MURDER OF AKBAR BUGTI :

A NATIONAL LOSS

Hira Naeem Malik & Zamurrad Awan

 ABSTRACT
Akbar Bugti was leader of Balochistan and also
known as the “Tiger of Balochistan” shed his life’s
48 political years fighting for the rights and
prosperity of his Balochi brother’s.

During his life he got entangled in several

skirmishes with our former President Musharraf
in trying to uplift the living and political standard
of the people of Balochistan.

Even after his death, the Balochi’s are in the same

condition and there is no one with whom Pakistani
government can negotiate to settle the issues of
Balochistan.
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

• One of the most distinctive and respected politician of

Pakistan and former chief minister of Baluchistan.
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was mercilessly killed by the
Pakistani army on 26 August 2006.

The assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti

establishes the fact that the Pakistani army continues to
commit grave human rights violations against its own
people whether it is in Balochistan.
 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM

The consequent effect of deadlock

between federation and the province
(Balochistan) come out in
Inflation
Low economic development
Movement of insurgents
Decline in industrial sector
 BACKGROUND OF THE
PROBLEM
The Government of Pakistan has signed several peace deals with
religious groups in the NWFP and FATA, but the political crisis in
Balochistan has been totally ignored and no serious effort has been
made to end Baloch suffering.

Balochistan which produces the most gas in the country after sindh
only consumes about one quarter of its production output. Gas from sui
reached all major cities outside Balochistan in 1953, but reached
Balochistan only in 1986 and many other areas in the province still do
not receive any gas.

Inflexible attitude of Pakistani government towards justified Baloch

demands.

Baloch want complete control over the resources and government of

Balochistan.
 RATIONALE
The researcher wants to highlight the demands
and grievances of Balochistan and the living
standard of Balochi people.

To find out the conflict between federation and

the province.

To critically analyze the law and order situation

emerged in Balouchistan after the murder of
Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Hypothesis Formulation
“The murder of Nawab Akbar
Bugti has closed all possibilities of
negotiation and dialogues between
the center and the province.
Therefore his murder is a national
loss which encouraged the
parochial sentiments.”
 CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

• Mathson & Titus (1999) in the book “Tigers of

Balochistan.” Stated their own experience of living in
one of the world's hottest and most arid deserts among
the Bugtis.

Jamal (2008) in his article “Why the Fight in Balochistan

Matters”
examines that the sacrred province Balochistan has been suffering
Sajdi (2006) in his book “Nawab Akbar Bugti : Qatal
kyon hua” discussed the political life of Akbar Bugti his
family background. He also stated about the problems
occurred after Akbar Bugti s death. This book was of
great help to the researcher during the research work.

Siddiqi (1991) in his book “Baluchistan (Pakistan): Its

Society, Resources and Development” did a critical
evaluation of the westernmost province of Pakistan's
society, land resources, and potential. Baluchistan's
geographic position.

Mustafa (2006) in her article “Balochistan unending

misery” reviewed that today Balochistan is once again in
trouble that has been brewing for several years.
Baker (2006) in his article,“How the death of a leader
creates a bigger problem for Pakistan” The author of this
article discusses that Pakistan's security forces may have
thought they were ridding themselves of a particularly
annoying problem that has plagued Islamabad for the past
two years but it turns out, they only made things worse.

Kandiyati (2008). In his book “Pipelines.” The author says

that Oil and natural gas are now acknowledged to be the
driving forces of international politics.

Dr. Wirsing (2008) in his book“Baloch Nationalism and the

Geopolitics of Energy Resources: The Changing Context of
Separatism in Pakistan.” examines the energy context of the
simmering Baloch separatist insurgency that has surfaced
in recent years in Pakistan’s sprawling Balochistan
province.
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To find out the aftermath of Balochistan after the
murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, which is a great
national loss.

To evaluate the demands and grievances of

Balochistan and the living standard of Balochi
people.

• To find out the conflicts between Federal

government and the people of Balochistan.
 RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
The work is based on literature available on “Akbar Bugti”. The research is
historical descriptive. The qualitative research has been done to prove the
hypothesis. The tools which the researcher has used for her research are:
Books / E-books
Newspapers
Online journals
Print Media and
Research Articles
The researcher has selected Nawab Akbar Bughti as her sample of research.
 CHAPTER 4
RESULTS

The death of Nawab Akbar Bugti made the deeply well-

established and centuries old tribal structure fragile.

His grandson Nawab Brahamdagh Bugti took over the party

charge and changed its name from Jamhori Watan Party (JWP) to

Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) and also restructure the

party agenda by adding the“ struggle for a separate Balochistan”
which was never been the part of JWP’s manifesto.
The separatist movement in Balochistan gained
momentum and the relation between the center and
the government are all time low.

All avenues of development were closed to the

inhabitants of this province. They remained
isolated with no hope of progress and prosperity.

The whole province is in a state of shock over the way

the veteran Baloch leader has met his end.

The 24-hour curfew was been announced in Quetta,

Balochistan's main city.

Nawaz Shaif, has said the death of Bugti is a "black

day" in the history of Pakistan, and that "the blood
would continue to flow from his wound for a long
time.”
 DISCUSSIONS
Map of Pakistan
Balochistan is the largest
of Pakistan’s four
provinces along with oil,
gas and coal resources.
Balochistan also has
significant copper, silver,
gold, platinum aluminum
and uranium reserves but
still its under- developed
province of Pakistan.

Source: http://www.mapzones.com/maps/pakistan/balochistan.php
•Baloch grievances and demands.
The Balochis want peaceful environment. They protested
against the construction of new garrisons by military,
cancellation of all illegal land allotments in Gwadar district
and disbanding all military and paramilitary check points
which contravene the constitution. The demands also
included equal wellhead prices and a 30% royalty for
Balochistan, they want rights of the provinces on natural
resources, and equal representation in Federal services.

• Political Autonomy
The military government’s refusal to negotiate the
demands for provincial autonomy is primarily responsible
for the conflict.
 Socio-economic concern
Government should trust balochi’s and provide them
the opportunities by offering various developmental
projects.

Gawader
The Baloch have opposed the Gwadar port on the
following three reasons:The Baloch people suffer from
a growing fear of being deprieved of the resources which
are being generated from their own land. Being
economically the most backward ethnic community of
Pakistan, the Balochi demand that first and top most
priority should be given to them on job opportunities
created at Gwadar Port.The Baloch leaders fear that
they would be ousted from their mainland and Gwadar
would transform into a garrison district.
 Energy resources
Natural gas is a very important source of energy in
Pakistan, supplying 49 percent of Pakistan’s energy
needs. Balochistan is responsible for 36 per cent of
Pakistan’s total gas production, but it consumes only 17
per cent of its own production. Disputes over sharing the
revenues from Sui gas field which is the largest gas field in
Pakistan is a major cause of bitter relations between the
Baloch and the center government.

Centralized rule and baloch resistance

The traditional baloch homeland is divided between
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Balochistan links
Pakistan with the oil rich gulf states and the sea lanes of
the Arabian sea, this coast is very important for Pakistan
military because three of its naval bases are located there.
Ormara, Pasni and Gawader naval bases are there.
 Musharraf Balochistan’s policy
The Musharraf regime pursued the policy that blatantly
aimed at the absolute domination and control over
Balochistan.The Pakistan government’s military action
resulting in the violation of domestic and international
conventions and human right violations.Argue against
militancy, killings, enforced disappearances and mass
arrests became the order of the day in the province. Akbar
Bugti was totally against the policy of Musharraf.

Military operations
President Musharraf has warned the Baloch nationalists
to end their attempts to provoke people with slogans like
“sovereignty of Balochistan” and “rights of Balochistan”,
warning that his government would forcefully control any
attempts to slow down the development process.
On August 24, 2006, under controversial circumstances,
some Bugti tribesmen announced an end to the Nawabi
system and requested the handing over of Nawab Bugti to
authorities.His property was seized, and he was declared as
a "proclaimed offender."

• 26th August 2006 a Black Day

Negotiations with the Baloch leaders could have helped
resolve tensions but before they reached current scope, the
military enforced the writ of the state by force which led to
the 26 August 2006 military operation that killed JWP
leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Bugti was killed in a
bombing operation that caused the cave roof to collapse on
him. His location was traced through the satellite phone he
was using, and Pakistani secret service agencies pin-pointed
his location.
 CONCLUSION

A great deal of mistrust exists between the

Baloch people and centre. Most feel pain and
were frustrated. Nawab Akbar Bugti was a
man who was prepared to die for his beliefs.
he will be praised by the the baloch and even
by the unborn Baloch generation yet to come.
 Recommendation
The intelligence agencies should cease their activities
with immediate effect.
Concurrent list from the constitution should be
removed and the province should be given more
autonomy as provided under the origin of 1973.
National Finance Commission should provide resources
as according to the requirement of the province.
Grant of power to the provinces to manage foreign
trade.
Restructuring of the council of common interest to
accommodate the provinces democratic rights.
Provinces should have full control over its land and
resources.
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