Daily Times

Mr Raza Rabbani recently said his
party. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had always sought cooperation of the Baloch nationalist parties and during its tenure made the Baloch people owners of their natural resources through the special package and the 18th amendment. Ironically, while handing over Gwadar to Chinese they did not even bother to consult their dummy government and legislature. He added, “The solution to the Balochistan issue is in the nationalist parties coming into the mainstream of Pakistani politics. Therefore, the need of the day in Balochistan is elections and not selections.” During the last five years that the PPP was in power at the centre and Balochistan, it did precious little for upholding rights; rather, on the contrary, during its tenure the Baloch reeled under the most brutal ‘dirty war’ conducted in recent history. The PPP-led coalition in Balochistan was busy sharing benefits while the Baloch suffered atrocities at the hands of the Frontier Corps (FC) and its proxy death squads; they abjectly abdicated power to the FC, which according to their luminaries, ran a parallel government.

These five years are not the only period when the PPP — though other parties and dictators have not lagged behind either — has brought desolation upon Baloch. The story goes back to 1972 when the National Awami Party (NAP) and allies after winning the majority in the Balochistan assembly were reluctantly ceded power by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s first PPP government. This was an expedient measure aimed at helping the establishment recover from the ignominy of Bangladesh defeat and recoup losses.

May 1, 1972 saw Sardar Ataullah Mengal as the chief minister of Balochistan and Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo as governor. For the establishment these avowed Baloch nationalists who would never become its stooges in power were an anathema and totally unacceptable. Moreover, the Shah of Iran was worried that this would encourage the Baloch on their side of border to demand more rights. Consequently, the federal government spared no effort to create problems for this newly installed government.

Bhutto government’s machinations to ensure Mengal government’s dismissal were extremely devious. Most of the high ranking bureaucracy there was from Punjab; the Mengal government was in a catch 22 situation, for on one hand resentful as they were of the over-representation of Punjabis in the civil service and professional class, they also understood the need for their being there. The PPP knew that there were not enough high ranking Baloch officers to manage the bureaucracy and ensure smooth governance, therefore, the Punjab chief minister, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, maliciously recalled Punjabi bureaucrats and police servicemen to Punjab.

To compound matters further the federal government abolished the Civil Armed Force. The police under the interior ministry headed by Abdul Qayyum Khan, a sworn enemy of the Baloch and Pashtun nationalists, did not cooperate and law and order problems were further aggravated. To fill the vacuum the Mengal government was forced to establish its own rural police called the Dehi Muhafiz. Towards the end of 1972 there was trouble in the Pat Feeder area where people resented the injustice that land had been given to Punjabi settlers, and consequently, there were a few minor incidents of violence against them, which were blown out of proportion by the state radio and media.

In January 1973, Jam Ghulam Qadir of Lasbela, the establishment’s loyal representative and a staunch anti-Baloch rights politician, alleging persecution by the Mengal government created chaos through his people by cutting telephone lines and disrupting peace. Because the government levies and police refused to control them, the Dehi Muhafiz were sent in. On February 8, Khan sent in the army, ostentatiously to prevent clashes between what he called the Bizenjo-Mengal Lashkar and supporters of Jam. The army instead of controlling the trouble makers confronted the Dehi Muhafiz.

While this happened in full glare of publicity, the Marri and Mengal areas were surreptitiously being blockaded and people being denied even essential commodities. At that time, places where essentials could be procured were extremely limited; the Marris bought their goods from Sibi, Lehri or Talli, and these towns blockaded by militias created dire shortages for the people who were already suffering from a prolonged drought. The people were being pushed to the brink, and this is not hearsay for I was in the Marri area then.

To ensure the final blow the high drama of the Iraqi Embassy’s arms find was enacted. Rafi Raza, a minister then, told me two years ago that the government had full knowledge about these arms on their arrival in Karachi in the first place; they allowed the transportation of the same to Islamabad. On February 10, Pakistani authorities with media in tow raided the Iraqi Embassy to find a huge cache of arms. On February 13, Mengal’s government, although it had 13/7 majority, was unjustly and illegally dismissed. Sadly, Sardar Akbar Bugti had made a historical blunder then and joined Bhutto against the Baloch as the governor of Balochistan. This is how the mandate of the Baloch people was respected by the first PPP government, and yet they tire not of praising their services.

The dismissal of the Mengal government, and increasingly, the strict blockade of the Marri area culminated in the Tandoori incident, (near Marri area), on May 18, 1973 when eight Sibi Scouts were killed in an ambush. Three days later the army ferried by helicopters landed in Mawand and General Tikka Khan promised to quell the rebellion within 72 hours. Those 72 hours have stretched way beyond their estimates.

Many may not know the history of the 1973 constitution and the amendments that Rabbani extols. Of the five Balochistan MNAs only Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo and Abdul Haq signed it, while Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri, Mrs Jennifer Musa and Dr Abdul Hayee did nt. My father, Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur, also refused to sign it. About the respect accorded by Bhutto to this constitution the redoubtable late Ardeshir Cowasjee wrote thus: “So, it was grandly promulgated at noon on Independence Day, with much joy and jollity. At 1600 hours that same day, Prime Minister Bhutto ordered the president he had appointed the meek and gentlemanly Fazal Elahi Chaudhry to sign an order, which was notified in the Gazette of Pakistan, Extra, on Aug 15, 1973, No.F.24(1)/73-Pub. By this order the proclamation of emergency issued on November 23, 1971 was declared to be still in force.” The fundamental rights were trampled upon and on the 16th the entire top Baloch leadership was incarcerated. Ironic indeed.

The writer has an association with the Baloch
rights movement going back to the early 1970s.
He tweets at mmatalpur and can be contacted
at mmatalpur@gmail.com