People say that Sardar Akbar Bugti was a tyrannical Sardar and a traitor so whatever Musharraf did with him was justified. These people are not only ignorant of history but are foolish friends of Pakistan. Sardar Bugti was studying in the Aitchison College before Pakistan came into being and was very impressed with Subhash Chandra Bose, who did armed struggle against the British Raj. In 1947, a limited referendum was conduced in Balochistan. The imperial Jarga and the Quetta Municipality had to chose between the India and the Pakistan. Abdul Samad Achakzai did an active conveyancing in the favor of India whereas Sardar Akbar Bugti and several other Baloch Sardars casted their votes in the favor of Pakistan. Sardar Akbar Bugti was elected unopposed on the National Assmbly seat which got vacated due to the demise of Dr. Khan Saheb in 1957. It was the time when Malik Freoze Khan Noon was the Prime Minister. He initially appointed Sardar Akbar Bugti as the Home Minister and later the Minister of Defense. Based on the suggestion of Sardar Akbar Bugti, Premier Noon initiated the dialogues with Oman to get back the Gawader. Sardar Akbar Bugti personally took part in these negotiations and after the payment of six million dollars, Gawader finally became the part of Pakistan. This indeed was a great service of the Premier Malik Feroze Khan Noon and Sardar Akabar Bugti for Pakistan.
In 1958 when the first Martial Law was imposed, Sardar Akbar Bugti vehemently apposed it. Sardar Akbar Bugti was arrested along with Khan Mir Ahmed Yaar Khan and Nawab Nouroz Khan and was detained in the Match Jail. Nawab Nouroz was sentenced to life imprisonment while Sardar Akbar Bugti was sentenced to death by the Military Courts. Later on, Sardar Akbar Bugti’s death sentence was reversed by the President Ayub Khan on the recommendation of Z.A. Bhutto. Sardar Akbar Bugti was finally released after he served 18 months in the Jail and paying Rs 50,000 in fine. Sardar Akbar Bugti was arrested once again in 1962 for his anti-Martial Law speech in Kakri Ground Karachi. This time, Sardar Akbar Bugti was kept in the jails of Lail Pur (Faisal Abad) and Montgomery (Sahiwaal). Sardar Akbar Bugti was released after he served five years sentence in 1967. Even after this long sentence, Sardar Akbar Bugti refused to bow to the oppression. He joined the anti-dictatorship movement and was arrested again on May 4, 1968 under the “Defense of Pakistan Rules”. This time he was kept in the Mianwali Jail in the ‘C’ class. Right in front of the door of his cell, cow dung was burnt and peppers were sprinkled over it. The burning smoke would enter his cell and Sardar Akbar Bugti would cough. He was given contaminated food, the ‘moral’ criminals were encouraged to use foul language with him, and was given electric shocks while sleeping. Even after all this oppression, when he reused to bow down, he was finally given poison in the food on July 30, 1968. He became unconscious soon after eating the meal and foaming at the mouth. An inmate named ‘Muqddam’ understood what had happened; he inserted his fingers in Sardar Akbar Bugti’s throad and made him to vomit. Sardar Akbar Bugti survived but was bed ridden for a long time.
General Yahya Khan came into power and he released Sardar Akbar Bugti. He was however, not allowed to take part in the elections of 1970. Even after all this oppression, Sardar Akbar Bugti never talked against the Pakistan. In 1972, the Premier Z.A. Bhutto dismissed the Chief Minister Ata Ullah Mengal and the Governor Ghous Bakhsh Bizinjo and seeked cooperation from Sardar Akbar Bugti. Sardar Akbar Bugti was appointed as the Governor in the name of securing Pakistan. Mengal and Bugti had severe differences. Balochistan’s veteran journalist Anwar Sajidi had terms with the both. Anwar Sajidi says that in November 1973, Atta Ullah Mengal’s residence in Karachi was raided on which Sardar Akbar Bugti got very upset. He said I might have lots of differences with Atta Ullah Mengal but raid on his house is a raid on my house. During this time, Army started an operation in Balochistan and only after 9 months as the Governor, Sardar Akbar Bugti resigned in December 1973. If he was a self-interested person, he could have easily remained in power until 1977, but he decided not to become a part of the Army operation. It was the same Army operation that resulted in differences between him and Musharraf. When he insisted on arresting Captain Hammad who had raped Dr. Shazia Khalid, the rockets started to fall on Dera Bugti. Bugti kept negotiating with the Government until the very end. Choudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussein had negotiated with Bugti through Nargis Baloch and they had reached to an agreement but Musharraf always used the negotiation for betrayal. He betrayed Bugti and killed him.
Note: The actual column was written by Mr. Hamid Mir in Urdu and it appeared in the Daily Jang http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/sep2009-daily/14-09-2009/col4.htm. I have translated the selected paragraphs for the readers who can not read in Urdu.
In 1958 when the first Martial Law was imposed, Sardar Akbar Bugti vehemently apposed it. Sardar Akbar Bugti was arrested along with Khan Mir Ahmed Yaar Khan and Nawab Nouroz Khan and was detained in the Match Jail. Nawab Nouroz was sentenced to life imprisonment while Sardar Akbar Bugti was sentenced to death by the Military Courts. Later on, Sardar Akbar Bugti’s death sentence was reversed by the President Ayub Khan on the recommendation of Z.A. Bhutto. Sardar Akbar Bugti was finally released after he served 18 months in the Jail and paying Rs 50,000 in fine. Sardar Akbar Bugti was arrested once again in 1962 for his anti-Martial Law speech in Kakri Ground Karachi. This time, Sardar Akbar Bugti was kept in the jails of Lail Pur (Faisal Abad) and Montgomery (Sahiwaal). Sardar Akbar Bugti was released after he served five years sentence in 1967. Even after this long sentence, Sardar Akbar Bugti refused to bow to the oppression. He joined the anti-dictatorship movement and was arrested again on May 4, 1968 under the “Defense of Pakistan Rules”. This time he was kept in the Mianwali Jail in the ‘C’ class. Right in front of the door of his cell, cow dung was burnt and peppers were sprinkled over it. The burning smoke would enter his cell and Sardar Akbar Bugti would cough. He was given contaminated food, the ‘moral’ criminals were encouraged to use foul language with him, and was given electric shocks while sleeping. Even after all this oppression, when he reused to bow down, he was finally given poison in the food on July 30, 1968. He became unconscious soon after eating the meal and foaming at the mouth. An inmate named ‘Muqddam’ understood what had happened; he inserted his fingers in Sardar Akbar Bugti’s throad and made him to vomit. Sardar Akbar Bugti survived but was bed ridden for a long time.
General Yahya Khan came into power and he released Sardar Akbar Bugti. He was however, not allowed to take part in the elections of 1970. Even after all this oppression, Sardar Akbar Bugti never talked against the Pakistan. In 1972, the Premier Z.A. Bhutto dismissed the Chief Minister Ata Ullah Mengal and the Governor Ghous Bakhsh Bizinjo and seeked cooperation from Sardar Akbar Bugti. Sardar Akbar Bugti was appointed as the Governor in the name of securing Pakistan. Mengal and Bugti had severe differences. Balochistan’s veteran journalist Anwar Sajidi had terms with the both. Anwar Sajidi says that in November 1973, Atta Ullah Mengal’s residence in Karachi was raided on which Sardar Akbar Bugti got very upset. He said I might have lots of differences with Atta Ullah Mengal but raid on his house is a raid on my house. During this time, Army started an operation in Balochistan and only after 9 months as the Governor, Sardar Akbar Bugti resigned in December 1973. If he was a self-interested person, he could have easily remained in power until 1977, but he decided not to become a part of the Army operation. It was the same Army operation that resulted in differences between him and Musharraf. When he insisted on arresting Captain Hammad who had raped Dr. Shazia Khalid, the rockets started to fall on Dera Bugti. Bugti kept negotiating with the Government until the very end. Choudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussein had negotiated with Bugti through Nargis Baloch and they had reached to an agreement but Musharraf always used the negotiation for betrayal. He betrayed Bugti and killed him.
Note: The actual column was written by Mr. Hamid Mir in Urdu and it appeared in the Daily Jang http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/sep2009-daily/14-09-2009/col4.htm. I have translated the selected paragraphs for the readers who can not read in Urdu.