Army makes no major gains in Dera Bugti By Kiyya Qadir Baloch ISLAMABAD: The dejected Bugti tribesmen are rejoiced to see Nawabzada Gohram Bugti, grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, among them in Dera Bugti after eight years. Riding a high-roof bullet proof vehicle and leading a convoy of more than 50 vehicles, Gohram, who is son of Talal Bugti, arrived in his hometown for the first time since a military operation in Dera Bugti in 2005. As he entered Sui, Bugti tribesmen showered rose petals on his vehicle, sacrificed goats on his way and chanted slogans for his success. Soon after arriving in Dera Bugti, the tribal leader met the locals at his residence and heard their grievances. Hundreds of thousands of Bugti tribesmen left their homes and moved to Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Sibi, Jacobabad, Sadiqabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Sanghar, Osta Mohammad and Karachi after the military operation in the region. Dera Bugti – Balochistan’s mineral rich district and home to about 250,000 Bugti tribesmen – is least economically developed. The district has the lowest growth record and worst infrastructure in Balochistan. High rate of poverty, poor social indicators for health and education, the lowest level of satisfaction with government service delivery and wide ranging political and economic grievances of the alienated Baloch still remain undressed. A visit to Dera Bugti revealed that the area has no proper communication infrastructure and not much of development work has been carried out there. The helpless people of Sui and Dera Bugti still use wood to light their burners while the educated youth are largely unemployed. Moreover, the majority of government officials posted to Dera Bugti do not perform their duties honestly. The treasury officer also does not know about the exact number of employees who are drawing salary. Most of the educational institutions, including an intermediate college in Dera Bugti, a technical training centre in Sui and a girls’ school in Sui, have not been functioning for last three years but teachers and other staff are regularly drawing salary on the patronage of army. The same is the situation in the Health Department. There are only six doctors and not a single lady doctor in the entire district. “We badly need doctors and other staff, especially female doctors, because most of the patients are women,” people of the area said. The Dera Bugti deputy commissioner said that due to the prevailing violence, the government machinery including business was totally disturbed. “We are taking steps to ensure that government institutions effectively solve the problems of the people of Dera Bugti and assuage their sense of uncertainty and insecurity,” he said. Another government official, who declined to be named, informed reporters that the current wave of violence has affected the Hindu community most as they controlled the major business in the area. He said that due to violence more than 150 families of Hindu community have left the town, leaving their businesses behind. “Often, there are rocket attacks on army’s cantt area or DCO office from Baloch Republican Army (BRA), which is fighting the army oppression. These attacks irk the army which then uses several organisations such as Musalla Difa Tanzeem, Sipah-e-Shuhada-e-Balochistan and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Aman Balochistan to counter Baloch militants,” the official said. Asked about the people working for these organisations, he said, “These organisations recruit religious extremists, thugs, criminals and drug dealers as mercenaries, and in return get incentives and licence to rob on highways, loot civilian, attack NATO supplies, smuggle drug from the Afghan border to anywhere in country and kidnap people for ransom.” The clashes between Bugti tribesmen and security forces broke in 2005. More than 1,000 houses, including a popular temple of Hindu community, were damaged, burnt or destroyed and almost 170,000 people fled their homes – among them 132 families were of Hindu community who own 90% of business in entire district. The majority of these people have sought refuge in neighbouring areas of Punjab, Sindh, Sui and continue to live in appalling conditions instead of tall claims made by army or government of providing relief to them. Surprisingly, 47 people remained in Dera Bugti during the military raid. They were either unable to pay for transportation to other parts of the country or too afraid to pass through areas of active fighting in order to reach a proper destination. Those who remained in the area during the military raid said that schools and Nawab Akbar Bugti’s fort were used as barracks by army, adding that in some areas, army personnel evacuated entire towns forcefully. “We were forced to flea multiple times from Dera Bugti to Sui by security forces,” Noor Muhammad Bugti, a witness of the operation, told reporters in Dera Bugti. “Most of us who stayed in the area lived in appalling conditions. We used to sleep in caves, mountains or under open sky. The winter brought terrible hardship and troubles for us. With temperatures below zero degree, many of us had nothing but the light, summer clothes to wear,” he said. According to local people, clashes among Bugti tribesmen and army resulted in multiple civilian deaths. Security forces and militants have killed more than 1,000 people at checkpoints, protests, and at all those places where there had been opposition to the government or militants. People, who witnessed the army rule in the area, said that in the native area of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, security forces closed all mosques, schools and a Hindu temple for years to prevent people from gathering. Although military operation in Dera Bugti has shaken Bugti’s tribal system, the army has made no major gains, it holds no public support and has no clear vision for bringing development in the region.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:06:58 +0000
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