Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti

Akbar Khan Bugti (July 12, 1927–August 26, 2006) was the
Tumandar (head) of the Bugti tribe of Baloch and served as
Minister of State for Interior and Governor of Balochistan
Province in Pakistan.

After a wave of terrorism started in Balochistan in 2004, Bugti

was widely perceived as a leader but went underground in 2005.
On August 26, he was killed in his cave in Kohlu, about 150 miles
east of Quetta, leading to widespread unrest in the area.

Early life and family

Nawab Akbar Khan was born in Barkhan the rural home of the rustic Khetran a (Marri-Bugti)
Baloch tribe to which his mother belonged and now an upgraded district of Balochistan, on July
12, 1927. Nawab Mehrab Khan Bugti, son of Sir Shahbaz Khan Bugti had two sons, Nawab
Akbar Bugti and Nawabzada Ahmed Nawaz Bugti. Nawab Akbar Bugti had two wives and five
sons and seven daughters. From his first wife: Nawabzada Saleem Khan Bugti, Nawabzada Talal
Khan Bugti, Nawabzada Rehan Khan Bugti, and Nawabzada Salal Khan Bugti. Of these four
sons, three have died. Nawabzada Salal Bugti was murdered in a shootout in Quetta by the rival
Bugti Kalpar sub clan in June 1992. From Nawab Akbar Bugti's second wife; Nawabzada Jameel
Akbar Bugti. Jamil Akbar Bugti, and Talal Akbar Bugti, are the surviving sons of Nawab Akbar
Bugti.Nawabzada Ahmed Nawaz Khan Bugti had three daughters, one of his daughter died in a
very young age and he had three sons Beveragh Bugti, Murtaza Bugti and Fahad Bugti.
Akbar Bugti has five daughters from his first wife names are Nawabzadi: Durr-e-shahwar,
Nilofur, Nazneen (deceased), Durdana, and Dreen.And two from his second wife names are
Shahnaz Marri (wife of Nawab Khair Bux Marri's Nephew, Humayun Khan Marri) and Farah
Naz Bugti (wife of Beveragh Bugti, the son of Nawabzada Ahmed Nawaz Bugti),they are the
sisters of Jameel Akbar Bugti.
The Bugti grandson's consist of Brahamdagh Khan Bugti (son of Rehan Khan Bugti), Mir Aali
Bugti (son of Salim Bugti), Ahmad Marri and Muhammad Marri (Son's of Humayun Khan
Marri), Washane Bugti and Sarang Khan Bugti (Grandsons of Nawabzada Ahmed Nawaz Bugti
from their paternal side and Grandsons of Akbar Bugti from their Maternal side) Shazain Bugti,
Taleh Bugti and Gohram Bugti (son's of Talal Bugti).

Education:
He received his early education from Aitchison College and Higher Education
from Oxford University.
In politics:
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 qualify 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 and with the help of the Iranian airforce killed large numbers of Balochis.
Muhammad Raza Shah Pahlavi, the King of Iran, sent F-14 fighter jets and AH-1 gunships along
with his pilots, to help Pakistan Army combat the insurgency. The Pakistani army is alleged to
have killed more than 4000 Balochi, mostly Marri insurgents, in these operations. Akbar Bugti is
said to have supported the military action.

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 Khan 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.

Balochistan conflict:
Bugti was involved in struggles, at times armed ones, in Balochistan in the 1950s, 1960s, and
1970s. He led the current movement in Balochistan for greater autonomy. He was the public face
and provided political support for the movement while his grandson, Brahamdagh Khan Bugti,
led the Bugti tribesmen.

In recent years, he was accused by the Pakistani government of being a warlord and running a
well-organized militia, sometimes thought to be the shadowy Balochistan Liberation Army
(BLA) with members numbering in the thousands. The BLA allegedly ran dozens of militant
guerrilla training camps. While campaigning from the mountain ranges of Dera Bugti, he was,
according to the Pakistani government, directing a “Mullah Omar” style guerrilla war. In July
2006, Pakistani president General Musharraf targeted him through aerial bombing, using air
force jets and gunship helicopters. The leader of Balochistan National Party, Sardar Akhtar
Mengal said, "The increase in bomb attacks in the Bugti and Marri areas are meant to target
Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and his associates" and called upon the
international community to take note of the situation.

Death:
On Saturday August 26, 2006, around 2230 hrs (PST), Bugti was killed when a shell
exploded in the cave in which he was hiding. The Pakistani government says that he killed
himself along with senior security officials by firing a shell when he was cornered by the
Pakistani officials who had come unarmed to arrest him, resulting in the collapse of the cave. [4]
Six Pakistani troops including one colonel & two majors also died who went there for
negotiations.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf termed his death a victory for Pakistanis and congratulated
the secret service chief who carried out this brutal operation. Pakistan's Information Minister
Mohammad Ali Durrani, confirmed that the operation included both air and ground assault. In a
short telephone interview, made to a private television network, the Pakistani Information
Minister said that Bugti's death occurred as the cave he was in collapsed.
In a recent article the Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir said that the last time that he talked to
Nawab Bugti, he was in the mountains and had called Mir from his satellite phone. In this last
conversation with Hamid Mir, Nawab Bugti told him "Read Mir Gul Khan Nasir's book on the
history of Balochistan. The Baloch have always resisted unconstitutional measures.I'm not a
traitor, the people who go against the Article 6 and take control of Pakistan are the real traitors. I,
like Mir Gul Khan Nasir, only put forward the demand for Balochistan's rights. But in General
Musharraf's view this is a crime punishable by death. (Bugti Laughs then continues) Your
commando general will rest only after he martyrs me but after my martyrdom he will be held
responsible. So now it's up to you people to either choose Musharraf or Pakistan. The choice is
yours."

Funeral and rioting:

Bugti's death was followed by rioting by hundreds of students from the state-run Balochistan
university. As the news flashed across television screens in Pakistan, the government deployed
Rangers and paramilitary forces across major cities to prevent a backlash and impose a curfew in
the provincial capital, Quetta. Security arrangements for the Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf have been beefed up to the highest level, and
his movement has since been vey restricted, fearing a
retaliatory attack. Security arrangements have been
further enhanced in and around all airports of Pakistan.
The media both in Pakistan and outside have severely
condemend the killing as the "[m]ilitary’s second
biggest blunder after Bhutto’s execution" and calling it
a "political nightmare". Others have likened it to the
East Bengal crisis of 1971 where military violence
eventually led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.

On August 27, 2006, some private media broadcast

news that Bugti's grandsons, Brahamdagh and Mir Ali,
are still alive, but no official confirmation has been made.[citation needed]

On September 1, 2006 Bugti was buried in Dera Bugti with three locks on his coffin, next to the
graves of his son and brother. His family, who wanted a public funeral in Quetta, did not attend
the burial, they protested against his body being locked in the coffin.

The Bugti grandson's consist of Brahamdagh Khan Bugti (son of Rehan Khan Bugti), Mir Aali
Bugti (son of Salim Bugti), Washane Bugti and Sarang Bugti (Grandsons of Sardar Ahmed
Nawaz Bugti). Ahmad Marri and Muhammad Marri (Son's of Humayun Khan Marri), Shahzain
Bugti, Taleh Bugti and Gohram Bugti (son's of Talal Bugti).