No right to vote?: Akbar Bugti’s party wants election not selection

Late Baloch leader’s party members claim state is rigging election, denying them right of return.

ISLAMABAD:

It has been eight years since the army operation in Dera Bugti. Since then, Bakhtiyar Khan has had to live away from home, along with thousands of other internally displaced persons.

“I had 12 cloth shops and grocery stores. They were all destroyed or looted following the operation against our leader Akbar Bugti. What was left was confiscated,” said 55-year-old Khan. But despite the loss of his businesses, Khan feels even more let down because he cannot vote in the upcoming elections. He and dozens of other IDPs from Dera Bugti protested against the “selection” of candidates in PB-24 and NA-265 constituencies at D-Chowk on Friday.

Holding banners and posters inscribed with slogans such as “We need the right to vote like every Pakistani,”,”selection in the name of elections,” and “Free Dera Bugti,” the protesters were fuming over what has become of their lives since the operation.

For them, the prime issue was the role state agencies have played in keeping residents of the two constituencies from going back to their homes and participating in the elections.

Wadra Sanaullah Bugti hails from the affected area. He lamented how sad it was that every candidate and party worker in the country is busy campaigning, while Dera Bugti’s leaders and voters are stuck in Islamabad. “The reason is clear. The state does not want them to run for their seats,” he said.

Talal Akbar Bugti, the son of Akbar Bugti, is a candidate for NA-265, while Talal’s son Shahzain Bugtiis contesting from PB-24. On April 28, Shahzain Bugti was denied access to Dera Bugti by the Frontier Constabulary at the Doli check post in Balochistan.

The father and son cannot enter the territory, which has been converted into no-go area, even for its residents, said Gohram Bugti, a relative of the Bugtis who was leading the protest. “We appeal to the Election Commission of Pakistan and the chief justice to take notice of this issue or postpone the elections for three months,” Gohram said.

All of the protesters showed their national identity cards to the assembled media to prove that they were actually from Dera Bugti and “not handpicked” for a show of strength at the protest.

“We have been thrown out of our homes and cannot participate in the polls. Aren’t we Pakistani?” asked Shah Bux Bugti.

Gohram Bugti believes state agencies are behind the mayhem. “The rivals of our leadership are sponsored and backed by state agencies. They are responsible for the disturbance in the lives of every member of our families,” he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2013.