Memories of Another Day
Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo in Hyderabad Jail, early 60s
The Baloch resistance to the unwarranted and unjust military operations – after the illegal and unfair dismissal of Sardar Ataullah Mengal’s government in February 1973, only 10 months after being sworn in – was the most protracted, pervasive and forceful struggle in the province’s history.
The Mengal government was sworn in on May 1, 1972, amid high hopes and expectations but from the first day encountered hurdles in its path. The federal government created upheaval in Lasbela by encouraging supporters of Jam Ghulam Qadir, the last ruler of the former state, to take up arms against the provincial government alleging persecution. The Mengal government had to raise a Levies force to quell the trouble as the federal government refused to send help. Jam Ghulam Qadir, the Jam of Lasbela, later became the chief minister following the dismissal of Mengal’s government.
At a public meeting in Lahore in 1973 ,Nawab Akbar Bugti claimed that a plan for a ‘Greater Balochistan’ had been hatched, which envisaged independence of Baloch majority areas in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan through military means. The issue of sending Punjabi officers to serve in Balochistan also became a sore point, though later, it emerged that Ghulam Mustafa Khar, then governor of Punjab, had encouraged the officers to return. Iran, too, was insecure about the Baloch being granted minimal autonomy, fearing a resistance movement within its own borders.
The final straw in the charade was the discovery of arms (300 AK-47 rifles and 48,000 rounds) on February 10, 1973, at the residence of Nasir Al-Saud, the military attaché of the Iraqi Embassy in Islamabad. Apparently, the arms had been transported from Karachi to Islamabad. Interestingly, Al-Saud had disappeared from Pakistan three days before the weapons were found. Incidentally, the military attaché was found to be a Savak agent who was later killed by Saddam Hussein.
The Mengal government was dismissed on February 13 and in its wake, the Mufti Mahmood government in the NWFP also resigned in protest, as JUI members were part of the Mengal government. Nawab Akbar Bugti was made the governor and held office for nearly a year.
My paternal uncle, Mir Rasul Baksh Talpur, then governor of Sindh, also resigned because his elder brother Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur, my father, was accused of involvement in the Iraq Embassy arms affair. He was accused because by now it was known that I was in the Marri area. This information was disclosed to the press, thanks to Akbar Bugti.
The dismissal of a democratically elected government was enough to make the Baloch rise to defend their rights and fight against the injustices perpetrated upon them.
At its helm were Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal, Mir Gul Khan Naseer, Khair Bakhsh Khan Marri, who headed the National Awami Party (NAP) and others who had suffered imprisonment and restrictions on their movement since 1947 for articulating their views on the plight of the Baloch.
While Sher Mohammad Marri was arrested in March 1973, the above-mentioned leaders were arrested on August 15 soon after the promulgation of the 1973 constitution. Nawab Khair Bakhsh and Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur refused to ratify the constitution on the grounds that it failed to provide sufficient guarantees for provincial autonomy.
The revolt was around the corner. While the Baloch people waited in vain for a resolution of the dispute, the government was busy blockading the Marri and Mengal areas, the hot spots of the previous resistance in the ’60s. They slowly tightened the noose, to the extent that people living in the Marri area faced extreme hardships just to procure basic rations.
Once our small group had to survive for a few days on flour, which had become quite inedible. Our group consisted of three Marri tribesmen, an urban activist, who wishes to remain anonymous, and myself. We were a support group, and carried medicine and some extra rations on two or three donkeys and two goats which we kept for milk. I knew a little about treating diseases, something that I had learnt while living in Sindh.
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