QUETTA, Jan 1: Disgruntled tribal elders of the Bugti tribe have urged the government to take action against elements obstructing development projects in the Dera Bugti area. They were speaking at a joint Press conference at the Khetran House here on Sunday. Jalal Khan Kalpar, Jamal Khan Kalpar and Tariq Masuri blamed the tribe’s chieftain (Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti) for the miseries endured by their fellow tribesmen, adding his actions had forced them to migrate to areas in Punjab and Sindh.

They accused Nawab Bugti of coercing the Bugti tribesmen and alleged that because of his oppression, thousands of tribesmen belonging to the Kalpar and Masuri sub-clans of the tribe had taken refuge in Sukkur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur areas.

They said that they were being persecuted only because they (the Kalpar and Masuri sub-clans) supported development projects in their respective areas but their tribe’s chief was against development.

They claimed that the government had so far taken no action against the people who had killed more than 35 persons people belonging to the Kalpar and Masuri sub-clans during the past few years.

They denied they were agents of the army and said they were proud of the armed forces and being citizens of Pakistan. They announced to support the Musharraf government, which, according to them, had allocated massive funds for development schemes in the province.

They criticized the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Baloch nationalist parties for supporting oppressors against innocent people and maintained that the HRCP and the Baloch nationalists should not take sides and they should back the Baloch people who had been evicted from their homes in Dera Bugti.