JWP chief: Talal Bugti passes away

Baloch nationalist leader dies of cardiac arrest at CMH

QUETTA:

Son of the slain nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and president of Balochistan’s Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti, passed away on Monday morning at the age of 63.

Talal Bugti was admitted to the provincial capital’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH) after his condition suddenly deteriorated Sunday night. “At the hospital, he had a cardiac arrest which proved fatal,” said a source at the CMH.

Following his death, a large number of Bugti tribesmen gathered at the Bugti House in Quetta, where his party flag was also lowered. The JWP has announced seven days of mourning.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also visited the hospital to pay homage to the diseased politician.

Expressing grief over his demise, PM Nawaz Sharif in a statement appreciated Talal’s services “rendered towards development of his area and for strengthening democratic institutions”.

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari in a message said Talal will be remembered by his party members, politicians and friends for a long time to come.

Talal was born in Dera Bugti on March 17, 1952. He was the fourth child of Nawab Akbar Bugti, with two elder sisters and an elder brother, Salim.

Talal started his formal education in 1957 at Dera Bugti School. In 1958, he joined Quetta Grammar School. Later, he went to Lahore’s Aitchison College and did his BA from the Punjab University. Talal Bugti took over as president of the JWP after the killing of his father in an army operation in 2006. He was heading his own faction of the JWP; the other faction was being led by his nephew Nawab Aali Bugti, who is also chief of the Bugti tribe. Talal Bugti is survived by three sons Shahzain Bugti, Gohram Bugti and Mir Chakar Bugti.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2015.