Akbar Bugti - in Politics

In Politics

He was a Tumandar, Tuman is a political alliance and not a tribe;hence the Tuman Bugti was led by him. Nawab Akbar Bugti was elected in a by-election to the National Assembly of Pakistan in May 1958 to fill the vacancy created as a result of the assassination of the incumbent, Dr Khan Sahib, and sat on the government bench as a member of the ruling coalition. Bugti (Republican) served as Minister of State (Interior) in the government of Prime Minister Malik Sir Feroz Khan Noon (Republican) from September 20, 1958, to October 7, 1958, when the cabinet was dismissed on the declaration of Martial Law by President Iskander Mirza.

He was arrested and convicted by a Military Tribunal in 1960 and subsequently disqualified from holding public office. As a result of his legal battles, he did not contest the 1970 general elections. Instead, he campaigned on behalf of his younger brother, Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Bugti, a candidate of the National Awami Party.

However, Bugti developed differences with the NAP leadership, especially the new Balochistan Governor, Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo. He informed the Federal Government and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Pakistan Peoples Party) of the alleged London Plan, which resulted in the dismissal of the provincial governor as well as the Chief Minister Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal and his cabinet on February 14, 1973. The next day, the Federal Government appointed Bugti as the Governor of Balochistan, and the Pakistan Army was deployed in the province as part of a crackdown on the National Awami Party.

He resigned on January 1, 1974, after disagreeing with the manner in which the Federal Government was carrying out policies in Balochistan. The army had deployed 100,000 men in Balochistan killed large numbers of Balochis. The Pakistani army is alleged to have killed more than 4000 Balochi, mostly Marri insurgents, in these operations.

There was a lull in his activities when General Rahimuddin Khan was appointed Governor of Balochistan in 1978. Bugti remained silent throughout the course of Rahimuddin's rule, which was often characterized by hostility towards the Baloch Sardars.

In 1988, he joined the Balochistan National Alliance and was elected Chief Minister on February 4, 1989. His government frequently disagreed with the Federal Government led by the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan Peoples Party).

Bugti resigned on August 6, 1990, when the provincial assembly was dissolved by Governor of Balochistan General Muhammad Musa in accordance with the instructions of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was exercising his authority by virtue of Article 58 (2 b) of the Constitution of Pakistan. For the 1990 General Elections, Bugti formed his own political party, the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), being Balochistan's single largest party and was elected to the provincial assembly.

In 1993, he was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan, representing the JWP in parliament. Also, in 1993, Nawab Bugti announced his candidacy to be President of Pakistan but later withdrew his candidacy and announced his support of the eventual winner, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari. In 1997, Nawab Bugti was re-elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan, representing the JWP.