Killings of Zehris and history of Balochistan’s plight

LAHORE: The killings of the son, brother and nephew of PML-N’s provincial president Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri through a remote-controlled explosion in Khuzdar on Tuesday is not the first tragedy that has rocked Balochistan, because the plight of this province is actually as old as Pakistan itself and those who deem it to be a recent phenomenon, are grossly mistaken.
Balochistan, the largest of country’s four provinces by area, constituting approximately 44 per cent of Pakistan’s total land mass and the smallest in terms of population, has seen at least four major civil wars till date, research on the subject shows.
The first two civil wars of 1948 and1958 had just lasted a few months.These two rebellions had formally ended following the arrest of the Khan of Kalat on sedition charges on October 6, 1958.
The following day, the then Pakistani President Iskandar Mirza had declared martial law in the country, resulting in disturbances in many parts of Balochistan. The Khan of Kalat had allegedly organised a rebellion to secede from West Pakistan. A very close friend and host of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Ahmed Yar Khan was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army, which had then taken control of the Kalat palace. The Khan of Kalat was placed under house arrest in Lahore for some 15 years until a few years before his death.
Legend has it that Mir Ahmed Yar Khan had once weighed Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his sister Fatima Jinnah into gold and silver—-symbolizing his love for them.
History further reveals that the princely state of Kalat had existed from 1666 to October 14, 1955, before various states of Balochistan were dissolved and merged into the province of West Pakistan under the “One Unit” policy.
Nawab Nowroz Khan was another key Baloch leader hailing from an ancestry of powerful feudal lords of this province. He too was a key figure behind the 1958 resistance of the Balochs.Nauroz Khan, as many historians write, had agreed to surrender on May 15, 1959 in exchange for amnesty and settlement.
Colonel Tikka Khan, who later rose to the position of a Pakistan Army general, was in charge of the operation against the rebel Baloch leaders then.
It transpires after reading numerous historic accounts, whether fabricated or true, that it was after striking a deal with the Army that Nawab Nowroz Khan and his aides had laid down their arms. The ageing Nawab, along with his sons, nephews, close relatives and many followers, was arrested soon after the surrender.
While five of the surrendered leaders were executed on July 15, 1960 in Hyderabad Jail, Nawab Nowroz was spared execution on account of his age, but had later died in Kohlu Jail in 1964. He was said to be around 90. The third civil war in Balochistan was witnessed between 1962 and 1968. The Balochs were bombarded heavily, though the Pakistani forces also had to suffer heavy losses in the ensuing skirmishes and battles.
The fourth civil war in Balochistan was recorded between 1973 and 1977. Thousands of Balochs were killed while fighting against the Pakistan Army during these four eventful years. The Army too, had to bear massive losses in the process.
Many Baloch families had crossed over to Afghanistan where they had remained as refugees for 16 long years, before returning home in 1992.Meanwhile, most Baloch tribes like the Marris and Bugtis were also busy nourishing enmities between them.
So, the Balochs were actually fighting on many fronts simultaneously, as the Bijaranis, Sheranis, Mengals and the affluent Raisanis had to settle many scores with each other.Following is the timeline and chronology of the murders and unnatural deaths of some important Baloch personalities in recent years:
On December 2, 1973, a Pashtun nationalist and political leader from Quetta, Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, was assassinated in his house in Quetta by a grenade attack.
He is said to be the founder of the Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party. He was repeatedly imprisoned for 35 years both during the British Indian and the Pakistani government for secessionist activities.
He was a member of the Congress party in the Balochistan area and had campaigned for the Pashtun autonomy in a united secular India, along with Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) in the NWFP (now KP).
A sincere follower of Mohandas Gandhi, he was known by many as the “Baloch Gandhi.”He was also a member of the National Awami Party (NAP) in the initial part of his political career, before breaking away from it and forming his own political entity.
On March 13, 1974, Maulvi Shamsuddin, a Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam MPA and Deputy Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, was also shot dead in his car.
Referring to the murders of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, Maulvi Shamsuddin, assassination of PML-N leader Saad Rafique’s father Khawaja Rafique in Lahore on December 20, 1972, killing of Muhammad Ahmed Kasuri, father of renowned lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri on November 10, 1974 and the elimination of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dr Nazir Ahmed at his Dera Ghazi Khan clinic in 1973, veteran politician Sherbaz Khan Mazari writes in his book “The Journey to Disillusionment” that “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was lucky he got hanged for only one of these murders.”
In February 1974, Asadullah Mengal, the 26-year old son of former Balochistan Chief minister Sardar Attaullah Mengal was allegedly killed by the Pakistani Army. The Mengal family has often alleged since, as archives reveal, that some Army officers had kidnapped Asad from Karachi and had killed him in custody. The family claims Asad’s body was never handed over to them.
In 2002, Justice Mohammed Nawaz Marri was murdered just days before he was to be sworn in as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court. Justice Nawaz Marri’s family had got an FIR registered against Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and his militia for the assassination. The Nawab was arrested in early 2000 and put in jail where he remained for 18 months.
BLA commander Abdul Ghani Bangulzai was also arrested later in connection with the murder of Justice Marri. Accused Bangulzai hailed from the Bijarani-Marri tribes that have been long-standing opponents of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri - but he was released from jail soon after PPP government had taken over (in 2008), apparently to appease the separatists and nationalists in the troubled province.
In 2006, former Governor Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, had also died an unnatural death. On August 26, 2006, he was allegedly killed by Pakistan Army in his cave in Kohlu area, about 150 miles east of Quetta, leading to widespread unrest in the area.
On July 27, 2007, Balochistan government’s spokesman Raziq Bugti was shot dead by assailants in Quetta.
On January 26, 2009, Hussain Ali Yousafi (Chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party) was killed in Quetta.
On October 25, 2009, the Punjabi-born Balochistan Education Minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan, was shot dead outside his residence at Quetta. He was a member of the Pakistan People’s Party.
On July 14, 2010, former Senator Habib Jalib (a nationalist leader for the Balochistan National Party) was assassinated in Quetta.
On July 20, 2011, a PML-N provincial leader and former Nazim Saleem Jadoon was shot dead in front of his office in Quetta. No one had claimed responsibility for Jadoon’s murder at that time.