody else in Pakistan.

Bugti’s death, particularly the circumstances surrounding it, has created a very dangerous situation, which only genuine representatives of the people can address. One has to read the newspapers to see that Balochistan has been crippled by strikes and violence. If immediate steps are not taken, we may live to rue the day. As the Americans say, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Source

 

[sparten]

Immidiet steps? What?

 

[Lahori paa jee]

This whole article is worth reading

The Tumandar of the Bugtis


IT IS not possible to remain unmoved by the death of a man one has known for almost half one’s life — a man of violence who fittingly died a violent death. Difficult indeed he was, as he held one sole stern view of life and the world in which he lived, a view that was unshakeable, non-negotiable and non-discussable.

The first time I met the arrogant and handsome Akbar Bugti, in the late 1960s in Karachi, he told me in his gruff normal tone of voice that he had heard about me and asked why I spelt my name wrongly. Did I not know how to spell my own name? That I did not react did not please him. He went on to tell me that we silly Parsis did not even know the correct name of their own prophet. He was Zardost and not Zarathustra as many of us ignoramuses were wont to refer to him. He knew all about how the Zoroastrians had fled Iran after the Muslim invasion, fearing for their lives, and sneeringly remarked that the Bugtis would have taken on the oppressors, stood up and fought and died, and not sailed away to supposedly safer climes.

He took great pleasure in being as awkward as possible, and if an audience was present, thoroughly enjoyed being as mean and insulting as he could to whichever individual on that particular occasion was his chosen butt. He had a sense of humour, but only at the expense of others. Heaven help anyone who tried to take the mickey out of him — they were demolished. Akbar was not a likeable man — he hardly inspired affection, but he was a unique personality to whom one was attracted merely by the force of his character — as charming or as nasty as it could be. His visits to Karachi were akin to a circus coming to town — entertainment and colour guaranteed.

A hardened jailbird himself — having been on death row awaiting the hangman for the alleged murder of one of his kinsmen — he was unsympathetic to others who had experience of the prisons of Pakistan. He told me at one of our meetings that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had shown him a letter of apology I had written while in jail in Karachi in 1976 (to this day I am not quite sure as to why Bhutto put me in). Not wishing to linger and on the advice of the then Sindh Home Secretary, Mohammed Khan Junejo, who assured me that were I to apologise, Bhutto would let me out. Without hesitation I wrote : “Dear Mr Prime Minister, I believe I have caused you annoyance and if I have, I sincerely apologise.” I was prepared to leave it at that, but Junejo urged ‘Aarre bhai, kooch tareef be to karo, Usko khush karo’. So I added, “I have been your sincere friend and remain so.”

The Tumandar found this hilarious, and chastened me for my lack of spine — never ever would he have apologised to anyone, in any way, for anything. Well, he didn’t have to. For political and other reasons, his murder sentence was reprieved and he was let out by Ayub Khan, Bhutto claiming the credit.

In spite of all, I would be telling an untruth were I to say that I did not enjoy his company — and I know there are many others who will say the same. Like our other few colourful non-mediocre rogues (Jam Sadiq Ali for one), he will at least brighten up our history books. He was exceedingly entertaining, even in his ‘bitchiness,’ provided it was not directed at you. He was fun to be around, and he was a voracious reader who could talk on any subject under the sun. The most acceptable gift one could give him was a book.

There is one passage in the book ‘The Tigers of Balochistan’, written by Sylvia Matheson (published 1967), which epitomises the man’s approach to life. He was then twenty-one. She was questioning him on his calmly uttered statement to her, reminding her that he had killed his first man at the age of twelve. “About this man you killed — er, why?” “Oh that!” he responded as he sipped his tea, “Well, the man annoyed me. I’ve forgotten what it was about now, but I shot him dead. I’ve rather a hasty temper you know, but under tribal law of course it wasn’t a capital offence, and, in any case, as the eldest son of the Chieftain I was perfectly entitled to do as I pleased in our own territory. We enjoy absolute sovereignty over our people and they accept this as part of their tradition. As a matter of fact, my own father was murdered — he was poisoned — and what’s more, I know who did it. It was his half-brother whom I call uncle . . .”

Matheson asked him what he intended to do about it, “Will you poison your uncle?” He seemed shocked at such a banal suggestion. “Good heavens, no — poisoning’s too good for such a man. Besides, I don’t want a blood feud on my hands, which is what that would mean. No, I shall wait until I can get rid of the whole family — discreetly of course.” And he smiled, wrote Matheson, “like some Medici nobleman discussing the removal of a tiresome fellow Florentine.”

Akbar believed, and believed that all the rulers of Pakistan should so believe with him that the land gifted to his ancestors by the British, the centre of his Earth, belonged to him and to him alone, and that all that lay above it and beneath it was his to do with as he wished. Well, under a different set of laws in the US John D Rockefeller and others of his ilk thrived. To think as Bugti did was his privilege.

But there is no one in Pakistan today who can truly subscribe to the belief that the manner in which Nawab Muhammad Akbar Shahbaz Khan, the undisputed Tumandar of all the Bugtis, was killed — or assassinated, or executed (with no Medici finesse) — and the way in which he was ordered to be buried were the acts of honourable men. They were not. Like it or not, Pakistan will have to live with the consequences of this most dishonourable craven crime. Yet another war has been ‘won’ in the annals of Pakistan’s dismal history.

Source

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

The handling of the issue is well summed up here:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\04\story_4-9-2006_pg3_2

 

[Neo]

ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Monday told Baloch politicians and other leaders that the possibility of a foreign hand creating law and order problems in certain parts of Balochistan could not be ruled out.

Sources said that the president informed the leaders that the government had sealed six points through which arms and money were being sent into the restive province.

According to the sources, the president said that sophisticated weapons were being funnelled to Bugti areas from abroad through Rahimyar Khan, Sanghar, Jacobabad, Waziristan, Zhob and Chagai and the sealing of the points had stopped arms supplies.

The meeting was attended by the governor and chief minister of Balochistan, federal and provincial ministers, PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and 35 members of the national and provincial assemblies.

“The meeting was told that the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, was operating through Indian consulates in Khandhar and Zahidan for sending arms and money into Balochistan,” a participant said.

He said that the president had asked the authorities concerned to look into the possibility of initiating cases against those Baloch leaders who were fanning hatred and talking about secession of Balochistan. “We were told during the meeting that FIRs’ will be registered soon against those who are involved in instigating violence in the province,” he added.

The meeting was informed that some people in Balochistan were in an ‘aggressive mood’, but the government would fight back politically and administratively.

Minister for Information Mohammad Ali Durrani and Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said at a news conference that the president had asked the government to implement the recommendations of the parliamentary committee headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed.

They said that the meeting was informed that 25 of the 31 recommendations made by the parliamentary committee had been implemented and the remaining would be implemented soon.

Responding to a question, the ISPR chief said that the word provincial autonomy was being wrongly used by some politicians and that the real issue was adequate distribution of resources under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award. “And the government is implementing this award in letter and in spirit and now the president has instructed to offer increased share of gas royalty to Balochistan,” he said.

Mr Durrani and the ISPR chief told reporters that all participants, especially former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, assured the president that they would not compromise on principles and would resist anti-social elements in Balochistan.

Replying to a question, the ISPR chief said that Talal Bugti wanted to bury the late Akbar Bugti in Dera Bugti and Shahid Bugti was in favour of taking the body for burial to Quetta, while Jamil Bugti was neutral.

He said that taking the body to Quetta for burial could have created a law and problem there.

The meeting, he said, was also informed that there were 15,000 Balochis in the army while 7,000 Baloch youths had been inducted in the Frontier Crops. About 3,000 more Balochis were being inducted in the Frontier Corps and another 6,000 would be given jobs in the Balochistan Constabulary.

On the directives of the president, he said, a number of agricultural loans taken by Balochis would be written off.

The president spoke at length on the situation in the country’s largest province and said the government, over the past seven years, had taken decisions for the political and economic empowerment of Balochistan, which had been a victim of neglect.

However, the president regretted that certain elements did not want to see Balochistan progressing socio-economically as they stood to lose with the empowerment of the common people there.

The president listed unabated rocket attacks, existence of ferrari camps, blowing up of power installations and gas pipelines, killing of Chinese engineers and law-enforcement personnel, targeting of settlers and attacks in Sui and some of the activities that were aimed at disrupting development activities in the province. “These terrorists were also taken to Karachi, Lahore and other parts of the country to create law and order problem,” Gen Musharraf said.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/05/top2.htm