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Pakistan President calls grand Baloch jirga

Nirupama Subramanian

Speculation over attendance at Musharraf's meeting

ISLAMABAD: A grand jirga (meeting of clan chiefs) of Baloch tribal and political leaders called by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on November 8 has evoked interest for who will attend it and who will stay away.

The jirga will meet in Islamabad, and according to word emanating from presidential circles, it will thrash out every problem that Balochistan faces, including development and security-related issues.

The question is, will it be bigger than the grand jirga called by the Khan of Kalat in September to protest against Islamabad's policies in Balochistan?

As many as 95 tribal sardars and 300 other "notables" attended the Kalat jirga that adopted a resolution condemning the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and protested Pakistan's "colonial occupation" of Baloch land.

The jirga, said to be the first that brought together so many tribal chiefs of the region in more than 100 years, adopted a resolution condemning what it called the "violation of its territorial integrity, exploitation of Balochistan's natural resources, denial of the Baloch right to the ownership of their resources and the military operation in the province."

It also helped the Khan of Kalat — his ancestor signed the accession of what is present-day Balochistan province with Pakistan — send out the message to Islamabad that despite a low-profile compared to Nawab Bugti and others, he still commands respect in the province.

Gen. Musharraf has thrown open his jirga to all tribal chiefs bar three — the sons of the late Nawab Bugti, Nawab Khair Buksh Marri and Saradar Attaullah Mengal.

According to Gen. Musharraf, they are the main forces behind the insurgency and the unrest in the province and he will not deal with them. Mir Suleman Dawood, the Khan of Kalat, told The Hindu that the November 8 jirga would reveal "everything" about who was on whose side in Balochistan. "There are more than three" on the side of the Baloch cause, he said, adding that the Government was "spending a lot of money" on the jirga.

The insurgency has continued to simmer after the killing of Nawab Bugti on August 26, with bomb explosions and rocket attacks in different parts of Balochistan becoming a regular feature in the weeks since.

The Government's jirga comes at a time when Nawab Bugti's Jhamoori Watan Party is said to have all but disintegrated.

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