QUETTA, Oct 2: A grand Baloch tribal jirga held here on Monday condemned what it called interference of the government in tribal affairs in Balochistan and vowed to resist all attempts against the tribal system.

This was stated by chief of the Jhalawan tribe Sardar Sanaullah Zehri while briefing newsmen here on Monday after the first session of the tribal jirga that was held at the Awan-i-Kalat under the chairmanship of Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Daud. Sardar Akhtar Mengal was also present on the occasion.

All important Baloch Sardars and tribal elders, including chief of the Sarawan tribe Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Mir Hail Bizenjo, Nawab Mohammad Khan Shawani and Sardar Asif Jamaldeni, attended the two-day Jirga.

Sardar Zehri said that the government had adopted double standards. While it signed an accord with tribal elders of Waziristan through a tribal jirga it was making efforts to weaken the tribal system in Balochistan by hatching conspiracies.

He said that the government was strengthening the jirga system in South and North Waziristan agencies, but in Balochistan the system had been left at the mercy of agencies who were destroying it.

“Tribal jirga has taken serious notice of the government’s attempt and decided to strongly resist all moves of the government against the tribal system in Balochistan,” he said.

He said that the grand Baloch tribal jirga had reviewed the pace of implementation on the decisions taken in the jirga held in Kalat on Sept 21. He said that Baloch tribes would defend their tribal traditions and customs and would not allow anyone to destroy the system.

He said that the jirga has approved all decisions of the pervious jirga and also rejected a jirga held in Dera Bugti on August 24 with government support and termed it an open interference in the tribal affairs of Balochistan.

He said that the government was declaring the grand tribal jirga as illegal but it had held a jirga of criminals in Dera Bugti and was supporting it.

Sardar Zehri said that the Jirga also took up the issue of the property of Nawab Bugti and observed that the government was trying to distribute it among the opponents of the Bugti family. The Jirga asked the government to leave this issue for the Bugti family to decide as it was their legal and Islamic right and nobody could deny them of their just rights. He said: “If the government would interfere in this issue the Jirga would strongly protest over it and would also resist the move in this regard.”

He said that as far as the issue of the new Sardar of the Bugti tribe was concerned it should be left to the Sardars to decide. “The Jirga has left the issue for the Khan of Kalat,” he said.

He warned that if the government made an attempt to make a fake person Sardar of the Bugti tribe then Baloch Sardars would strongly resist such moves.

He said that the Jirga also condemned the government’s move regarding burial of Nawab Bugti and said that it was a great tragedy for the Baloch people that the body of Nawab Bugti had been buried in the absence of his family members.