Who is Baloch leader Akbar Bugti, on whose anniversary the Balochistan Liberation Army shook Pakistan?
The struggle for an independent Balochistan in Pakistan is decades old, but Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti strengthened this movement. Akbar Bugti, who was 6 feet tall, had a twisted mustache, a strong face, and spoke in straightforward words, was born on 12 July 1927 in Barkhan. He was the son of Nawab Mehrab Khan Bugti, the head of the Bugti clan.
Akbar Bugti was killed in a military operation on 26 August 2006. After this, protests against the government and the Baloch movement intensified in Pakistan. Although the Pakistani government considered him a rebel, he was a hero for millions of Baloch people who were fighting for an independent Balochistan. It is believed that on the occasion of Bugti's death anniversary, the Balochistan Liberation Army has carried out several attacks one after the other in Pakistan, in which it is being claimed that 62 Pakistani army soldiers were killed.
Became the head of the tribe at the age of 12
Akbar Bugti had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities at a very young age. After his father died in 1939, he became the chief of the Bugti community at the age of just 12. It is said that he killed a person for the first time at the age of 12. He did not receive any punishment for this. In one of his interviews, he mentioned this incident and said, "That person was troubling me and I shot him. I get angry very quickly and under tribal rules, I was not entitled to any punishment for this because I was the son of the chief."
Akbar Bugti was fond of reading books
After his early education at Karachi Grammar School, he did further studies at a college in Lahore. Due to security reasons, he was not allowed to visit his home area Dera Bugti. Local media The Baloch News has written quoting one of his friends that Bugti had a very good knowledge of history, he did not sleep the whole night and kept reading many books one after the other. He loved reading about English literature, Balochi classical poetry, politics, and history.
He was also the Chief Minister-Governor of Balochistan
Apart from being the biggest tribal leader of Balochistan, Akbar Bugti has also been the Governor and Chief Minister of Balochistan. He was killed at the age of 79 while fighting for the independence of Balochistan. However, many claims are made about his death. The then Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf claimed that Bugti died when the bunker he was hiding in collapsed, but some reports claim that when the Pakistani army surrounded Bugti from all sides, he shot himself.
Struggled for Balochistan
Akbar Bugti was said to be very close to Balach Mari, the then-chief of the Balochistan Liberation Army. Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is considered to be the biggest organization fighting for independent Balochistan. In 2005, Bugti presented a 15-point agenda to the Pakistani government. He demanded that the people of Balochistan should have control over the natural resources of Balochistan and that the construction of military bases should be banned. During this time, attacks against the Pakistani army increased in this region. The then President Pervez Musharraf considered Baloch organizations and their leaders responsible for these attacks. In December 2005, he alleged in an interview that the previous governments had made a compromise with these organizations and their heads. Musharraf said that we will not compromise with them but will eliminate them.
He became the Chief Minister by contesting elections for the first time
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti formed the Balochistan National Alliance in 1988. He contested the elections that year and became a member of the Balochistan Assembly and Chief Minister. He served as the head of the Balochistan government until 1990 when the Pakistan government dissolved the assembly.
In 1990, he formed the Jamhoori Watan Party, and in the assembly elections held this year, he was re-elected. After the murder of his son Salal Bugti in June 1992, he confined himself to Dera Bugti. But in January 2005, a female doctor was raped in Pakistan. A Pakistani army captain was accused of this rape. Bugti called it an insult to the Baloch community and demanded severe punishment for the accused for justice. After this, an attempt was made to resolve the matter through talks but it could not happen.
killed in an attack by the pakistani army
In 2005, the Pakistani army carried out air strikes on Bugti's house to capture him, after which he made his hideout in the mountains. During this time, about 1.5 lakh people had to be displaced from Balochistan. He died in a military operation that lasted for 3 days on 26 August 2006. After his death, the Anti-Terrorism Court of Balochistan issued an arrest warrant against Pervez Musharraf and many officials, after which Musharraf was arrested in June 2013, but after a case that lasted for several years, he was acquitted of the charge of Bugti's murder in 2016.