Grandson of Bugti criticises previous govt

Published May 28, 2013
Nawab Akbar Bugti.—File Photo
Nawab Akbar Bugti.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Mir Gohram Bugti , a grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, has said that the law and order situation in Balochistan is much better now than during the past five years.

Speaking at the ‘meet the press’ programme of the National Press Club here on Monday, he reiterated the demand of his family and the Jamhoori Watan Party that former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf should be prosecuted and punished for “his crimes against the people and assassination of Nawab Bugti”.

He accused the previous government of worsening the law and order situation in Balochistan.

They were not only corrupt but also responsible for creating a grave situation in which Baloch activists went missing and their bodies were found on roads. He said that about 200,000 tribesmen were not allowed to go to Dera Bugti.

Gohram, who is son of Talal Bugti, was arrested in 2010 for raising voice against the continuing siege-like situation in Dera Bugti.

“I had demanded my basic right to be able to return to my place and they put me in jail, only to be released when the caretaker government came in.”

He said the pervious government never wanted to improve the situation in Dera Bugti and to allow true representatives of the area to come forward because of the annual inflow of Rs15 billion in royalty and under other heads for the gas being produced there.

“Nobody is there to keep an eye on the spending of this amount and development funds.”

He said his family and the followers of Nawab Bugti were even now not being allowed to visit his grave and neither he nor other members of the Bugti family could go to the place where they were born.

He said the restriction remained in place even during the elections and he was not allowed to enter the area although he was a candidate.

He presented CDs to journalists which, he claimed, showed police stopping his convoy at Doli checkpoint between Kashmore and Sui.

“Low-ranking policemen told me that their seniors had not given permission,” he said.

“The serious issue is that not even the federal interior minister, Election Commission or provincial government did anything to help us.”

Gohram Bugti said his only demand was to be allowed to go home along with the people of his tribe who were farmers and herdsmen.

“The government is pushing us against the wall. They always express willingness to talk to those outside the country or those on the mountains but while we are here in Islamabad nobody wants to talk to us.”

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