|
|
|
| January 27, 2003 | Monday | Ziqa’ad 23,1423 |
Why are the tribal chiefsat daggers drawn?
MAZARI GOTH (Rajanpur), Jan 26: The situation here is no less than of a limited war as exchange of heavy artillery with regular intervals is order of the day.
Situated on the confluence of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, the village has drawn attention after the suspension of natural gas supply to the most of the Punjab and upcountry areas when reportedly rockets hit and blew up two gas supply pipes of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in an exchange of fire between infighting Mazari and Bugti tribes on Jan 21.
There is no respite in tension in Mazari Goth as the hostile Bugti tribe continues firing heavy artillery on the village with regular intervals, which include rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and Russian-made short-range missiles.
The Bugtis fire missiles from a distance of some 15 kilometers, from their territory, which land in and around Mazari Goth, sometimes in the Punjab territory and sometimes in Sindh’s, as a clear demarcation of provincial boundary is not an easy task. Even the Sui road sometimes passes through Sindh and sometimes through the Punjab.
The RPGs and missiles are being fired on the residential areas. “It is a miracle that no human casualty has occurred so far despite heavy bombardment,” an old Mazari told Dawn on Saturday while showing his missile-ravaged mud house.
“The Mazari-Bugti clashes can take a more serious dimension in case of death from any side,” he added.
Most of the residents of Mazari Goth have dug ditches near their houses to take refuge whenever RPGs and missiles start falling here and there. Women, children and elders take shelter in the ditches while the men in their youth have entrenched to retaliate the ‘enemy’.
The Goth residents belong to the Eshani sub-clan of Mazari tribe while their rivals belong to Mundarani sub-clan of Bugti tribe. The Goth-Sui road is said to be the lifeline for the residents of Sui and Dera Bugti for being the only passage linking them to the outside world. Any trouble on this road means suspension of transport and supply of necessities like food items to Dera Bugti, an administrative official of Rajanpur said.
“Sooner or later both the tribes have to come to terms for peace and livelihood,” he added, saying “the major hindrance to bring peace to the area is sour relations between the chiefs of both the tribes.”
The Mazari Goth people realized the importance of their area to their Bugti neighbors some 11 days ago when they pulled down cables from electric poles supplying power to Sui and Dera Bugti areas. Power supply to the area has yet to be restored. Initially, some of the poles were hit and damaged with the shelling of the Bugtis on Jan 14 last.
But, are both the tribes really after each other’s blood? Sardar Riaz Mazari, the elder son of Mazari tribe chief Mir Balakh Sher Mazari, said: “Sardar (chief) families of both the tribes are relatives and we respect Nawab Bugti as our father. There are some misunderstandings between my father and the Bugti chief created by some villainous characters of our family.”
He refused to give details of the kind of misunderstandings which existed between the two tribal chiefs who are also senior politicians of the country.
Mir Balakh Sher has been caretaker prime minister of the country in 1993 after the dissolution of the Nawaz government in the centre while Nawab Bugti remained governor and chief minister of Balochistan.
A Bugti tribe elder said when Nawab’s son Salal was murdered by the Kalpars, the Mazari chief came to Dera Bugti to offer his condolences.
Assuming Mir Balakh Sher as his brother, Bugti expressed his profound grief as he had been feeling since the tragic death of Salal whom he had been grooming to succeed him (Nawab Bugti).
According to the Bugti elder, the Mazari chief advised Nawab Bugti to resign to his fate. “This was against the Balochi norms as the Mazari chief was supposed to assure Nawab that he would be with him in case he decided to avenge his son’s murder,” he explained.
The relationship between both the tribal chiefs deteriorated further with reports that Khan Muhammad Kalpar, Nawab’s enemy number one, had been to Rojhan, headquarters of Mazari chiefs in Rajanpur district, for some time.
Riaz Mazari said his uncle Sardar Sher Baz Khan Mazari and Nawab Bugti’s younger brother Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Bugti could play an effective role in removing misunderstandings between chiefs of both the tribes. “Only cordial relations between them can help defuse tension between the Eshanis and Mundaranis,” he said.
|
|
|
|
