KARACHI, Oct 30: Disruptive interference of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and a deepening distrust between the surviving sons of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti are responsible for the slow unravelling of the Jamhoori Watan Party, it has emerged.
Nawab Bugti, the chief of more than 200,000 Bugti tribesmen, was killed along with over 35 men-at-arms when Pakistan army’s helicopter gunships reportedly rocketed his hideout in the Bhambore mountain range in Kohlu on August 26, 2006.
Activists recall that the disintegration of the party began in July when Mir Ghulam Haider Khan Bugti, JWP’s lone representative in the National Assembly, suddenly refused to toe the party line and expressed support for development projects in Balochistan – a move which earned him the ire of the embattled Nawab Bugti who stood for greater provincial autonomy.
They believe that the JWP suffered another setback when a month later the leader of the parliamentary party in the Balochistan assembly, Haji Juma Bugti, attended the government-sponsored jirga in Dera Bugti and made it abundantly clear where his loyalty lay.
Ironically, both Mir Ghulam Haider Bugti and Haji Juma Bugti are the late Nawab Bugti’s nephews.
The JWP crumbling process climaxed in the surprise resignations of seven senior-most office-bearers shortly after the Eid holidays. Those who resigned from the party were JWP senior vice-president Mir Manzoor Hussain Khosa, secretary-general Agha Shahid Bugti (senator), central information secretary Amanullah Kanrani, central labour secretary Agha Mohammad Ali, Saleem Ahmad Khosa (MPA), Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi (MPA) and central committee member Sardar Mohammad Umar.
An intelligence source says fomenting dissent in the JWP has not been terribly difficult because the three surviving sons of the late Nawab – political novices – not only harboured deep distrust of the JWP legislators but also often indulged in mutual recrimination.
“While the sons are not JWP members, they could have put enormous pressure on the top leadership to remove the defectors from parliament under the constitution. Since all the senior-most office-bearers of the JWP have resigned now, there is no possibility of disqualification of turncoats on grounds of defection,” he explains.
According to former law minister Khalid Anwar, Article 63A of the 1973 constitution enables the leader of a parliamentary party to unseat a member if he resigns from the party or defects to another party.
He recalls that such a clause was first introduced to the country’s basic law through the 14th amendment and is still part of the constitution, albeit in a restricted way, through the 17th amendment.
But former JWP spokesman Amanullah Kanrani insists that Article 63A of the constitution does not apply to him and his dissident associates because they still place trust in the late Nawab Bugti’s ideals and commitment to provincial autonomy.
“We were vexed by the irritating refusal of the sons of our late leader to repose confidence in us. We will follow our leader’s ideals even if we do not remain in the JWP,” he says.
However, 57-year-old Jamil Bugti, son of Nawab Bugti, remains unimpressed by Mr Kanrani’s “high-sounding assertions”. He alleges that the Quetta corps headquarters was behind the recent spate of defections from the JWP.
Admitting that he is not always on the same wavelength with his brother, Talal Bugti, he says: “I am convinced that the defectors will soon come back to the party under the leadership of Talal. We will then discover who is playing into the agencies’ hands,” he argues.
Mr Bugti concedes he did dine with Sher Ali Mazari, who is said to be pro-establishment, during his recent trip to Islamabad.
“Contrary to what has been said by my brother, this does not mean that I am seeking to establish contact with intelligence agencies. I do not have to go to Islamabad to talk to government sleuths: Quetta is infested with them. And let me tell you that the JWP that my father created died the day he was assassinated,” he says.
