I require as under:..
1.field map of all Balouch nation.
2. List of saints and forefathers.
3. The war among Rind…Lashar.
4. Name of Ruler and thier history.
5. List of saints/Forefathers of Mazari, Leghari,Khosagh,Gurchani, Dreshak and war history.
6. War history among Mazari, Bugti, Dreshak, Gurchani, Leghari, Khosagh,
1. Balouch tribes histoy from mir batil khan .
2. Balouch Empires.
3. Rind….Lashars war.
4. Mir chakar khan …..humayoon badshah friend ship.
5. Mier chakar khan…..humayoon badshah at dehli.
6. Mir chakar khan and humayoon badshah. Come to Rojhan mazari.
7. Full histoy of mir chakar khan,s forfathers.
8. Forefather history mir batil khan .
9 History of rojhan mazari..
10. Forefather history of mazari balachani rojhan
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak was born on June 28, 1942. He was elected MNA for his second term. He is politically affiliated with PML(Q).
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak graduated from Government College Lahore in 1962 and received his masters degree in history from the Punjab University in 1966. Later, he also got his LL.B degree from Punjab University in 1964. He is an agriculturist by profession.
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak has served as MPA Punjab Assembly for the terms of 1970, 1985, 1988 and 1990. He was previously elected as MNA for the term of 1997-1999. He has served as Provincial Minister of Punjab holding portfolios of Food and Cooperatives in 1973-1975; Irrigation and Power in 1975-1977; Livestock, Food and Industries in 1987-1988; Law and Parliamentary Affairs in 1988-1990 and Planning and Development, and Law and Parliamentary Affairs in 1990-1993.
Married, he has three sons and three daughters.
Dera Ghazi Khan (and Rajanpur) – Claims and Counter-claims (Part – III)
By Ismail Mazari,Tagged: Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Akhund, Akhund Abdul Karim Bamezai, Badozai, Balochi, Balochistan, Barakzai, Chaubarah, Chenab, Dera Fateh Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dreshak, Durrani, featured, Gorchani, Hassani, Humayun, Indus, Jataoi, Kabul, Khetran, Khurasan, King Shah Shuja, Kinjhir, Kot Mithon, Layyah, Leghari, M. Y. Qaisran, Magassi, Marazi, Massu Khan Notakani, Mountstuart Elphinstone, Muhammad Khan, Muzaffargarh, Nahars, Nawab of Thal, newsplus24, Nutkani, Pashtu, Popalzai, punjab, Rai Hittu Ram, rajanpur, Rawalpindi, Rojhan, Saddozai, Sakhi Sarwar, Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi, Seraiki, Shah Mahmud, Shah Zaman, Shikarpur, Sind, Sir Olaf Caroe, Sughar, Suleman Range, Taimur Shah, Taunsa Sharif, Tumun – 3 comments
By: M. Y. Qaisrani
The ignorance of these Afghan /Pathan Governors, sent by the rulers from Kabul, is attested by Rai Hittu Ram.[1] In all, there were 16 or 17 Governors, whose total tenure of rule is about 40 years, during the last decades of 18th century to earlier decades of 19th century. They belonged mostly to families of then ruling elite of Afghanistan, as their names in the available record indicate; Saddozai, Barakzai, Badozai, Durrani, Popalzai etc
(Clarification: As is known to all, the district of Rajanpur was created in 1982, out of the old Dera Ghazi Khan district. Therefore, unless expressly indicated otherwise, the words ‘Dera Ghazi Khan District’ in all the installments of this article would mean present Dera Ghazi Khan plus present Rajanpur districts.)
Apparently it seems the Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan district, appointed directly from Khurasan /Kabul, as earlier mentioned, were mostly indifferent rulers. They had generally less familiarity with and knowledge of the area, its people and Baloch tribes inhabiting most of its plains and adjoining Suleman range. One of their main handicaps was perhaps the communication-gap, as they did not know the local languages i.e. Balochi and Seraiki; Baloch then speaking almost entirely Balochi and non-Baloch population speaking Seraiki. The ignorance of these Afghan /Pathan Governors, sent by the rulers from Kabul, is attested by Rai Hittu Ram.[1] In all, there were 16 or 17 Governors, whose total tenure of rule is about 40 years, during the last decades of 18th century to earlier decades of 19th century. They belonged mostly to families of then ruling elite of Afghanistan, as their names in the available record indicate; Saddozai, Barakzai, Badozai, Durrani, Popalzai etc[2].
Almost from the start of governorship of these directly-appointed Governors, a sort of anarchy began to prevail in the district. The Baloch tribes both in the plains and Suleman Range started indulging in their ‘favorite’ marauding activities with more impunity, pillaging and looting the relatively less militant but productive classes. At the same time, their marauding adventures would not spare their neighboring brother-Baloch tribes, creating a chain of incessant revenge attacks and fratricide. There seemed to be a wave of tribal battles among the Baloch of Dera Ghazi Khan District, the period of which coincides, roughly, with the tenure of these direct appointees.
Each Baloch tribe in the district was at war with all its neighboring tribes; right, left, front and back, as one can visualize from the Balochi ballads[3] of that period i.e. around 2nd half of the 18th century and on-wards. The maintenance of existing canals, what to speak of excavating new ones, was abandoned, resulting in closure of most of these channels. The agriculture, main source of the government revenue, suffered badly. The peaceful agricultural classes started migrating to the cis-Indus areas.[4]
Reports by earlier British officials, appointed in the district, speak of the remnants of what-must-be-in-the-past flourishing villages and contours of inundation canals testify to this state of affairs.[5] But, to be fair to these Afghan Governors, the sole responsibility of disruption in agriculture as a result of closure of irrigation channels and the surge in Baloch in-fighting and marauding can not be placed solely upon them. There was a major environmental disruption in Dera Ghazi Khan District, around the same period; upon which we will dwell shortly.
Obviously, in a state of affairs of anarchy and setback to agriculture, the revenue of the Kabul government from the district began to decrease, which must be disturbing for any government. The local administrators in the district started coercive measures to get maximum possible out of the people. This must have created discontentment.
Rai Hittu Ram narrates that when an Afghan Governor of Dera Ghazi Khan was asked by the King /authorities in Khurasan (Kabul) about the state of agriculture, he sent false report about the crops being good and as usual. After the harvest, when there was no satisfactory revenue income, he forcibly recovered four hundred thousand (4 Lac) Rupees from the people, like dacoits do, and deposited with the government treasury in Kabul.[6] (Four hundred thousand Rupees in late 18th century must not be less than Rs.4 Billion of today).
The indifference and incompetence of these Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan district can somehow also be excused because of uncertain conditions in Afghanistan proper after the death of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1773 A.D. He was succeeded by his favorite (but not the eldest) son, Taimur Shah.[7] Like all the members of elites of Afghanistan, then and afterwards, Taimur Shah spoke Persian. But he did not have even reasonable familiarity with Pashto;[8] unlike his father, who spoke both Persian and Pashto, but is said to have been more comfortable with Pashto and Pashtun tribesmen. (By the way, Ahmad Shah Abdali also wrote poetry and that too, in Pashto.[9]) Though Taimur Shah faced no serious challenge from any contender for the throne of Kabul, the Afghanistan kingdom’s disintegration started.
The decay which began during his reign became more evident within a short period of his death in 1793 A.D.[10]. It was after his death that badshahgardi in Afghanistan started in earnest and had a bearing on Dera Ghazi Khan District. Sir Olaf Caroe’s translation of badshahgardi as literally ‘King-turning’ and meaning dynastic strife[11] is somewhat different from what we in present times would have done. Like ‘Ghundagardi’ by which we mean ‘excesses committed by hooligans’, we would translate badshahgardi as ‘tyranny by kings’. Anyway, badshahgardi of 18th century Afghanistan had some connotations of our meanings too.
Turning back to our narrative; Taimur Shah left behind him 23 sons and un-numbered daughters.[12] Obviously most, if not all, of his sons were aspiring for the throne of Kabul. By commonsense and tradition, Taimur Shah’s eldest son from a royal lady of Saddozai clan, prince Humayun, would have succeeded him. But because of palace maneuverings and other factors, Taimur was succeeded by his son, Shah Zaman, /Zaman Shah, from his favorite Yousufzai wife. Naturally, prince Humayun (and some other brothers too) disputed Shah Zaman’s accession to the throne.
During the period of badshahgardi, this prince Humayun, after failure of his second attempt to dislodge Shah Zaman, around 1794 A.D, fled to Sunghar (almost southern half of present Taunsa sub-Division of Dera Ghazi Khan District). At that time the Chief of Sunghar was Massu Khan Notakani, who assisted the fugitive prince and managed to smuggle him across the Indus by Dera Fateh Khan pattan (ferry), to area of Layyah (spelt Leiah till 1982).
There in Layyah (Leiah) area, the prince, along with his companions, stopped at a well and took some sugarcane sticks from the owner /Zamindar, paying an Asharfi (Coin of gold). This payment was much more than the Zamindar would have expected. (Most probably he would have given the sugarcane sticks free of cost, as is the custom in the area even till today!). This aroused curiosity among the people of the area. Hearing the news, Muhammad Khan, Nawab of Thal, who was at Layyah (Leiah) at that time, suspecting that it may be the fugitive prince, immediately pursued the prince along with some force. (King Shah Zaman had announced untold rewards and orders for the capture of Prince Humayun).
Nawab Muhammad Khan overtook the prince at a well in Thal, some 25 Kilo Meter from Layyah (Leiah). The prince had some 20 /30 horsemen with him, who offered a gallant resistance. A young son of the prince and some of his horsemen were killed in the skirmish. The prince was captured, along with his remaining companions and brought to Layyah (Leiah). The news was immediately transmitted to Shah Zaman, who ordered that the prince should be blinded and his companions should be executed by disemboweling them. Among the prisoners killed at Layyah (Leiah) was a brother of powerful Wazir Fatteh Khan Barakzai; who looms large in the history of Afghanistan of those times.
Nawab Muhammad Khan was rewarded with title of Sarbuland Khan and government of Dera Ismail Khan, in addition to what he already held.[13] (Later on Shah Zaman was himself blinded, after he was deposed by another half-brother, Shah Mahmud. The celebrated British diplomat and historian, Mountstuart Elphinstone, met Shah Zaman near Rawalpindi in 1809 when the latter was in the entourage of his younger brother King Shah Shuja, who was himself fleeing Afghanistan kingdom after their half-brother Shah Mahmud again captured the throne. Mountstuart Elphinstone gives vivid account of his meeting with the blind ex-king Shah Zaman[14]).
Leaving the Afghan kings and governors for a while, we come to the environmental catastrophe to which we alluded earlier. It hit the Dera Ghazi District towards start of the last decade of 18th century and its adverse effects engulfed the area and its people. It was the major change in the course of the river Indus in this district, in or around 1790 A.D.[15] (Some sources say that most likely it occurred in 1787 A.D. but not all agree to this date[16]).
The Indus shifted to its present bed from its previous bed, making breach in its western bank near Kinjhir (renamed as Shah Jamal since last 2/3 decades under ‘Islamisation’ initiated by Gen. ZiaulHaq, though one is perplexed as to what was ‘Un-Islamic’ in its original name!) in present Muzaffargarh district.[17] Earlier flowing near Kinjhir, passing along present Shahr Sultan, the Indus joined (combined waters of all the five Punjab Rivers, here generally called) Chenab, a few Kilo Meter southeast of Shahr Sultan, almost opposite Uchch. By rough estimate, the old and new beds are not less than 40 Kilo Meter apart. This change shifted the confluence point of both rivers, about 100 Kilo Meter downstream, close to Kot Mithon (in present Rajanpur District).
This shift in the course of River Indus is said to have been caused by a canal, excavated by Nawab (Makhdum?) of Sitpur,[18] on the right bank of the Indus. This man-made structure most probably caused hurdle in the normal flow during some unprecedented flood and the Khwaja Khidir – Indus in Baloch terminology mixed with mythology – became furious, causing not only economic but also political convulsions in the Dera Ghazi Khan District and by extension in the District of Muzaffargarh.
The mouths /heads of most of the existing canals and their structures became inoperative; particularly those feeding southern areas of the District, (roughly from Dera Ghazi Khan town to southward, including those areas of present Muzaffargarh District which were on right bank previously and the shift in course of the Indus catapulted them on the left bank). Besides that, the Chhal or inundation waters of the Indus during monsoon started reaching those areas on the west, which had perhaps never witnessed them in the past. This caused convulsions, as the Baloch tribes in the plains and by extension in the Suleman Range saw their resources and space squeezed.
It resulted in unprecedented in-fighting among different Baloch tribes, as already mentioned. Resultantly, some tribes /Tumuns of the Baloch in plains and Suleman Range disintegrated. For example the Jistkani /Jaskani tribe in the plains lost its Tumundar and Tumun, under the pressure from the Dreshaks, who in turn were being pushed by the Mazaris and others.
Different sections of Jaskanis moved into other tribes and became merged with them. Similarly, the Hassanis, who were earlier banished by Khan of Kalat Mir Naseer Khan the Great from his dominions and had sheltered themselves in Nisao plain in Suleman Range, were forced by the Marris and Dreshaks to seek abode within Khetran tribe in present Barkhan district of north-eastern Balochistan, within Suleman Range and eventually became part of it, loosing their Tumundar, Tumundari and Tumun.[19]
Some of the Nahar Pathans, once ruling people in Sitpur principality, as earlier mentioned, after being pushed out of Rojhan areas by Mazaris and from other areas by other Baloch tribes, also sought abode /refuge with the Khetrans.[20] (By the way, the Mazaris had ousted the Nahars from Rojhan /Kin areas of present Rajanpur district and Kashmore areas of present upper Sind, during early 3/4 decades of 18th century).
The Jatois saw themselves, after this shift in the course of the Indus, at its left bank, detached from main body of the Baloch tribes, though some of its members still remain and hold some agricultural lands in the areas on the right bank. Because of now being in cis-Indus area, the Jatois perhaps escaped the furiousness of in-fighting of late 18th and early 19th century, though we find at least one Balochi Ballad, relating to their fighting against Mazaris, but it most probably relates to some earlier period, when both the tribes were in trans-Indus areas. (Khan Bahadur, Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi (19th – early 20th century) was a prominent Chief of Jatois of Muzaffargarh, who bestowed large tracts of his lands to a trust ‘Sardar Kaura Khan Trust’ the income of which was mainly meant for stipends and scholarships[21] to the Baloch and other Muslim students. By tradition, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, former Pakistani Federal Minister, is present chief of Jatois, who is reputed to be a simple and thorough gentleman.)
By and large, the northern areas of the Dera Ghazi Khan District should not have been affected by shift in the course of the Indus, but they also felt the heat as chain reaction of its ill-effects in the southern parts. Though the oral traditions among the Qaisrani tribe speak of pushing out the Magassi tribe from the areas which now form Qaisrani Tumun in plains and adjacent Suleman Range in Taunsa sub-Division, but these traditions most probably relate to some earlier period.
This faction of Magassi tribe, afterwards settled in Chaubarah area of present Layyah (Leiah) District, where they have considerable agricultural lands and importance /dominance in local politics.
Coming back to Afghan /Pathan governors of Dera Ghazi Khan, we have found that fall of agriculture in the District during their tenure and general anarchy and – as Rai Hittu Ram terms the Baloch unrest – the Baloch Shorida Sari, Shorish and in-fighting / marauding[22] was not of their making solely. It had other reasons as well, as we have explained.
On the contrary, in earlier period of Afghan rule, for example during Ahmad Shah Abdali’s suzerainty, the town of Dera Ghazi Khan gained much importance in commerce and was considered as one of the ‘gates of Khurasan’ with Shikarpur of Sind.[23] This commerce and trade benefited the Baloch tribes indirectly as each organized and ‘state-recognized’ tribe was entitled, since long, to collect Badarqa levy (security charges) on the goods and Caravans passing through its Tumun. For example, Qaisranis used to get 8 Annas (Re. 0.5) on each camel-load and one Anna (Re. 0.0625) on each pony-load of goods from Caravans of traders, passing through their area and passes[24].
Similarly Gorchanis collected 8 Annas (Re. 0.5) on each camel-load passing through Chhachhar pass, besides octroi type levies.[25] The Legharis also recovered similar amounts from Caravans passing through Sakhi Sarwar pass.[26] This source of income must be substantial for Legharis, as Sakhi Sarwar pass was one of main routes to Khurasan for trade Caravans.
Similar Badarqa levy was practiced by each organized Baloch tribe of Dera Ghazi Khan, according to oral traditions. (Of course, major portion of this income went to the chiefs of the tribes!).
It seems that these Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan District had come with intentions of settling here permanently, as they had moved with their families and kinsmen, because they had brought their teachers-cum-holy men, called Akhund, also with them (or asked their Akhunds to take abode in Dera Ghazi Khan).
The descendants of these Afghan Governors, their kinsmen and their Akhunds are settled in Dera Ghazi Khan town and elsewhere in the District, as respectable and well-off citizens, mostly assimilated with locals. Some of the Akhund and Durrani families have, however, retained their Afghani Persian tongue for communication within their homes.
The example is the family of Aligarh-educated Akhund Abdul Karim Bamezai, as told by Akhund Aurangzeb Raza, a young lawyer of Dera Ghazi Khan. Mr Aurangzeb’s grandfather, the aforementioned Akhund Abdul Karim, was among the pioneers of Pakistan movement in the District of Dera Ghazi Khan and was awarded (posthumous) Medal by Pakistan government on his struggle for this cause.
According to Akhund Aurangzeb, his grandfather was the man who had hoisted Pakistani Flag at a Chauk in Dera Ghazi Khan town during the movement and for that reason the Chauk was named (and is still called) ‘Pakistani Chauk’. He also remained Chairman of the Municipal Committee of Dera Ghazi Khan.[27]
Some of the Afghan /Pathan Governors constructed mosques etc in the (old) town of Dera Ghazi Khan, like that built by Abdul Jabbar Khan, in 1235 Hijri, towards the closing years of Afghan rule here, with a cost of Rs.32000/- (a whooping amount at that time). It was among the principal buildings of the old town. This mosque, with some other prominent mosques, was converted to Dharmshala during Sikh rule. Another mosque of Haji Muhammad Saddozai (a Governor?) was built ‘very long ago with red mortar’ according to the District Gazetteer. It was also converted to Dharmshala during Sikh rule.[28]
Traditionally and generally each of the big mosques used to be supported with a revenue-free tract of agricultural land and the Afghan Governors continued with that tradition. One can understand that big mosques also served as educational institutions (Maktab) for the children.
The Gadhis are a sub-tribe of the Baloch Mazari tribe, named after migration from lower Punjab to upper Punjab because of deficiency of food, water and lack of lands, a Baloch tribe of Pakistanand Iran. Gadhi Mazari migrated from Rojhan to upper Punjab. Many Gadhi Mazaris live in Pakistan in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. In Punjab, their communities can be found in,Rahim Yar Khan Jhang, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Toba Tek Singh District, Taunsa Sharif and Dera Ghazi Khan District.
Gadhis are most aggressive, powerful and active in the politics of the areas they live in, especially in Jhang and Toba Tek Singh. They still follow the old customs and traditions of their ancestors; they are known for their orthodox way of life. They used to live in tribes but as time passed, they have begun to scatter. They had a panchat system and the chief of the tribe used to decide matters, issues and fights between the Gadhi families. The last known and accepted chief was Mir Sher Muhammad Khan Mazari, (the Nineteenth Sardar and Fourth Mir of Mazaris). After his death in the early 18th century, things changed and Gadhis started having enmity in their own families, which in some cases has led to much bloodshed.
The Gajani is a part of the Buledi Baloch tribe; 95% of them are living between two famous rivers Patt river and Shahi river in tahsil Sohbatpur of Balochistan and rest of 5% are living in districtJacobabad Sindh.
This tribe has further five sub-tribes Mehranzai, Loharzai, Sharanzai, Sulemanzai and Sachulani. The tribe economically dependents upon agricultural land. The tribe has a chief in common, whereas every sub-tribe has its own sub-chiefs too.
The Gishkori are a domki Baloch tribe mostly settled in the areas of district Sibi City gorgij, Dera Ismail Khan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muhammad Pur Diwan, Ali Pur and Kot Addu of Western Punjab as well as in Balochistan, particularly Makran and Quetta. Gashkori tribe is the branch of Bevrigh domki (Rind), Muqaddam of Mir Chakar Khan Rind. They helped the Rind tribe in the Tricennial Battle against the Lasharies.
Gishkori came there with their great leader Mir chakar Azam Khan. They fought against the British commandar Barkaly. They helped Ahamad yar Khan Kharal leader of the Kharal nation in Punjab. Gashkories are commanders of Mir Chakar Khan. Gashkories came back after the death of Mir Chakar Khan.
Ghazini or Gazini (Balochi: غزینی ) is a sub clan of the Marri Baloch Tribe of Kohlu, Balochistan. The Marri Tribal Chief or Nawab belongs to this Sub Clan. Ghaznis mostly reside in and around Kohlu and Kahan areas of Marri Tuman. This clan has the honour of being the Chief Clan or Sardar Khel of the Marri Tribe. At present Nawab Khair Buksh Khan Marri son of Nawab Mehrullah Khan Marri is the Chief Sardar of the Marri Tribe and Tumandar of Marri Tuman.
Gichki [(Baluchi: گچکی ) is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. Some historians say that they were native inhabitants of Gichk tehsil in Panjgur.
They mostly live in the Makkuran area of Balochistan, and ruled the region from 1740 till 197. The land was distributed among Gichki clans from Kech to Panjgur. The tribe is supposedly the Royal family of Makkuran. “Gichk” is a place in Panjgur this place called Gichk because the Gichki’s were living there. It has relations with many other Royal families of Balochistan including the Jam of Lasbela, Khan of Kalat and Chiefs of the Mengal tribes.
The Gichkis of are commonly divided into three subtribes, the Esahzai, Dinarzai and Qasimzai. The Esahzai are the clan of Miresah.They ruled Panjgur and Sami and Sharak. Clan chief Gazi Mir Shahdad was the maternal grandfather of Khan of Kalat and Prince Kareem was popular for revolting against the British. The Qasimzai are a clan of Qasim. They ruled Kech. Dinarzai are a clan of Malik Dinnar who ruled the Iran border areas of Tump and Mand. Malik Dinnar was popular for his bravery.
Gola is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan.
A servile tribe; said to have fought against Chakur; now the principal clan among the Buledhi.
Most of the Golas speak Balochi while minority speak Sindhi and Saraiki . They live in Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Sibi in Balochistan and Kamber Khan, Jacobabad and Larkana in Sindh. There is a small town with name “Golo Wah” “Golo Canal”.
The Gopang (Known to be Rind, as also Jatoi clan)
They are found in the Rojhan Balochistan, Kamber district of Sindh province. Some also live in Kachhi, Balochistan and in the Rahim Yar Khan district.
They were thrown out from Balochistan by Mir Chakar the great due to disobediance in tribal war.Most of them migrated to Sindh and Punjab and few remained at the outskirts of Balochistan. In Gopang Tribal culture, the family name is carried forward for the eldest son, who is also the leader of the family.
Gopang Baloch also live in Makhan Bela and Rohillan Wali since 300 years ago. The name of Makhan Bela originated from Gopang Baloch Sardar Makhan khan. They also speak seraiki.
Gadbi (Known to be Rind, as also Jatoi.)
Gorgage (alternate: Gorgij) is one of prominent Baloch tribes mainly dwelling in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is one of the most powerful Baloch tribes in Iranian Baluchistan and Afghan Baluchistan.
They were the first inhabitants of Dera Bugti (the district of East Balochistan). After many battles with other tribes they migrated to other parts of Balochistan, but first Sardar Balach Gorgage grave is in Dera Bugti, He is the Ideal of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and also Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri thats way he Named his son Mir Balach Marri. For a long time the Gorgage chieftain was settled in the Afghan part of Balochistan but recently, owing to the spread of the Gorgage population, and also owing to borders which have separated the Baloch people into three neighboring countries (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan), three tribal chieftains have emerged. Two of them belong to Irani Balochistan, and one in Eastern Balochistan.
Gorshani (Urdu: گورشانی) is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. The Gorshani being one of the major tribe in Punjab Pakistan .
They extracted their name after the name of their Ancestor, Gorish Khan Great Grandson of Mir Jalal Khan (Father of Rind and Lashari) . In 1760, when Ahmad Shah Abdali, defeated Marhatta’s, the areas of Harand and Dajal were given to Naseer Khan Qalat, because he was with Ahmad Shah Abdali in this venture . In this Battle Gorshani also helped Naseer Khan, so he maintained their Regards given by Ahmad Shah Abdali to Gorshanis and also laided fort of Lal Garh in Harand.
The Gorshani tribe has 11 tribal clans which further divide in 81 sub clans. This tribe has a major tribal group: Doodai Doodai Gorshanis are Shehkani, Shakhlani, Hotwani, Pitafi, Kasmani Khalilani
Gorchani.—A tribe of mixed origin, having its headquarters at Lalgarh, near
Harrand, in Dera Ghazi Khan. The principal part of the tribe is Dodai (q.v.). The
Syahphadh Durkani are Rinds; the Pitafi, Jogani, and Chang probably partly Rind;
the Lashari sub-tuman (except the Gabols and Bhanda) and the Jistkani are
Lasharis; the Suhriani and Holawan are Bulethis. This seems to be the
composition of this tribe. There is a Gurchani clan among the Lunds of Sori.
Gulfad tribe is an ancient Baloch tribe of Rajanpur. According to old history tellers, the tribe has its roots in famous Mazari Baloch tribe. It is said that the first person of the Gulfad tribe was a noble person of the tribe and was a member of the traditional baloch tribal council so called jirga. He was disable from his foot and it is one of the oldest traditions of the baloch tribes to name some one after his disability. The disability of that person gave him name of GundPhaz (Gund=twisted and Phaz=foot). As he was noble person of the tribe, his successors were also given a family name relating to that person. It is the tradition that in case of any sort of dispute the weaker party has to migrate any where else to prevent the further disturbance, so any dispute in the tribe forced this new density to migrate from there, and they went and settled in the woods near the bank of Indus river. This place during the attacks byMuhammad Bin Qasim was used as the Midpoint by the forces during their passage to Multan. So by the geography and the location, the place was named as Adhiwala which is still in use now. After the arrival of the English, the word Gundphaz due to its excessive use became Gulphaz or Gulfaz, and it is still in use by some people of the tribe, while some use Gulfad as their caste. It is also said that after arrival to their new location the people of Gulfad tribe were deprived of their property and led a life of poors here.
Gorgezh.—A branch of the Rinds, formerly of great power, but much reduced
through their wars with the Buledhi; now found at Thali in Sibi, and considered
a clan of the Dombki tribe.
Hot/Hoot/Hoat: One of the original main sections of the Baloch. Very widely spread. They
form a powerful tribe still in Mekran, and ruled at Dera Ismail Khan for two
hundred years. Part of the Khosa tribe and the Balachani Mazaris are said to be
of Hot descent. They are found also wherever the Baloches have spread, and are
numerous in Dera Isrnail Khan, Muzafargarh, Multan, and Jhang. Name
sometimes wrongly spelt lint.
Clans of The Hooth are
· Khosa
· Kalmati
· Khushk
· Chandio
Hasani.—A Baloch tribe of uncertain origin, which at one time occupied a considerable
part of the country now held by the Marris. They were destroyed in wars with
the Marris, and a fragment only remains, now forming a clan among the
Khetrans, near the Han Pass. Colonel O. T. Duke considers that they were
Pathans by origin, but it seems probable that they were, like the Khetrans, an
aboriginal Indian tribe, but more thoroughly assimilated by the Baloches. The
remaining Hasanis speak Balochi, not Khetrani.
The Jadgal is a Jatt tribe of Sindhi origin, who are settled throughout the Sindh, Balochistan region. They are also found in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, andIraq.
The name “Jadgal” applies specifically to groups that still speak the Jadgali language, in the Makran region of Iran and Pakistan. The Jadgali language is related to Indo-Aryan and Sindhi. Their most commonly spoken languages are Balochi, Persian and Saraiki.
the jadgal or zadjali original from mecca they flee time of prophet from mecca to Baghdad the present jadgal or jadjali language was taken from Sindh when they entered in sindh the time of Muhammad bin qasim and they travel from Baghdad via Iran and entered in pakistan sindh the jadjali language was taken from sindhi and it the same language but the diffidence is pronounce as they arab was not able to pronounce the same as sindh speaks and Arab has introduce them Arabic to writing.
Jagirani is the name of a Baloch tribe in the Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. They mostly speak Balochi and Sindhi.
presently Jacobabad, Khairpur, Shahdadkot, and Qambar − and settled there permanently.
The Jakhrani tribe derives its name from Jakhro, their first ancestor, descended
from Mir Chakar Khan. Another account says that Jakhro was a member of the
Sindhhi Abra tribe, and by association with Mir Chakar Khan his descendants
became the Jakhrani Baloch. The present Chief of the tribe is Wadero Bahawal
Khan wd. Ghulam Ali Khan, Jakhrani, who lives in Janidero, near the town of
Jacobabad, in the Frontier District of Upper Sindh. Darya Khan, the grandfather
of Bahawal Khan, was the well known robber chief in the beginning of the British
conquest of Sindh, but subsequently he surrendered himself to Sir Charles
Napier and was granted a jagir in deh Janidero, taluka Jacobabad, in which he
settled down with the members of his tribe. He -was suspected of treason during
the time of the mutiny and was deported to Aden, where he died.
Jamaldini is a tribe of Balochistan, Pakistan, particularly inhabitants of Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Quetta, Chagai, Khuzdar areas.
The name of this tribe is derived from Jamaldin son of Haroon Baloch, a notable person living on the bank of Rakhshan River, which was flown from the center of Balochistan.
The Jamali tribe is also said to be a branch of the Rind tribe, and Jamal was the
name of their great ancestor, after whom they are now called. There are in fact
three divisions of this tribe.
The north-western border of the Frontier District and part of Kalat territory are
occupied by the first division, whose Chief is Wadero Lashkar Khan son of Kher
Muhammad Khan, Jamali Sherkhanani, who lives in Bakhiro, a village in Kalat
territory near the border of taluka Jacobabad.
Jarwar (Urdu: جروار ) is a sub-tribe from the Gazini branch of Marri Baloch.[1] Although some families of Jarwar are still living in their native place nearKahan but they are now mainly split into various groups and living in many areas of Balochistan, Sindh and Northern Punjab. Many Jarwar elders considered this displacement from their native land and splitting into various groups is the result of a curse of a prominent religious leader (pir) named Mangho
According to the tribal oral records Mangho was a member of Jarwar tribe and he spend his last days in a small village which is now became a part of Gadap Town, Karachi. His shrine is famous for it tames crocodiles in an open pool.
The term Jarwar is that, it may be a case of combination of two Sindhi words “Jar” means “water” and “War” which means “involved in the management”. Therefore Jarwar means “the people who involved in or responsible for the management of water for the irrigation purpose.
Jatoi:
Balochi traditional ballads tells of a leader named Mir Jalal Khan who had four sons, Rind, Lashar, Hot, and Korai, and a daughter Jatoi, who married his nephew Murad. These five are the eponymous founders of the five great divisions of the tribe, the Rinds, Lasharis, Hooths, Korais, and Jatois.
The tribe mostly speaks Seraiki and Sindhi as their first language, a large number of group speaks Balochi
The Sub clans of Jatoi are Aterani, Perozani, Jafrani, Bullani, Lahorzai, Bullo, Misrani, Nachani, Shar, Kharoos, Kosh.
Jat/Jatt:
The expression “Jat Baloch” means “camel-driving Baloch.” In Mir Chakar’s time,
a number of low caste Balochis was employed in loading, leading and grazing
his trains and flocks of camels, and those Balochis and their descendants were
called “Jat Balooh.” The Jat Baloch tribe is now found in the Jati Taluka of the
Karachi District and in Katch Bhuj territory. Their Chief, Malik Ghulam Husen
son of Malik Jahan Khan, commonly called “Raj Malik” or “Malik Raj,” lives in
Raj Malik, a small village in taluka Jati.
Jattak is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Jistkani.—Formerly a powerful tribe in the Sindh Sagar Doab, with headquarters
at Mankera, and still numerous there. Found as a clan in the Gurchani and
Drishak tribes. Believed to be a branch of the Lasharis.
Ah Balaach! Marri
By Ismail Mazari
“The demise of nations comes not due to annihilation but capitulation,” an age-old Balochi maxim – almost forgotten by ordinary folks – invoked by him with full vigour in his last interview. Without a shred of doubt, Mir Balaach Marri held a firm belief in the essence of this ancient dictum till the last moment of his life.
The wounds inflicted by Punjab’s mercenary squad in Tratani were raw and fresh; the very forces of chaos, after only a short span of time, struck back in Sarlat, a historical region that gave birth to the modern day resistance movement. This time, the target was Mir Balaach Marri. As a standard–bearer of the Baloch cause, he was a marked man from day one.
Like Mir Mehrab, Agha Karim, Hameed Baloch, Asad Mengal, Nawab Bugti, Khalid Jan and many other valiant sons of this nation – Balaach too, was a happy martyr; he chose this path in high spirit, despite knowing the hazards lying in every step of this journey. He, however, rightly insisted that this is the only avenue that leads to emancipation. As Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War invokes these wise words in defence of such a gallant fighter:
“…if the only choice was between submission with loss of independence, and danger with the hope of preserving that independence, in such a case it is he who will not accept the risk, that deserves blame, not he who will.”
No one had a clue that this courageous man was on a history-making path; neither could anyone gauge his credentials: his allegiance to motherland and its inhabitants. Cynics, though, bet heavily on false notions that by raising the spectre of the Baloch Cause he would be aiming to strike a bargain with occupiers. While others even went further by whispering that he would soon find his place in a club of politicians whose sources of power chiefly derive from the largess provided by their masters in Punjab.
As usual, they were dead wrong.
Such demeaning blitz on Balaach was erupting from a bunch of people whose collective role as a custodian of Punjab’s interests in Balochistan – makes them no less repugnant than those who served as the guards of Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. That collaborationist elite surely underestimated Balaach’s iron resolve.
Balaach grew up in times when state terror was on its height and Baloch were dying in large numbers. He went to school under the shadow of the Chamalaang massacre; he saw and felt closely the deaths and ruins across the land brought by Punjab’s military which received a helping hand from the Phelavis of Persia. Indeed, they both found a common cause, hence a common enemy.
It was this ghastly period which shaped his conscience and character. His statements and interviews clearly reflect a set of belief that he held throughout his life. His most moving discourses to public were grounded in the images of the shame of slavery, pride of freedom, the agony of the humiliating occupation and the breakable power of enemy. In doing so, he was actually pointing to the severity of the threats to our existence, and also the depths to which we as a nation were prone to drift but at the time he was able to summon us to hope.
True, a Baloch child is a natural born nationalist in wartime. In Balaach’s case, there was something unique, something rooted in his upbringing too which played a greater role: he was nurtured by a father who has a grand-standing in modern Baloch history. A man who has devoted almost entire his life to a cause and spearheaded the movement whether in war or peace.
As thousands of Baloch made their way to Afghanistan in the aftermath of 1970s war, Balaach was very much part of this incredible journey. And later his student days in the Soviet Union, he witnessed the seismic waves that swept across Eurasian landscape: the old order was unravelling before his eyes; and he stood and watched the historical events that accelerated the collapse of Soviet empire and the emergence of several nation states from the ruins of what many of us believed the preeminent superpower. He embraced the fact that artificially constructed bonds under communism were much weaker than the nationalistic aspirations of the very people who preserved their cultural values despite decades of imperial repressions.
To understand Balaach’s transformative role in Baloch politics, one has to put the post war period of Baloch politics in context.
The leadership vacuum emerged in the early 1980s, was filled by a group of politicians who unfortunately not only lacked the charisma, but were completely detached from the historical realities. Such shortcomings hindered their ability to move forward. They found it exceedingly difficult to define the whole purpose of the Baloch struggle in the absence of a clear vision. Instead, most of the political parties that claimed to be representing the Baloch cause became trapped in a long internal battle. Unnecessary factional fighting deteriorated public confidence toward the Baloch cause. While military establishment gained enormously from these pitfalls, turning such condition into a strategic advantage for itself and continued to foment tribal feuds which led to a series of intra and inter-tribal clashes. But this was only part of the story.
Having seen us so weak and fragmented, Islamabad planned to get an absolute grip on Balochistan. They devised a grand plan with an intention to turn the entire region into a mini Punjab in the guise of “development projects.”
During these chaotic times Mir Balaach emerged as the sole champion of emancipation. He came up with a clear vision and above all a strategy to advance this vision. To make things clearer, he drew a sharp line between two extremities of Baloch politics: on the one hand, there are those utopians who tend to rely on empty moralism and legalism, pretending that Pakistan’s shoddy democratic process would eventually deliver; and those realists, on the other hand, who believe that any illusionary desire of harmony of interests between Punjab and Balochistan would ultimately prolong the suffering of the masses and thus, such wishful thinking is no less than an unwitting attempt by the federalists to legitimise six-decade long occupation.
Balaach was the proponent of later school. He and Nawab Akbar Bugti both well understood the logic of war and peace. Unlike others, they correctly argued that morality is the function of politics, not the other way around; and without power all legal or moral imperatives are null and void.
Balaach was through and through a man of the Baloch traditional class. The virtues such as sacrifice, bravery, loyalty, patriotism, he upheld and defended till the last moment of his life are no different than the ones preached and instilled by the ancient Athenians, Spartans and Romans to their citizens. With such a huge sacrifice, Balaach restored the pride of the nation, there has to be more Balaach if the hope of freedom is to succeed.
We should remember Balaach today above all, and salute his bravery and nobility.
Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Excerpts from “The Journey to Disillusionment”
By Ismail Mazari
Excerpts from Sherbaz Khan Mazari’s book …
Page 330 – Bhutto’s fixation with Hitler was manifested in a similarity of coincidences. The concentration camp at ‘Dalai’ and the FSF ‘storm troopers’ were clearly products of Bhutto’s Hitler fixated mind. Aping Hitler, Bhutto chose to use a policy of systemic terror to brutalize his opponents.
Page 331 – By 1974 four political activists were victims of political assassination. The fifth was a botched attempt at killing a man Bhutto had grown to hate: Dr Nazir Ahmed, Jamaat-i-Islami MNA – shot dead at his clinic at Dera Ghazi Khan on 8 June 1972; Khawaja Muhammad Rafiq, leader of Itehad Party – shot dead by a sniper during an anti-government demonstration in Lahore on 20 December 1972; Abdus Samad Achakzai, leader of NAP Pakhoonkhwa of Balochistan – killed in his house in Quetta by a grenade attack on 2 December 1973; Maulvi Shamsuddin, JUI MPA and Deputy Speaker of the Balochistan assembly – shot in his car on his way to Fort Suleman on 13 March 1974; Muhammad Ahmed Kasuri, father of Ahmed Raza – killed mistakenly, during a bungled attempt to assassinate his son, who was present in the car along with him, in Lahore on 10 November 1974.
(Bhutto was lucky he got hanged for only one of these murders).
Page 331 – Others were killed as well. On 28 September a serious attempt was made on Wali Khan’s life as he was driving to Swat. Both his driver and guard were killed but Wali Khan luckily emerged unscathed.
Page 331 – On 5 October Ali Buksh Junejo – a former Khalifa of Pir Pagaro, who had joined the PPP, was murdered in Sanghar in broad daylight. The next day Six supporters of Pir Pagaro, who were attending a court hearing against them, were taken by the police to a deserted location and murdered in cold blood.
Page 332 – Apart from the killings during this period, thousands of people were detained from all over the country. There were those like Kaswar Gardezi, secretary general of NAP, who was sadistically tortured by the police while in detention. In a voice breaking with emotion Gardezi later related his horrifying experience to me (details of the torture not included here).
Page 333 – In September 1972 Khawaja Mana Rahman, of the Dawn group, was shot at the Karachi Boat Club by hired assassins who made their escape. A few months later an attempt was made to shoot his daughter while she was driving her car.
Given the circumstances I was disappointed , but not surprised, when Mana Rahman called on me to tell me that both he and his brother-in-law, Mahmood Haroon, has sought and received forgiveness from Bhutto. They had done so because they “lacked the courage to continue to oppose him”. The people who stood firm against Bhutto’s autocracy were getting smaller in number and in time would shrink further.
Page 334 – If any of his subordinates showed even a modicum of independence, he would be swiftly punished. In December 1973 he dismissed Mumtaz Bhutto as chief minister of Sindh. In March 1973 Khar was sacked as chief minister of Punjab.
Bhutto’s obsession with maintaining a aura of invincibility was so strong that he would spare no one, not even those who had done him valuable and devoted service over the years.
Page 335 – On the evening of 2 July 1974 J A Rahim was invited, along with the senior hierarchy of the PPP, to a dinner at the prime minister’s house. The invitation was for 8 pm but the host had failed to show up. By midnight the seventy-plus-year-old Rahim lost his patience and left uttering some harsh words.
In the early hours of the morning as Rahim lay sleeping he was informed by his servant that a posse of men were demanding to be let in. Rahim went to the front door to discover that it was Saied Ahmed Khan, the chief of prime minister’s security, who told him he had come to deliver a personal message from the prime minister. When he opened the door the security chief began by pummeling Rahim’s face and body with his fists until Rahim fell to the ground. Then one of his men hit Rahim with his rifle butt while he lay prostrate. Rahim’s son, Sikander who rushed to intervene, was soon beaten unconscious by the FSF troopers. Having delivered Bhutto’s message Rahim was dragged by his feet and flung into a jeep, along with his son, and taken to a police station. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station a couple of hours later and rescued him.
Even Bhuto’s close associates and cabinet ministers now lived in dread and fear of the unpredictability of their master’s temper. Bhutto would not brook any criticism. Rafi Raza revealed that Dr Mubashir Hasan told him that when he wished to speak to the prime minister he would do so only privately to avoid ugly consequences. Rafi Raza also mentioned that Bhutto forbade him to speak openly at cabinet meetings to prevent others from becoming ‘too independent and contrary.
(this policy was continued by Benazir Bhutto. No one could speak until spoken to. Not even Aitzaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani, Khurshid Shah or even the benign Iqbal Haider, not to mention the small fry Sherry Rahman, Farzana Raja and Fauzia Wahhab. A US official told of a meeting with Benazir Bhutto — she spoke 90 percent of the time).
Part II
Page 344 – Bhutto did not trust even the closest of his associates and kept them in check by pitting one against the other. In Sindh he had controlled his cousin Mumtaz through his rival Jatoi. Jatoi in turn, as chief minister, had no control over Jam Sadiq Ali, who reported directly to the prime minister. Jam Sadiq Ali, his hit man had total control of Sanghar, Pagaro’s vote bank. Larkana was made into a division and Khalid Kharral became its first commissioner, reporting directly to Bhutto. Rather than trying to bring his warring subordinates together, Bhutto encouraged them to squabble even further, all the while enjoying the complaints of one colleague about the other.
Page 345 – Creating rivalries between his subordinate gave Bhutto a sense of security. As his confidant Rafi Raza admitted: “By nature suspicious, he sought to have ’dirt’ available against his ministers and leading party members, and in early 1976, assigned to his intelligence chiefs the task of preparing secret dossiers about them, to be used against them in case of need”.
Page 342 – NAP/JUI government in Balochistan was dismissed illegally and unethically and inspite of sending Baloch leaders to jail, the federal government had not been able to form a majority government there. People were shot like dogs, the army had blockaded sizeable populations, air force had been used to strafe people, Iranian ammunition was being used against the locals and thousands of political workers had been jailed.
Page 350 – On 25 June while I was at Karachi I read in the evening papers that over nine hundred people had been slain by the armed forces in the Mari tribal area. The newspapers mentioned the use of the Pakistan air force in aerial bombing of the hapless civilians.
Page 352 – A ‘mohtabar’ informed us: “On a recent visit to Harnai I met with an army Subedar at a local ‘chaikhana’ who told me that he was a paratrooper who had participated in the action against the Marris. The Subedar said many members of his section had been dropped by parachute at night near identified Marri settlements. At dawn they surrounded the settlements and attacked them killing all those who resisted, After burning down their homes, they arrested all the able bodied men and took away all their livestock. When I asked the Subedar about the Marri women, he told me that they took with them only the pretty ones for obvious reasons and left the others to fend for themselves. The ‘mohtabar’ then confirmed that in his presence alone he saw the army auctioning off over 15,000 heed of captured cattle”.
Page 353 – On our return to Islamabad a number of us in the opposition including Wali Khan, Pir Pagaro and I sent separate similarly worded telegrams to Chaudry Fazal Elahi, the president:
“The action committee of UDF hereby bring to your notice that the actions taken by the federal government in Balochistan are unconstitutional and unlawful. In compliance with such orders the Pakistan army and air force are indiscriminately shelling, strafing and killing innocent inhabitants, including women and children. Their properties are being destroyed and their livestock looted. Concentration camps have been established where innocent and patriotic people of Balochistan are being kept and maltreated. Their women are dishonoured and innocent children tortured. Implementation of such orders of the federal government by the Pakistan army and air force is damaging the unity of the country and may lead to further disintegration, thus a reign of terror is prevailing in the whole province for the simple reason that the people of Balochistan did not vote for the People’s Party in the last general elections”.
Page 354 – only two days later I received a report from Mukhtar Hasan, a newspaper correspondent who had just returned from Balochistan. He told me that while he was there two Marri women were raped near Balpat station by soldiers. The culprits were later caught and given only extra drill as punishment. In another incident, one Lal Han Marri’s wife was abducted in Kohlu and raped by several soldiers. Rape in any society is a most reprehensible crime, but when a country’s army, whose sworn and only duty is to defend the borders of a country, indulges in criminal raping of its own hapless citizens, it is nothing less than an act of treason. What disgusted me most was the fact that only token punishment was being awarded by the army for the perpetrators of this most monstrous of crimes. The Pakistan army was behaving as if it had occupied a foreign country, and an iniquitous occupation at that. It reminded me of the atrocities committed by the army in East Pakistan.
Page 356 – in late August I was asked by Bhutto to meet with him in Karachi. I took the opportunity of remonstrating with him about the continuing military action against the tribesmen, especially the use of aircraft against them. It was then, in my presence, that Bhutto finally, openly admitted that military aircraft had been used in Balochistan, but he insisted that no bombing had taken place, the aerial attacks, according to him, had been restricted to strafing and rockets.
Page 356/357 – within weeks of the dismissal of the NAP government in Balochistan in February 1973 a disparate group of Baloch guerillas had sprung up largely in the Marri and Mengel areas. These guerrilla groups, despite their meager numbers, constantly harassed army convoys. Adopting the classical guerrilla approach of avoiding any large scale encounters with the armed forces. Between the period of 1973 and 1975, there were 178 major recorded army encounters with the guerrillas. Despite the army’s enormous 80,000 man force it would find itself increasingly frustrated with its inability to deal with small groups who attacked at unexpected moments and then swiftly melted away into the mountainside. The army’s heavy handed approach of avenging itself on the innocent, ordinary tribal folk only worsened the situation.
Page 361 – the army now decided to take advantage of the presence of a large concentration of Marri families in one particular locality and launched Operation Chamalang on 3 September 1974. By attacking the tent villages of their families the army hoped to lure the fighting tribesmen down from the hills. The strategy worked and thousands of armed Marris poured down from the hills to defend their wives and children. It is said they fought for three consecutive days and nights before running out of ammunition and being forced to retreat to the hills.
Page 364 – News of the Chamalang Operation reached me late. I had spent a week in Sonmiani and found myself – as was the case in those days without telephones, newspapers or even electricity – completely cut off from all but urgent telegrams, which would take a couple of days to reach. It was only when I reached Karachi on 18 September that I was informed by Ahmed Raza Kasuri that the army had occupied Chamalang. He told me that about 800 Marris and over 200 soldiers had been killed in the fighting. I was shattered by the enormity of the event.
Part III
Page 371 – on 8 February my eldest son Sherazam informed me that he had just heard on the radio that Hayat Muhammad Sherpao, the PPP senior minister of NWFP had been killed in a bomb explosion at Peshawar university.
There are many theories about who arranged his assassination. One theory that cannot easily be dismissed was that it had been carried out on the direct orders of Sherpao’s own leader – Bhutto himself. It is a known fact that before his death Sherpao had become very disenchanted with the leader he had once hero-worshipped. Bhutto had noticed Sherpao’s growing popularity and had come to resent it and had begun politically sidelining him at every available opportunity. Even one of their close PPP colleague commented:
“ A few months before his death, Sherpao seriously considered leaving the Party altogether. He only changed his mind on the persuasion of myself and other friends from the Frontier —– . Of all those around Bhutto, sherpao’s personal devotion had been the greatest, and his subsequent disillusionment was consequently the most profound”.
Page 372 – The death of Sherpao provided Bhutto with an excuse to clamp down on Wali Khan and his NAP. It was eerily reminiscent of the dismissal of the Balochistan government on trumped up charges of being responsible for the arms found in the Iraq Embassy in February 1973, two years previously. The day following Sherpao’s assassination, Wali khan and all the national and provincial leaders of NAP were either under detention or being urgently sought out by the authorities. The next day it was announced that NAP had been banned and all its assets confiscated. The First Amendment to the 1973 Constitution allowed the Federal Government to ban political parties formed or those ‘operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty of Pakistan’.
On the evening of 10 February I got a call from Jennifer Musa from Balochistan, who had been a NAP MNA, from Islamabd. She told me that over 800 of the NAP party members had been arrested. She also informed me that an ordinance had been passed in the Assembly which allowed for the arrest of MNAs while the Assembly was in session. It had become obvious that the government had begun an intensified assault to destroy all vestige of NAP. A brutal campaign had begun to pin Sherpao’s death on NAP party members. A number of them including, Asfandyar were very brutally tortured in an attempt to extract ‘confessions’. A few days later NWP Governor Aslam Khattak and the Gandapur Government was also sacked and the federal Government imposed its direct rule in the province.
Page 372/373 – On 18 February at 1 a.m. I was woken up by a telephone call from a very distraught Mrs Azizullah Shaikh. Her home was being stoned by hooligans. Her husband had gone into hiding to evade arrest, and she was alone at home with her three young daughters. I took my son Sherazam and a couple of our servants and rushed over to her house. We saw a dozen or so thugs fleeing into the surrounding darkness when they saw our car approaching. Inside we discovered Mrs shaikh and her three daughters cowering in the corner o a room. The idea that a government could stoop so low as to threaten a defenseless woman and her young daughters sickened me. My son and I kept an all night vigil and left only after sunrise.
Page 375/377 – the banning of nap found UDF Opposition alliance in a weakened position. Having banned NAP the government was required under law to refer it’s dissolution of the Party to the Supreme Court. Exercising a leap in convoluted logic, CJ Hamoodur Rahman chose to construe NAP’s long held demand for greater provincial autonomy to be nothing more than a claim for a provincial ‘right of self-determination with the right to accede’. The Supreme Court had fallen prey to playing its historical role – since the days of Justice Munir – of acceding deferentially, yet again, to the wishes of the government of the day. The sum of the supreme court’s long judgment —– was to endorse the Prime Minister’s contempt for political opposition.
Page 391 – in the meantime yet another government-opposition crisis had taken place. On 14 November the Opposition created an uproar in the Assembly over the Government’s introduction of the proposed Fourth Amendment to the 1973 Constitution, to further curtail the writ jurisdiction of the High Courts in cases of preventive detention. It thwarted the Court’s ability to prohibit such detentions or even grant bail to people so detained. It was clearly directed towards disabling the Courts from intervening in cases of blatant political victimization.
In the ensuing parliamentary commotion the serjeant-at-arms was ordered to evict the Opposition MNAs from the Chamber. Failing to do so, FSF troopers were called in. These government hired ruffians bodily lifted eight struggling MNAs and dumped them unceremoniously in the National Assembly car park. Among the victims was the acting leader of the Opposition, Mufti Mahmood. It was a scandalous display of unwarranted aggression and only helped in furthering the growing bitter divide between members of the Opposition and Bhutto.
Page 393 – After having been forcibly ejected from parliament Mufti Mahmood refused Bhutto’s offer of a dialogue to sort matters out. This offer of Bhutto was a typical Bhutto gesture. He would now hold himself out as a man of reason offering to settle the dispute in a calm and sensible manner – completely ignoring the fact that it was he who had shoved the aggressive Fourth Amendment down the throats of the Opposition, as well as had them manhandled and ejected from the Assembly Chamber. When his ‘judicious’ offer would meet with rejection, he would get the theatrical opportunity of twisting his hands in dismay and then announce that he was faced with such an ‘obstructive’ and hostile opposition, that he had little choice but to ‘crush them’ for the sake of good governance.
Part IV
Page 394/395 – 19 December 1975 had been nominated a ‘Black Flag Day’ and a rally had to be held at Karachi’s Katrak Hall, near the Empress Market. On the way to the hall we were forced to disembark from our vehicles as FSF and armed police had taken charge of all routes leading to the Hall. Asghar khan, Maulana Noorani and I forced our way through the blockade on foot helped by a crowd of several thousand already assembled there. When we walked through a narrow alley and entered the gate a large body of police made their sudden appearance and a DSP took the three of us into police custody. The police contingent charged the crowd with their steel tipped ‘lathis’. The narrowness of the alley made their task much easier as they had only to contend with those in the front. Later I was told they brutally cleared the alley all the way to the main road. Besides the police, only my three sons, Mir Ali Buksh Talpur and my driver remained in the alley refusing to budge until they discovered what had happened to me. But they too were charged, Talpur’s wrist was broken and my sons injured. We were taken to the Soldier Bazaar police station and detained there. After a while an angry crowd swelled outside and the police decided to release us before the situation got out of hand.
All over Pakistan similar rallies had been disrupted by the local police and FSF. Having muzzled the press and despite having achieved near complete control of all media, Bhutto’s government was determined not to allow the Opposition any opportunity of communicating with the public in any form whatsoever. The government’s open and adversely hostile attitude towards the Opposition was now impelling even the less belligerent Opposition parties into adopting a firmer stance.
Page 397/398 – On 6 February 1976 tragedy struck. Asadullah, the twenty year old son of Attaullah Mengal was gunned down outside my brother Mir Balakh Sher’s house at Karachi, along with his friend Ahmed Shah Kurd. I later learnt that Asadullah who was constantly being followed by local intelligence agencies, sought to evade them earlier that day, by swapping cars at a friend’s house. In the friend’s car he, accompanied by Ahmed Shah, arrived at my brother’s house in the Muhammad Ali Housing Society a few minutes before 8 p.m. He informed the servant that he was expecting to receive a phone call there. At about 8 p.m. as the telephone rang, the servant heard loud bursts of gunfire. Outside the gate he saw Saadullah’s car crashed against the wall and a number of armed people surrounding it. It was then that he noticed that both ends of the street had been blocked by black vehicles. He witnessed the men carrying two prone bodies from the crashed car to one of their vehicles before driving away.
My initial shock at this horrible event quickly changed to sorrow when my thoughts turned towards Attaullah Mengal. Almost a month after the incident ominous rumours began to circulate that after being critically wounded, instead of being taken to a hospital, Asadullah was taken to Malir where he was tortured to extract information about his dealings in Balochistan. He died during the torture and to this day, apart from the perpetrators themselves, no one knows the whereabouts of his remains.
Page 409 – My last meeting with Bhutto took place on 4 June 1976. Sardar Shaukat Hayat met me as I was leaving the Assembly building and insisted that I accompany him to the prime minister’s Chambers to meet Bhutto. We spoke for about fifteen minutes, once again receiving assurances from Bhutto that he was all in favour of settling his disputes with NAP leaders amicably. By now Bhutto’s declarations held little value and I wondered at the real meaning behind our meeting. Only a short while later it dawned on me that I had become party to yet another stunt. Bhutto was off very shortly to Afghanistan, probably also to tell Sirdar Daud that NDP and he were working closely to resolve the dispute between the government and the jailed leaders.
Page 412 – In the middle of the night I received a disturbing call from my family. Five masked men had invaded the ground of my residence and, after knocking a sleeping servant unconscious, they tried to smash entry into the house. Unable to gain entry they then attempted to seize my cars. They managed to push one about ten feet towards the gate before the servants became alerted and rang the alarm. Members of my family then opened fire upon the intruders. Unfortunately in the dark all five intruders managed to flee unhurt.
I would learn some years later from an unimpeachable senior PPP source that the attack had been arranged by Jam Sadiq Ali under specific instructions of Bhutto, who probably wished to remind me of the vulnerability of my family.
Page 416/420 – On January 1977 Bhutto, who had dithered over the issue, announced suddenly that the elections would be held, two months later, on 7 March.
The first sign of the government’s electoral intentions became publicly apparent when Maulana Jan Muhammad Abbasi, the PNA candidate contesting Bhutto’s Larkana seat, was abducted by the police to prevent him from filing his papers against the PPP leader. Taking cue from the leader, a host of other PPP leaders opted to follow a similar electoral route to victory. This illustrious company included Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Mehran Khan Bijarani, Atta Muhammad Marri, Malik Sikander Khan, Sultan Ahmned Chandio, Yusuf Chandio and some others.
All fourprovincial Chief Ministers also ensured they would not be ‘disgraced’ by the presence of any rival candidate in their constituencies.
Rafi Raza stated : I met Bhutto on his return from Larkana —– I said his unopposed election was astonishing, no one could accept that the PNA candidate had simply failed to show up. The error was further compounded by the publicity given to the ‘Undisputed leader’, as if it were a presidential election. Bhutto tetchily asked why, if I was surprised at his unopposed election, I did not enquire how my friend Mumtaz was similarly elected from Larkana.
Kausar Niazi stated : One of Mr Bhutto’s intense desire was well known to me, he had expressed that more than once in my presence. And that was – he wanted a victory with two thirds majority. Bhutto needed a two thirds majority in the National assembly to amend the Constitution to obtain his cherished goal of a presidential form of government. With him, of course, as the president.
Part V Conclusion
Page 431 – the NWFP was a prime example of election misdeeds. Bhutto assigned Muhammad Hayat Taman, his political advisor, the task of making election preparations in NWFP. Gen Imtiaz, Bhutto’s military secretary was sent there for three weeks to assist Taman.
The deputy commissioner (and returning officer) of Kohistan district, who was earlier asked to keep the results of his constituency a secret, was then summoned by the troika. He was threatened with dire consequences if he did not accede to the chief secretary’s request to make up the deficiency in the PPP candidates votes and reverse the results. “On my hesitation the DIG took me aside and said my dismissal would not take days but hours, and many charges could be levelled against me”
US ambassador, Henry Byroade, who was with Bhutto as the election results came in, said, “the results we coming in at about 70%. He was losing Karachi. He was losing Peshawar. Then the Punjabi numbers started coming in and guys who were absolute thugs won by 99%. Bhutto became absolutely quiet and started drinking heavily, calling Lahore, he said, what are you people doing.
With our general consensus, Mufti Mahmood in a lengthy reply rejected Bhutto’s offer of talks: “I regret to say you have again avoided to clarify your stand regarding countrywide pre-planned rigging of general elections. On 7th march, the country was subjected to a farce in the name of general elections. The admin- istration made every endeavour to subvert the national will and to ensure a new lease of life for a leader and a government which had been overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate –
Much publicity was given internationally to the joint resignations of Gen Gul Hasan and Air Marshal Rahim Khan as ambassadors to Greece and Spain respectively. They were soon to give an extremely hostile press conference in London against the Bhutto regime. They sent a letter to Gen Zia demanding that he decline from accepting illegal and undemocratic orders from a fascist Bhutto.
On the lighter side there was an amusing incident at Sihala jail. My son Sherazam, then a student at Karachi had flown to Rawalpindi, borrowed a car from Wali khan’s son and come to visit me. When he was preparing to leave the car would not start. It had to be push-started. While Sherazam sat in the driver’s seat the car was pushed by the whole PNA leadership consisting of Mufti Mahmood, Asghar Khan, Professor Ghafoor, Maulana Noorani and myself. With all the opposition heavyweights behind it the car had no option but to start immediately.
(the following is being included much against my grain, only to show the kind of man Bhutto was, and to what limits he could go):
On the sixth day of the hunger strike I experienced severe chest pains that almost rendered me unconscious. I sensed someone watching me from the other side of the bars. I was surprised to see the jail superintendent standing there all by himself. He seemed very perturbed for some reason. Then strangely he broke down, “as a jail superintendent I’ve done some awful things in my life but I have my limits. Bhutto Saheb personally rings me up almost daily to see if I have broken you yet. But today he gave me orders which, even though I am scared of him, I cannot obey. I have applied for leave and am taking off tomorrow. I’ll face the consequences of my decision but my mind is made up”. Then he warned me, “the deputy jail superintendent is a vicious man, I don’t know what will happen when I’m gone” ———-
I had known Bhutto for some 23 years. To him lying, double-dealing and deceit were normal means of attaining and keeping power. His evident acceptance of new elections was now belied by his unexpected trip abroad. It was a clear indication that mischief was afoot.
During one of the PNA meetings at Sihala Asghar khan revealed disturbing news, Bhutto had decided to deal with the PNA hardliners once and for all. Bhutto had now concocted an ingenious plan by which Kausar Niazi and Ghulam Mustafa Khar would become victims of an assassination plan. In retaliation an enraged PPP mob would then proceed to murder Asghar Khan, Shah Ahmed Noorani and myself. This may seem a bit farfetched to some, but even Kausar Niazi, one of the plot’s two sacrificial victims, believed in its authenticity.
Gen Arif writes about a very revealing episode: “Gen Zia expressed his apprehension to Bhutto that, if the agitation did not end, it could erode army’s discipline and cause division in the ranks. This would be a disaster for the army and for the country. Mr Bhutto sensed the mood and laid on the charm, “you are my brother and I trust you”. He asked Gen Zia not to get unduly worried as the government did not plan to employ the army in a hurry again. He went on to confide that he had taken ‘other measures’ to deal with the PNA situation. That statement rang an alarm in Gen Zia’s mind”.
WELCOME ROJHAN MAZARI
By Ismail Mazari
History
Rojhan is the Capital Seat of the Mazari Baloch tribe who have held this territory since 1632 A.D. Prior to this the Mazari Tribe were settled in the Bambhore Hills of present day Kahan in Balochistan. The original city of Rojhan, situated a few kilometers from the present city, was burnt by the Sikh invaders under the command of Raja Kharak Singh in retaliation of a predatory plundering raid by Mazari chief Behram Khanin 1836 on Mithankot ruled by Sikhs at the time. Later on Truce between Both The present City was constructed during the reign of the famous Mazari Chief, Nawab Sir Imam Buksh Khan Mazari, K.B.E, K.C.I.E. during the early and middle part of the 19th century. The word ‘Rojhan’ traces its roots back to the ancient Babalonyian and Caspatic languages of the Indo-European language family, meaning the ‘City of Tents’. The City is a site to many ancient yet beautiful tombs of the Mazari Nawabs and Sardars dating as back as the 17th Century..
Location
Rojhan Mazari is situated in District Rajanpur of Punjab near the inter-provincial borders of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab. The City of Rojhan Mazari is spread over an area of four square kilometers and is connected by road and railway to Kashmore in the South West and Rajanpur in the North West.
Thanx.
In Search of Baloch National Interest 
I require as under:..
1.field map of all Balouch nation.
2. List of saints and forefathers.
3. The war among Rind…Lashar.
4. Name of Ruler and thier history.
5. List of saints/Forefathers of Mazari, Leghari,Khosagh,Gurchani, Dreshak and war history.
6. War history among Mazari, Bugti, Dreshak, Gurchani, Leghari, Khosagh,
I am in wait of reply
1. Balouch tribes histoy from mir batil khan .
2. Balouch Empires.
3. Rind….Lashars war.
4. Mir chakar khan …..humayoon badshah friend ship.
5. Mier chakar khan…..humayoon badshah at dehli.
6. Mir chakar khan and humayoon badshah. Come to Rojhan mazari.
7. Full histoy of mir chakar khan,s forfathers.
8. Forefather history mir batil khan .
9 History of rojhan mazari..
10. Forefather history of mazari balachani rojhan
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak was born on June 28, 1942. He was elected MNA for his second term. He is politically affiliated with PML(Q).
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak graduated from Government College Lahore in 1962 and received his masters degree in history from the Punjab University in 1966. Later, he also got his LL.B degree from Punjab University in 1964. He is an agriculturist by profession.
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dareshak has served as MPA Punjab Assembly for the terms of 1970, 1985, 1988 and 1990. He was previously elected as MNA for the term of 1997-1999. He has served as Provincial Minister of Punjab holding portfolios of Food and Cooperatives in 1973-1975; Irrigation and Power in 1975-1977; Livestock, Food and Industries in 1987-1988; Law and Parliamentary Affairs in 1988-1990 and Planning and Development, and Law and Parliamentary Affairs in 1990-1993.
Married, he has three sons and three daughters.
Dera Ghazi Khan (and Rajanpur) – Claims and Counter-claims (Part – III)
By Ismail Mazari,Tagged: Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Akhund, Akhund Abdul Karim Bamezai, Badozai, Balochi, Balochistan, Barakzai, Chaubarah, Chenab, Dera Fateh Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dreshak, Durrani, featured, Gorchani, Hassani, Humayun, Indus, Jataoi, Kabul, Khetran, Khurasan, King Shah Shuja, Kinjhir, Kot Mithon, Layyah, Leghari, M. Y. Qaisran, Magassi, Marazi, Massu Khan Notakani, Mountstuart Elphinstone, Muhammad Khan, Muzaffargarh, Nahars, Nawab of Thal, newsplus24, Nutkani, Pashtu, Popalzai, punjab, Rai Hittu Ram, rajanpur, Rawalpindi, Rojhan, Saddozai, Sakhi Sarwar, Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi, Seraiki, Shah Mahmud, Shah Zaman, Shikarpur, Sind, Sir Olaf Caroe, Sughar, Suleman Range, Taimur Shah, Taunsa Sharif, Tumun – 3 comments
By: M. Y. Qaisrani
The ignorance of these Afghan /Pathan Governors, sent by the rulers from Kabul, is attested by Rai Hittu Ram.[1] In all, there were 16 or 17 Governors, whose total tenure of rule is about 40 years, during the last decades of 18th century to earlier decades of 19th century. They belonged mostly to families of then ruling elite of Afghanistan, as their names in the available record indicate; Saddozai, Barakzai, Badozai, Durrani, Popalzai etc
(Clarification: As is known to all, the district of Rajanpur was created in 1982, out of the old Dera Ghazi Khan district. Therefore, unless expressly indicated otherwise, the words ‘Dera Ghazi Khan District’ in all the installments of this article would mean present Dera Ghazi Khan plus present Rajanpur districts.)
Apparently it seems the Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan district, appointed directly from Khurasan /Kabul, as earlier mentioned, were mostly indifferent rulers. They had generally less familiarity with and knowledge of the area, its people and Baloch tribes inhabiting most of its plains and adjoining Suleman range. One of their main handicaps was perhaps the communication-gap, as they did not know the local languages i.e. Balochi and Seraiki; Baloch then speaking almost entirely Balochi and non-Baloch population speaking Seraiki. The ignorance of these Afghan /Pathan Governors, sent by the rulers from Kabul, is attested by Rai Hittu Ram.[1] In all, there were 16 or 17 Governors, whose total tenure of rule is about 40 years, during the last decades of 18th century to earlier decades of 19th century. They belonged mostly to families of then ruling elite of Afghanistan, as their names in the available record indicate; Saddozai, Barakzai, Badozai, Durrani, Popalzai etc[2].
Almost from the start of governorship of these directly-appointed Governors, a sort of anarchy began to prevail in the district. The Baloch tribes both in the plains and Suleman Range started indulging in their ‘favorite’ marauding activities with more impunity, pillaging and looting the relatively less militant but productive classes. At the same time, their marauding adventures would not spare their neighboring brother-Baloch tribes, creating a chain of incessant revenge attacks and fratricide. There seemed to be a wave of tribal battles among the Baloch of Dera Ghazi Khan District, the period of which coincides, roughly, with the tenure of these direct appointees.
Each Baloch tribe in the district was at war with all its neighboring tribes; right, left, front and back, as one can visualize from the Balochi ballads[3] of that period i.e. around 2nd half of the 18th century and on-wards. The maintenance of existing canals, what to speak of excavating new ones, was abandoned, resulting in closure of most of these channels. The agriculture, main source of the government revenue, suffered badly. The peaceful agricultural classes started migrating to the cis-Indus areas.[4]
Reports by earlier British officials, appointed in the district, speak of the remnants of what-must-be-in-the-past flourishing villages and contours of inundation canals testify to this state of affairs.[5] But, to be fair to these Afghan Governors, the sole responsibility of disruption in agriculture as a result of closure of irrigation channels and the surge in Baloch in-fighting and marauding can not be placed solely upon them. There was a major environmental disruption in Dera Ghazi Khan District, around the same period; upon which we will dwell shortly.
Obviously, in a state of affairs of anarchy and setback to agriculture, the revenue of the Kabul government from the district began to decrease, which must be disturbing for any government. The local administrators in the district started coercive measures to get maximum possible out of the people. This must have created discontentment.
Rai Hittu Ram narrates that when an Afghan Governor of Dera Ghazi Khan was asked by the King /authorities in Khurasan (Kabul) about the state of agriculture, he sent false report about the crops being good and as usual. After the harvest, when there was no satisfactory revenue income, he forcibly recovered four hundred thousand (4 Lac) Rupees from the people, like dacoits do, and deposited with the government treasury in Kabul.[6] (Four hundred thousand Rupees in late 18th century must not be less than Rs.4 Billion of today).
The indifference and incompetence of these Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan district can somehow also be excused because of uncertain conditions in Afghanistan proper after the death of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1773 A.D. He was succeeded by his favorite (but not the eldest) son, Taimur Shah.[7] Like all the members of elites of Afghanistan, then and afterwards, Taimur Shah spoke Persian. But he did not have even reasonable familiarity with Pashto;[8] unlike his father, who spoke both Persian and Pashto, but is said to have been more comfortable with Pashto and Pashtun tribesmen. (By the way, Ahmad Shah Abdali also wrote poetry and that too, in Pashto.[9]) Though Taimur Shah faced no serious challenge from any contender for the throne of Kabul, the Afghanistan kingdom’s disintegration started.
The decay which began during his reign became more evident within a short period of his death in 1793 A.D.[10]. It was after his death that badshahgardi in Afghanistan started in earnest and had a bearing on Dera Ghazi Khan District. Sir Olaf Caroe’s translation of badshahgardi as literally ‘King-turning’ and meaning dynastic strife[11] is somewhat different from what we in present times would have done. Like ‘Ghundagardi’ by which we mean ‘excesses committed by hooligans’, we would translate badshahgardi as ‘tyranny by kings’. Anyway, badshahgardi of 18th century Afghanistan had some connotations of our meanings too.
Turning back to our narrative; Taimur Shah left behind him 23 sons and un-numbered daughters.[12] Obviously most, if not all, of his sons were aspiring for the throne of Kabul. By commonsense and tradition, Taimur Shah’s eldest son from a royal lady of Saddozai clan, prince Humayun, would have succeeded him. But because of palace maneuverings and other factors, Taimur was succeeded by his son, Shah Zaman, /Zaman Shah, from his favorite Yousufzai wife. Naturally, prince Humayun (and some other brothers too) disputed Shah Zaman’s accession to the throne.
During the period of badshahgardi, this prince Humayun, after failure of his second attempt to dislodge Shah Zaman, around 1794 A.D, fled to Sunghar (almost southern half of present Taunsa sub-Division of Dera Ghazi Khan District). At that time the Chief of Sunghar was Massu Khan Notakani, who assisted the fugitive prince and managed to smuggle him across the Indus by Dera Fateh Khan pattan (ferry), to area of Layyah (spelt Leiah till 1982).
There in Layyah (Leiah) area, the prince, along with his companions, stopped at a well and took some sugarcane sticks from the owner /Zamindar, paying an Asharfi (Coin of gold). This payment was much more than the Zamindar would have expected. (Most probably he would have given the sugarcane sticks free of cost, as is the custom in the area even till today!). This aroused curiosity among the people of the area. Hearing the news, Muhammad Khan, Nawab of Thal, who was at Layyah (Leiah) at that time, suspecting that it may be the fugitive prince, immediately pursued the prince along with some force. (King Shah Zaman had announced untold rewards and orders for the capture of Prince Humayun).
Nawab Muhammad Khan overtook the prince at a well in Thal, some 25 Kilo Meter from Layyah (Leiah). The prince had some 20 /30 horsemen with him, who offered a gallant resistance. A young son of the prince and some of his horsemen were killed in the skirmish. The prince was captured, along with his remaining companions and brought to Layyah (Leiah). The news was immediately transmitted to Shah Zaman, who ordered that the prince should be blinded and his companions should be executed by disemboweling them. Among the prisoners killed at Layyah (Leiah) was a brother of powerful Wazir Fatteh Khan Barakzai; who looms large in the history of Afghanistan of those times.
Nawab Muhammad Khan was rewarded with title of Sarbuland Khan and government of Dera Ismail Khan, in addition to what he already held.[13] (Later on Shah Zaman was himself blinded, after he was deposed by another half-brother, Shah Mahmud. The celebrated British diplomat and historian, Mountstuart Elphinstone, met Shah Zaman near Rawalpindi in 1809 when the latter was in the entourage of his younger brother King Shah Shuja, who was himself fleeing Afghanistan kingdom after their half-brother Shah Mahmud again captured the throne. Mountstuart Elphinstone gives vivid account of his meeting with the blind ex-king Shah Zaman[14]).
Leaving the Afghan kings and governors for a while, we come to the environmental catastrophe to which we alluded earlier. It hit the Dera Ghazi District towards start of the last decade of 18th century and its adverse effects engulfed the area and its people. It was the major change in the course of the river Indus in this district, in or around 1790 A.D.[15] (Some sources say that most likely it occurred in 1787 A.D. but not all agree to this date[16]).
The Indus shifted to its present bed from its previous bed, making breach in its western bank near Kinjhir (renamed as Shah Jamal since last 2/3 decades under ‘Islamisation’ initiated by Gen. ZiaulHaq, though one is perplexed as to what was ‘Un-Islamic’ in its original name!) in present Muzaffargarh district.[17] Earlier flowing near Kinjhir, passing along present Shahr Sultan, the Indus joined (combined waters of all the five Punjab Rivers, here generally called) Chenab, a few Kilo Meter southeast of Shahr Sultan, almost opposite Uchch. By rough estimate, the old and new beds are not less than 40 Kilo Meter apart. This change shifted the confluence point of both rivers, about 100 Kilo Meter downstream, close to Kot Mithon (in present Rajanpur District).
This shift in the course of River Indus is said to have been caused by a canal, excavated by Nawab (Makhdum?) of Sitpur,[18] on the right bank of the Indus. This man-made structure most probably caused hurdle in the normal flow during some unprecedented flood and the Khwaja Khidir – Indus in Baloch terminology mixed with mythology – became furious, causing not only economic but also political convulsions in the Dera Ghazi Khan District and by extension in the District of Muzaffargarh.
The mouths /heads of most of the existing canals and their structures became inoperative; particularly those feeding southern areas of the District, (roughly from Dera Ghazi Khan town to southward, including those areas of present Muzaffargarh District which were on right bank previously and the shift in course of the Indus catapulted them on the left bank). Besides that, the Chhal or inundation waters of the Indus during monsoon started reaching those areas on the west, which had perhaps never witnessed them in the past. This caused convulsions, as the Baloch tribes in the plains and by extension in the Suleman Range saw their resources and space squeezed.
It resulted in unprecedented in-fighting among different Baloch tribes, as already mentioned. Resultantly, some tribes /Tumuns of the Baloch in plains and Suleman Range disintegrated. For example the Jistkani /Jaskani tribe in the plains lost its Tumundar and Tumun, under the pressure from the Dreshaks, who in turn were being pushed by the Mazaris and others.
Different sections of Jaskanis moved into other tribes and became merged with them. Similarly, the Hassanis, who were earlier banished by Khan of Kalat Mir Naseer Khan the Great from his dominions and had sheltered themselves in Nisao plain in Suleman Range, were forced by the Marris and Dreshaks to seek abode within Khetran tribe in present Barkhan district of north-eastern Balochistan, within Suleman Range and eventually became part of it, loosing their Tumundar, Tumundari and Tumun.[19]
Some of the Nahar Pathans, once ruling people in Sitpur principality, as earlier mentioned, after being pushed out of Rojhan areas by Mazaris and from other areas by other Baloch tribes, also sought abode /refuge with the Khetrans.[20] (By the way, the Mazaris had ousted the Nahars from Rojhan /Kin areas of present Rajanpur district and Kashmore areas of present upper Sind, during early 3/4 decades of 18th century).
The Jatois saw themselves, after this shift in the course of the Indus, at its left bank, detached from main body of the Baloch tribes, though some of its members still remain and hold some agricultural lands in the areas on the right bank. Because of now being in cis-Indus area, the Jatois perhaps escaped the furiousness of in-fighting of late 18th and early 19th century, though we find at least one Balochi Ballad, relating to their fighting against Mazaris, but it most probably relates to some earlier period, when both the tribes were in trans-Indus areas. (Khan Bahadur, Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi (19th – early 20th century) was a prominent Chief of Jatois of Muzaffargarh, who bestowed large tracts of his lands to a trust ‘Sardar Kaura Khan Trust’ the income of which was mainly meant for stipends and scholarships[21] to the Baloch and other Muslim students. By tradition, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, former Pakistani Federal Minister, is present chief of Jatois, who is reputed to be a simple and thorough gentleman.)
By and large, the northern areas of the Dera Ghazi Khan District should not have been affected by shift in the course of the Indus, but they also felt the heat as chain reaction of its ill-effects in the southern parts. Though the oral traditions among the Qaisrani tribe speak of pushing out the Magassi tribe from the areas which now form Qaisrani Tumun in plains and adjacent Suleman Range in Taunsa sub-Division, but these traditions most probably relate to some earlier period.
This faction of Magassi tribe, afterwards settled in Chaubarah area of present Layyah (Leiah) District, where they have considerable agricultural lands and importance /dominance in local politics.
Coming back to Afghan /Pathan governors of Dera Ghazi Khan, we have found that fall of agriculture in the District during their tenure and general anarchy and – as Rai Hittu Ram terms the Baloch unrest – the Baloch Shorida Sari, Shorish and in-fighting / marauding[22] was not of their making solely. It had other reasons as well, as we have explained.
On the contrary, in earlier period of Afghan rule, for example during Ahmad Shah Abdali’s suzerainty, the town of Dera Ghazi Khan gained much importance in commerce and was considered as one of the ‘gates of Khurasan’ with Shikarpur of Sind.[23] This commerce and trade benefited the Baloch tribes indirectly as each organized and ‘state-recognized’ tribe was entitled, since long, to collect Badarqa levy (security charges) on the goods and Caravans passing through its Tumun. For example, Qaisranis used to get 8 Annas (Re. 0.5) on each camel-load and one Anna (Re. 0.0625) on each pony-load of goods from Caravans of traders, passing through their area and passes[24].
Similarly Gorchanis collected 8 Annas (Re. 0.5) on each camel-load passing through Chhachhar pass, besides octroi type levies.[25] The Legharis also recovered similar amounts from Caravans passing through Sakhi Sarwar pass.[26] This source of income must be substantial for Legharis, as Sakhi Sarwar pass was one of main routes to Khurasan for trade Caravans.
Similar Badarqa levy was practiced by each organized Baloch tribe of Dera Ghazi Khan, according to oral traditions. (Of course, major portion of this income went to the chiefs of the tribes!).
It seems that these Afghan Governors of Dera Ghazi Khan District had come with intentions of settling here permanently, as they had moved with their families and kinsmen, because they had brought their teachers-cum-holy men, called Akhund, also with them (or asked their Akhunds to take abode in Dera Ghazi Khan).
The descendants of these Afghan Governors, their kinsmen and their Akhunds are settled in Dera Ghazi Khan town and elsewhere in the District, as respectable and well-off citizens, mostly assimilated with locals. Some of the Akhund and Durrani families have, however, retained their Afghani Persian tongue for communication within their homes.
The example is the family of Aligarh-educated Akhund Abdul Karim Bamezai, as told by Akhund Aurangzeb Raza, a young lawyer of Dera Ghazi Khan. Mr Aurangzeb’s grandfather, the aforementioned Akhund Abdul Karim, was among the pioneers of Pakistan movement in the District of Dera Ghazi Khan and was awarded (posthumous) Medal by Pakistan government on his struggle for this cause.
According to Akhund Aurangzeb, his grandfather was the man who had hoisted Pakistani Flag at a Chauk in Dera Ghazi Khan town during the movement and for that reason the Chauk was named (and is still called) ‘Pakistani Chauk’. He also remained Chairman of the Municipal Committee of Dera Ghazi Khan.[27]
Some of the Afghan /Pathan Governors constructed mosques etc in the (old) town of Dera Ghazi Khan, like that built by Abdul Jabbar Khan, in 1235 Hijri, towards the closing years of Afghan rule here, with a cost of Rs.32000/- (a whooping amount at that time). It was among the principal buildings of the old town. This mosque, with some other prominent mosques, was converted to Dharmshala during Sikh rule. Another mosque of Haji Muhammad Saddozai (a Governor?) was built ‘very long ago with red mortar’ according to the District Gazetteer. It was also converted to Dharmshala during Sikh rule.[28]
Traditionally and generally each of the big mosques used to be supported with a revenue-free tract of agricultural land and the Afghan Governors continued with that tradition. One can understand that big mosques also served as educational institutions (Maktab) for the children.
Baloch Castes
By Ismail Mazaqri
The Gadhis are a sub-tribe of the Baloch Mazari tribe, named after migration from lower Punjab to upper Punjab because of deficiency of food, water and lack of lands, a Baloch tribe of Pakistanand Iran. Gadhi Mazari migrated from Rojhan to upper Punjab. Many Gadhi Mazaris live in Pakistan in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. In Punjab, their communities can be found in,Rahim Yar Khan Jhang, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Toba Tek Singh District, Taunsa Sharif and Dera Ghazi Khan District.
Gadhis are most aggressive, powerful and active in the politics of the areas they live in, especially in Jhang and Toba Tek Singh. They still follow the old customs and traditions of their ancestors; they are known for their orthodox way of life. They used to live in tribes but as time passed, they have begun to scatter. They had a panchat system and the chief of the tribe used to decide matters, issues and fights between the Gadhi families. The last known and accepted chief was Mir Sher Muhammad Khan Mazari, (the Nineteenth Sardar and Fourth Mir of Mazaris). After his death in the early 18th century, things changed and Gadhis started having enmity in their own families, which in some cases has led to much bloodshed.
The Gajani is a part of the Buledi Baloch tribe; 95% of them are living between two famous rivers Patt river and Shahi river in tahsil Sohbatpur of Balochistan and rest of 5% are living in districtJacobabad Sindh.
This tribe has further five sub-tribes Mehranzai, Loharzai, Sharanzai, Sulemanzai and Sachulani. The tribe economically dependents upon agricultural land. The tribe has a chief in common, whereas every sub-tribe has its own sub-chiefs too.
The Gishkori are a domki Baloch tribe mostly settled in the areas of district Sibi City gorgij, Dera Ismail Khan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muhammad Pur Diwan, Ali Pur and Kot Addu of Western Punjab as well as in Balochistan, particularly Makran and Quetta. Gashkori tribe is the branch of Bevrigh domki (Rind), Muqaddam of Mir Chakar Khan Rind. They helped the Rind tribe in the Tricennial Battle against the Lasharies.
Gishkori came there with their great leader Mir chakar Azam Khan. They fought against the British commandar Barkaly. They helped Ahamad yar Khan Kharal leader of the Kharal nation in Punjab. Gashkories are commanders of Mir Chakar Khan. Gashkories came back after the death of Mir Chakar Khan.
Ghazini or Gazini (Balochi: غزینی ) is a sub clan of the Marri Baloch Tribe of Kohlu, Balochistan. The Marri Tribal Chief or Nawab belongs to this Sub Clan. Ghaznis mostly reside in and around Kohlu and Kahan areas of Marri Tuman. This clan has the honour of being the Chief Clan or Sardar Khel of the Marri Tribe. At present Nawab Khair Buksh Khan Marri son of Nawab Mehrullah Khan Marri is the Chief Sardar of the Marri Tribe and Tumandar of Marri Tuman.
Gichki [(Baluchi: گچکی ) is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. Some historians say that they were native inhabitants of Gichk tehsil in Panjgur.
They mostly live in the Makkuran area of Balochistan, and ruled the region from 1740 till 197. The land was distributed among Gichki clans from Kech to Panjgur. The tribe is supposedly the Royal family of Makkuran. “Gichk” is a place in Panjgur this place called Gichk because the Gichki’s were living there. It has relations with many other Royal families of Balochistan including the Jam of Lasbela, Khan of Kalat and Chiefs of the Mengal tribes.
The Gichkis of are commonly divided into three subtribes, the Esahzai, Dinarzai and Qasimzai. The Esahzai are the clan of Miresah.They ruled Panjgur and Sami and Sharak. Clan chief Gazi Mir Shahdad was the maternal grandfather of Khan of Kalat and Prince Kareem was popular for revolting against the British. The Qasimzai are a clan of Qasim. They ruled Kech. Dinarzai are a clan of Malik Dinnar who ruled the Iran border areas of Tump and Mand. Malik Dinnar was popular for his bravery.
Gola is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan.
A servile tribe; said to have fought against Chakur; now the principal clan among the Buledhi.
Most of the Golas speak Balochi while minority speak Sindhi and Saraiki . They live in Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Sibi in Balochistan and Kamber Khan, Jacobabad and Larkana in Sindh. There is a small town with name “Golo Wah” “Golo Canal”.
The Gopang (Known to be Rind, as also Jatoi clan)
They are found in the Rojhan Balochistan, Kamber district of Sindh province. Some also live in Kachhi, Balochistan and in the Rahim Yar Khan district.
They were thrown out from Balochistan by Mir Chakar the great due to disobediance in tribal war.Most of them migrated to Sindh and Punjab and few remained at the outskirts of Balochistan. In Gopang Tribal culture, the family name is carried forward for the eldest son, who is also the leader of the family.
Gopang Baloch also live in Makhan Bela and Rohillan Wali since 300 years ago. The name of Makhan Bela originated from Gopang Baloch Sardar Makhan khan. They also speak seraiki.
Gadbi (Known to be Rind, as also Jatoi.)
Gorgage (alternate: Gorgij) is one of prominent Baloch tribes mainly dwelling in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is one of the most powerful Baloch tribes in Iranian Baluchistan and Afghan Baluchistan.
They were the first inhabitants of Dera Bugti (the district of East Balochistan). After many battles with other tribes they migrated to other parts of Balochistan, but first Sardar Balach Gorgage grave is in Dera Bugti, He is the Ideal of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and also Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri thats way he Named his son Mir Balach Marri. For a long time the Gorgage chieftain was settled in the Afghan part of Balochistan but recently, owing to the spread of the Gorgage population, and also owing to borders which have separated the Baloch people into three neighboring countries (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan), three tribal chieftains have emerged. Two of them belong to Irani Balochistan, and one in Eastern Balochistan.
Gorshani (Urdu: گورشانی) is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. The Gorshani being one of the major tribe in Punjab Pakistan .
They extracted their name after the name of their Ancestor, Gorish Khan Great Grandson of Mir Jalal Khan (Father of Rind and Lashari) . In 1760, when Ahmad Shah Abdali, defeated Marhatta’s, the areas of Harand and Dajal were given to Naseer Khan Qalat, because he was with Ahmad Shah Abdali in this venture . In this Battle Gorshani also helped Naseer Khan, so he maintained their Regards given by Ahmad Shah Abdali to Gorshanis and also laided fort of Lal Garh in Harand.
The Gorshani tribe has 11 tribal clans which further divide in 81 sub clans. This tribe has a major tribal group: Doodai Doodai Gorshanis are Shehkani, Shakhlani, Hotwani, Pitafi, Kasmani Khalilani
Gorchani.—A tribe of mixed origin, having its headquarters at Lalgarh, near
Harrand, in Dera Ghazi Khan. The principal part of the tribe is Dodai (q.v.). The
Syahphadh Durkani are Rinds; the Pitafi, Jogani, and Chang probably partly Rind;
the Lashari sub-tuman (except the Gabols and Bhanda) and the Jistkani are
Lasharis; the Suhriani and Holawan are Bulethis. This seems to be the
composition of this tribe. There is a Gurchani clan among the Lunds of Sori.
Gulfad tribe is an ancient Baloch tribe of Rajanpur. According to old history tellers, the tribe has its roots in famous Mazari Baloch tribe. It is said that the first person of the Gulfad tribe was a noble person of the tribe and was a member of the traditional baloch tribal council so called jirga. He was disable from his foot and it is one of the oldest traditions of the baloch tribes to name some one after his disability. The disability of that person gave him name of GundPhaz (Gund=twisted and Phaz=foot). As he was noble person of the tribe, his successors were also given a family name relating to that person. It is the tradition that in case of any sort of dispute the weaker party has to migrate any where else to prevent the further disturbance, so any dispute in the tribe forced this new density to migrate from there, and they went and settled in the woods near the bank of Indus river. This place during the attacks byMuhammad Bin Qasim was used as the Midpoint by the forces during their passage to Multan. So by the geography and the location, the place was named as Adhiwala which is still in use now. After the arrival of the English, the word Gundphaz due to its excessive use became Gulphaz or Gulfaz, and it is still in use by some people of the tribe, while some use Gulfad as their caste. It is also said that after arrival to their new location the people of Gulfad tribe were deprived of their property and led a life of poors here.
Gorgezh.—A branch of the Rinds, formerly of great power, but much reduced
through their wars with the Buledhi; now found at Thali in Sibi, and considered
a clan of the Dombki tribe.
Hot/Hoot/Hoat: One of the original main sections of the Baloch. Very widely spread. They
form a powerful tribe still in Mekran, and ruled at Dera Ismail Khan for two
hundred years. Part of the Khosa tribe and the Balachani Mazaris are said to be
of Hot descent. They are found also wherever the Baloches have spread, and are
numerous in Dera Isrnail Khan, Muzafargarh, Multan, and Jhang. Name
sometimes wrongly spelt lint.
Clans of The Hooth are
· Khosa
· Kalmati
· Khushk
· Chandio
Hasani.—A Baloch tribe of uncertain origin, which at one time occupied a considerable
part of the country now held by the Marris. They were destroyed in wars with
the Marris, and a fragment only remains, now forming a clan among the
Khetrans, near the Han Pass. Colonel O. T. Duke considers that they were
Pathans by origin, but it seems probable that they were, like the Khetrans, an
aboriginal Indian tribe, but more thoroughly assimilated by the Baloches. The
remaining Hasanis speak Balochi, not Khetrani.
The Jadgal is a Jatt tribe of Sindhi origin, who are settled throughout the Sindh, Balochistan region. They are also found in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, andIraq.
The name “Jadgal” applies specifically to groups that still speak the Jadgali language, in the Makran region of Iran and Pakistan. The Jadgali language is related to Indo-Aryan and Sindhi. Their most commonly spoken languages are Balochi, Persian and Saraiki.
the jadgal or zadjali original from mecca they flee time of prophet from mecca to Baghdad the present jadgal or jadjali language was taken from Sindh when they entered in sindh the time of Muhammad bin qasim and they travel from Baghdad via Iran and entered in pakistan sindh the jadjali language was taken from sindhi and it the same language but the diffidence is pronounce as they arab was not able to pronounce the same as sindh speaks and Arab has introduce them Arabic to writing.
Jagirani is the name of a Baloch tribe in the Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. They mostly speak Balochi and Sindhi.
presently Jacobabad, Khairpur, Shahdadkot, and Qambar − and settled there permanently.
The Jakhrani tribe derives its name from Jakhro, their first ancestor, descended
from Mir Chakar Khan. Another account says that Jakhro was a member of the
Sindhhi Abra tribe, and by association with Mir Chakar Khan his descendants
became the Jakhrani Baloch. The present Chief of the tribe is Wadero Bahawal
Khan wd. Ghulam Ali Khan, Jakhrani, who lives in Janidero, near the town of
Jacobabad, in the Frontier District of Upper Sindh. Darya Khan, the grandfather
of Bahawal Khan, was the well known robber chief in the beginning of the British
conquest of Sindh, but subsequently he surrendered himself to Sir Charles
Napier and was granted a jagir in deh Janidero, taluka Jacobabad, in which he
settled down with the members of his tribe. He -was suspected of treason during
the time of the mutiny and was deported to Aden, where he died.
Jamaldini is a tribe of Balochistan, Pakistan, particularly inhabitants of Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Quetta, Chagai, Khuzdar areas.
The name of this tribe is derived from Jamaldin son of Haroon Baloch, a notable person living on the bank of Rakhshan River, which was flown from the center of Balochistan.
The Jamali tribe is also said to be a branch of the Rind tribe, and Jamal was the
name of their great ancestor, after whom they are now called. There are in fact
three divisions of this tribe.
The north-western border of the Frontier District and part of Kalat territory are
occupied by the first division, whose Chief is Wadero Lashkar Khan son of Kher
Muhammad Khan, Jamali Sherkhanani, who lives in Bakhiro, a village in Kalat
territory near the border of taluka Jacobabad.
Jarwar (Urdu: جروار ) is a sub-tribe from the Gazini branch of Marri Baloch.[1] Although some families of Jarwar are still living in their native place nearKahan but they are now mainly split into various groups and living in many areas of Balochistan, Sindh and Northern Punjab. Many Jarwar elders considered this displacement from their native land and splitting into various groups is the result of a curse of a prominent religious leader (pir) named Mangho
According to the tribal oral records Mangho was a member of Jarwar tribe and he spend his last days in a small village which is now became a part of Gadap Town, Karachi. His shrine is famous for it tames crocodiles in an open pool.
The term Jarwar is that, it may be a case of combination of two Sindhi words “Jar” means “water” and “War” which means “involved in the management”. Therefore Jarwar means “the people who involved in or responsible for the management of water for the irrigation purpose.
Jatoi:
Balochi traditional ballads tells of a leader named Mir Jalal Khan who had four sons, Rind, Lashar, Hot, and Korai, and a daughter Jatoi, who married his nephew Murad. These five are the eponymous founders of the five great divisions of the tribe, the Rinds, Lasharis, Hooths, Korais, and Jatois.
The tribe mostly speaks Seraiki and Sindhi as their first language, a large number of group speaks Balochi
The Sub clans of Jatoi are Aterani, Perozani, Jafrani, Bullani, Lahorzai, Bullo, Misrani, Nachani, Shar, Kharoos, Kosh.
Jat/Jatt:
The expression “Jat Baloch” means “camel-driving Baloch.” In Mir Chakar’s time,
a number of low caste Balochis was employed in loading, leading and grazing
his trains and flocks of camels, and those Balochis and their descendants were
called “Jat Balooh.” The Jat Baloch tribe is now found in the Jati Taluka of the
Karachi District and in Katch Bhuj territory. Their Chief, Malik Ghulam Husen
son of Malik Jahan Khan, commonly called “Raj Malik” or “Malik Raj,” lives in
Raj Malik, a small village in taluka Jati.
Jattak is a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Jistkani.—Formerly a powerful tribe in the Sindh Sagar Doab, with headquarters
at Mankera, and still numerous there. Found as a clan in the Gurchani and
Drishak tribes. Believed to be a branch of the Lasharis.
Ah Balaach! Marri
By Ismail Mazari
“The demise of nations comes not due to annihilation but capitulation,” an age-old Balochi maxim – almost forgotten by ordinary folks – invoked by him with full vigour in his last interview. Without a shred of doubt, Mir Balaach Marri held a firm belief in the essence of this ancient dictum till the last moment of his life.
The wounds inflicted by Punjab’s mercenary squad in Tratani were raw and fresh; the very forces of chaos, after only a short span of time, struck back in Sarlat, a historical region that gave birth to the modern day resistance movement. This time, the target was Mir Balaach Marri. As a standard–bearer of the Baloch cause, he was a marked man from day one.
Like Mir Mehrab, Agha Karim, Hameed Baloch, Asad Mengal, Nawab Bugti, Khalid Jan and many other valiant sons of this nation – Balaach too, was a happy martyr; he chose this path in high spirit, despite knowing the hazards lying in every step of this journey. He, however, rightly insisted that this is the only avenue that leads to emancipation. As Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War invokes these wise words in defence of such a gallant fighter:
“…if the only choice was between submission with loss of independence, and danger with the hope of preserving that independence, in such a case it is he who will not accept the risk, that deserves blame, not he who will.”
No one had a clue that this courageous man was on a history-making path; neither could anyone gauge his credentials: his allegiance to motherland and its inhabitants. Cynics, though, bet heavily on false notions that by raising the spectre of the Baloch Cause he would be aiming to strike a bargain with occupiers. While others even went further by whispering that he would soon find his place in a club of politicians whose sources of power chiefly derive from the largess provided by their masters in Punjab.
As usual, they were dead wrong.
Such demeaning blitz on Balaach was erupting from a bunch of people whose collective role as a custodian of Punjab’s interests in Balochistan – makes them no less repugnant than those who served as the guards of Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. That collaborationist elite surely underestimated Balaach’s iron resolve.
Balaach grew up in times when state terror was on its height and Baloch were dying in large numbers. He went to school under the shadow of the Chamalaang massacre; he saw and felt closely the deaths and ruins across the land brought by Punjab’s military which received a helping hand from the Phelavis of Persia. Indeed, they both found a common cause, hence a common enemy.
It was this ghastly period which shaped his conscience and character. His statements and interviews clearly reflect a set of belief that he held throughout his life. His most moving discourses to public were grounded in the images of the shame of slavery, pride of freedom, the agony of the humiliating occupation and the breakable power of enemy. In doing so, he was actually pointing to the severity of the threats to our existence, and also the depths to which we as a nation were prone to drift but at the time he was able to summon us to hope.
True, a Baloch child is a natural born nationalist in wartime. In Balaach’s case, there was something unique, something rooted in his upbringing too which played a greater role: he was nurtured by a father who has a grand-standing in modern Baloch history. A man who has devoted almost entire his life to a cause and spearheaded the movement whether in war or peace.
As thousands of Baloch made their way to Afghanistan in the aftermath of 1970s war, Balaach was very much part of this incredible journey. And later his student days in the Soviet Union, he witnessed the seismic waves that swept across Eurasian landscape: the old order was unravelling before his eyes; and he stood and watched the historical events that accelerated the collapse of Soviet empire and the emergence of several nation states from the ruins of what many of us believed the preeminent superpower. He embraced the fact that artificially constructed bonds under communism were much weaker than the nationalistic aspirations of the very people who preserved their cultural values despite decades of imperial repressions.
To understand Balaach’s transformative role in Baloch politics, one has to put the post war period of Baloch politics in context.
The leadership vacuum emerged in the early 1980s, was filled by a group of politicians who unfortunately not only lacked the charisma, but were completely detached from the historical realities. Such shortcomings hindered their ability to move forward. They found it exceedingly difficult to define the whole purpose of the Baloch struggle in the absence of a clear vision. Instead, most of the political parties that claimed to be representing the Baloch cause became trapped in a long internal battle. Unnecessary factional fighting deteriorated public confidence toward the Baloch cause. While military establishment gained enormously from these pitfalls, turning such condition into a strategic advantage for itself and continued to foment tribal feuds which led to a series of intra and inter-tribal clashes. But this was only part of the story.
Having seen us so weak and fragmented, Islamabad planned to get an absolute grip on Balochistan. They devised a grand plan with an intention to turn the entire region into a mini Punjab in the guise of “development projects.”
During these chaotic times Mir Balaach emerged as the sole champion of emancipation. He came up with a clear vision and above all a strategy to advance this vision. To make things clearer, he drew a sharp line between two extremities of Baloch politics: on the one hand, there are those utopians who tend to rely on empty moralism and legalism, pretending that Pakistan’s shoddy democratic process would eventually deliver; and those realists, on the other hand, who believe that any illusionary desire of harmony of interests between Punjab and Balochistan would ultimately prolong the suffering of the masses and thus, such wishful thinking is no less than an unwitting attempt by the federalists to legitimise six-decade long occupation.
Balaach was the proponent of later school. He and Nawab Akbar Bugti both well understood the logic of war and peace. Unlike others, they correctly argued that morality is the function of politics, not the other way around; and without power all legal or moral imperatives are null and void.
Balaach was through and through a man of the Baloch traditional class. The virtues such as sacrifice, bravery, loyalty, patriotism, he upheld and defended till the last moment of his life are no different than the ones preached and instilled by the ancient Athenians, Spartans and Romans to their citizens. With such a huge sacrifice, Balaach restored the pride of the nation, there has to be more Balaach if the hope of freedom is to succeed.
We should remember Balaach today above all, and salute his bravery and nobility.
Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Excerpts from “The Journey to Disillusionment”
By Ismail Mazari
Excerpts from Sherbaz Khan Mazari’s book …
Page 330 – Bhutto’s fixation with Hitler was manifested in a similarity of coincidences. The concentration camp at ‘Dalai’ and the FSF ‘storm troopers’ were clearly products of Bhutto’s Hitler fixated mind. Aping Hitler, Bhutto chose to use a policy of systemic terror to brutalize his opponents.
Page 331 – By 1974 four political activists were victims of political assassination. The fifth was a botched attempt at killing a man Bhutto had grown to hate: Dr Nazir Ahmed, Jamaat-i-Islami MNA – shot dead at his clinic at Dera Ghazi Khan on 8 June 1972; Khawaja Muhammad Rafiq, leader of Itehad Party – shot dead by a sniper during an anti-government demonstration in Lahore on 20 December 1972; Abdus Samad Achakzai, leader of NAP Pakhoonkhwa of Balochistan – killed in his house in Quetta by a grenade attack on 2 December 1973; Maulvi Shamsuddin, JUI MPA and Deputy Speaker of the Balochistan assembly – shot in his car on his way to Fort Suleman on 13 March 1974; Muhammad Ahmed Kasuri, father of Ahmed Raza – killed mistakenly, during a bungled attempt to assassinate his son, who was present in the car along with him, in Lahore on 10 November 1974.
(Bhutto was lucky he got hanged for only one of these murders).
Page 331 – Others were killed as well. On 28 September a serious attempt was made on Wali Khan’s life as he was driving to Swat. Both his driver and guard were killed but Wali Khan luckily emerged unscathed.
Page 331 – On 5 October Ali Buksh Junejo – a former Khalifa of Pir Pagaro, who had joined the PPP, was murdered in Sanghar in broad daylight. The next day Six supporters of Pir Pagaro, who were attending a court hearing against them, were taken by the police to a deserted location and murdered in cold blood.
Page 332 – Apart from the killings during this period, thousands of people were detained from all over the country. There were those like Kaswar Gardezi, secretary general of NAP, who was sadistically tortured by the police while in detention. In a voice breaking with emotion Gardezi later related his horrifying experience to me (details of the torture not included here).
Page 333 – In September 1972 Khawaja Mana Rahman, of the Dawn group, was shot at the Karachi Boat Club by hired assassins who made their escape. A few months later an attempt was made to shoot his daughter while she was driving her car.
Given the circumstances I was disappointed , but not surprised, when Mana Rahman called on me to tell me that both he and his brother-in-law, Mahmood Haroon, has sought and received forgiveness from Bhutto. They had done so because they “lacked the courage to continue to oppose him”. The people who stood firm against Bhutto’s autocracy were getting smaller in number and in time would shrink further.
Page 334 – If any of his subordinates showed even a modicum of independence, he would be swiftly punished. In December 1973 he dismissed Mumtaz Bhutto as chief minister of Sindh. In March 1973 Khar was sacked as chief minister of Punjab.
Bhutto’s obsession with maintaining a aura of invincibility was so strong that he would spare no one, not even those who had done him valuable and devoted service over the years.
Page 335 – On the evening of 2 July 1974 J A Rahim was invited, along with the senior hierarchy of the PPP, to a dinner at the prime minister’s house. The invitation was for 8 pm but the host had failed to show up. By midnight the seventy-plus-year-old Rahim lost his patience and left uttering some harsh words.
In the early hours of the morning as Rahim lay sleeping he was informed by his servant that a posse of men were demanding to be let in. Rahim went to the front door to discover that it was Saied Ahmed Khan, the chief of prime minister’s security, who told him he had come to deliver a personal message from the prime minister. When he opened the door the security chief began by pummeling Rahim’s face and body with his fists until Rahim fell to the ground. Then one of his men hit Rahim with his rifle butt while he lay prostrate. Rahim’s son, Sikander who rushed to intervene, was soon beaten unconscious by the FSF troopers. Having delivered Bhutto’s message Rahim was dragged by his feet and flung into a jeep, along with his son, and taken to a police station. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station a couple of hours later and rescued him.
Even Bhuto’s close associates and cabinet ministers now lived in dread and fear of the unpredictability of their master’s temper. Bhutto would not brook any criticism. Rafi Raza revealed that Dr Mubashir Hasan told him that when he wished to speak to the prime minister he would do so only privately to avoid ugly consequences. Rafi Raza also mentioned that Bhutto forbade him to speak openly at cabinet meetings to prevent others from becoming ‘too independent and contrary.
(this policy was continued by Benazir Bhutto. No one could speak until spoken to. Not even Aitzaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani, Khurshid Shah or even the benign Iqbal Haider, not to mention the small fry Sherry Rahman, Farzana Raja and Fauzia Wahhab. A US official told of a meeting with Benazir Bhutto — she spoke 90 percent of the time).
Part II
Page 344 – Bhutto did not trust even the closest of his associates and kept them in check by pitting one against the other. In Sindh he had controlled his cousin Mumtaz through his rival Jatoi. Jatoi in turn, as chief minister, had no control over Jam Sadiq Ali, who reported directly to the prime minister. Jam Sadiq Ali, his hit man had total control of Sanghar, Pagaro’s vote bank. Larkana was made into a division and Khalid Kharral became its first commissioner, reporting directly to Bhutto. Rather than trying to bring his warring subordinates together, Bhutto encouraged them to squabble even further, all the while enjoying the complaints of one colleague about the other.
Page 345 – Creating rivalries between his subordinate gave Bhutto a sense of security. As his confidant Rafi Raza admitted: “By nature suspicious, he sought to have ’dirt’ available against his ministers and leading party members, and in early 1976, assigned to his intelligence chiefs the task of preparing secret dossiers about them, to be used against them in case of need”.
Page 342 – NAP/JUI government in Balochistan was dismissed illegally and unethically and inspite of sending Baloch leaders to jail, the federal government had not been able to form a majority government there. People were shot like dogs, the army had blockaded sizeable populations, air force had been used to strafe people, Iranian ammunition was being used against the locals and thousands of political workers had been jailed.
Page 350 – On 25 June while I was at Karachi I read in the evening papers that over nine hundred people had been slain by the armed forces in the Mari tribal area. The newspapers mentioned the use of the Pakistan air force in aerial bombing of the hapless civilians.
Page 352 – A ‘mohtabar’ informed us: “On a recent visit to Harnai I met with an army Subedar at a local ‘chaikhana’ who told me that he was a paratrooper who had participated in the action against the Marris. The Subedar said many members of his section had been dropped by parachute at night near identified Marri settlements. At dawn they surrounded the settlements and attacked them killing all those who resisted, After burning down their homes, they arrested all the able bodied men and took away all their livestock. When I asked the Subedar about the Marri women, he told me that they took with them only the pretty ones for obvious reasons and left the others to fend for themselves. The ‘mohtabar’ then confirmed that in his presence alone he saw the army auctioning off over 15,000 heed of captured cattle”.
Page 353 – On our return to Islamabad a number of us in the opposition including Wali Khan, Pir Pagaro and I sent separate similarly worded telegrams to Chaudry Fazal Elahi, the president:
“The action committee of UDF hereby bring to your notice that the actions taken by the federal government in Balochistan are unconstitutional and unlawful. In compliance with such orders the Pakistan army and air force are indiscriminately shelling, strafing and killing innocent inhabitants, including women and children. Their properties are being destroyed and their livestock looted. Concentration camps have been established where innocent and patriotic people of Balochistan are being kept and maltreated. Their women are dishonoured and innocent children tortured. Implementation of such orders of the federal government by the Pakistan army and air force is damaging the unity of the country and may lead to further disintegration, thus a reign of terror is prevailing in the whole province for the simple reason that the people of Balochistan did not vote for the People’s Party in the last general elections”.
Page 354 – only two days later I received a report from Mukhtar Hasan, a newspaper correspondent who had just returned from Balochistan. He told me that while he was there two Marri women were raped near Balpat station by soldiers. The culprits were later caught and given only extra drill as punishment. In another incident, one Lal Han Marri’s wife was abducted in Kohlu and raped by several soldiers. Rape in any society is a most reprehensible crime, but when a country’s army, whose sworn and only duty is to defend the borders of a country, indulges in criminal raping of its own hapless citizens, it is nothing less than an act of treason. What disgusted me most was the fact that only token punishment was being awarded by the army for the perpetrators of this most monstrous of crimes. The Pakistan army was behaving as if it had occupied a foreign country, and an iniquitous occupation at that. It reminded me of the atrocities committed by the army in East Pakistan.
Page 356 – in late August I was asked by Bhutto to meet with him in Karachi. I took the opportunity of remonstrating with him about the continuing military action against the tribesmen, especially the use of aircraft against them. It was then, in my presence, that Bhutto finally, openly admitted that military aircraft had been used in Balochistan, but he insisted that no bombing had taken place, the aerial attacks, according to him, had been restricted to strafing and rockets.
Page 356/357 – within weeks of the dismissal of the NAP government in Balochistan in February 1973 a disparate group of Baloch guerillas had sprung up largely in the Marri and Mengel areas. These guerrilla groups, despite their meager numbers, constantly harassed army convoys. Adopting the classical guerrilla approach of avoiding any large scale encounters with the armed forces. Between the period of 1973 and 1975, there were 178 major recorded army encounters with the guerrillas. Despite the army’s enormous 80,000 man force it would find itself increasingly frustrated with its inability to deal with small groups who attacked at unexpected moments and then swiftly melted away into the mountainside. The army’s heavy handed approach of avenging itself on the innocent, ordinary tribal folk only worsened the situation.
Page 361 – the army now decided to take advantage of the presence of a large concentration of Marri families in one particular locality and launched Operation Chamalang on 3 September 1974. By attacking the tent villages of their families the army hoped to lure the fighting tribesmen down from the hills. The strategy worked and thousands of armed Marris poured down from the hills to defend their wives and children. It is said they fought for three consecutive days and nights before running out of ammunition and being forced to retreat to the hills.
Page 364 – News of the Chamalang Operation reached me late. I had spent a week in Sonmiani and found myself – as was the case in those days without telephones, newspapers or even electricity – completely cut off from all but urgent telegrams, which would take a couple of days to reach. It was only when I reached Karachi on 18 September that I was informed by Ahmed Raza Kasuri that the army had occupied Chamalang. He told me that about 800 Marris and over 200 soldiers had been killed in the fighting. I was shattered by the enormity of the event.
Part III
Page 371 – on 8 February my eldest son Sherazam informed me that he had just heard on the radio that Hayat Muhammad Sherpao, the PPP senior minister of NWFP had been killed in a bomb explosion at Peshawar university.
There are many theories about who arranged his assassination. One theory that cannot easily be dismissed was that it had been carried out on the direct orders of Sherpao’s own leader – Bhutto himself. It is a known fact that before his death Sherpao had become very disenchanted with the leader he had once hero-worshipped. Bhutto had noticed Sherpao’s growing popularity and had come to resent it and had begun politically sidelining him at every available opportunity. Even one of their close PPP colleague commented:
“ A few months before his death, Sherpao seriously considered leaving the Party altogether. He only changed his mind on the persuasion of myself and other friends from the Frontier —– . Of all those around Bhutto, sherpao’s personal devotion had been the greatest, and his subsequent disillusionment was consequently the most profound”.
Page 372 – The death of Sherpao provided Bhutto with an excuse to clamp down on Wali Khan and his NAP. It was eerily reminiscent of the dismissal of the Balochistan government on trumped up charges of being responsible for the arms found in the Iraq Embassy in February 1973, two years previously. The day following Sherpao’s assassination, Wali khan and all the national and provincial leaders of NAP were either under detention or being urgently sought out by the authorities. The next day it was announced that NAP had been banned and all its assets confiscated. The First Amendment to the 1973 Constitution allowed the Federal Government to ban political parties formed or those ‘operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty of Pakistan’.
On the evening of 10 February I got a call from Jennifer Musa from Balochistan, who had been a NAP MNA, from Islamabd. She told me that over 800 of the NAP party members had been arrested. She also informed me that an ordinance had been passed in the Assembly which allowed for the arrest of MNAs while the Assembly was in session. It had become obvious that the government had begun an intensified assault to destroy all vestige of NAP. A brutal campaign had begun to pin Sherpao’s death on NAP party members. A number of them including, Asfandyar were very brutally tortured in an attempt to extract ‘confessions’. A few days later NWP Governor Aslam Khattak and the Gandapur Government was also sacked and the federal Government imposed its direct rule in the province.
Page 372/373 – On 18 February at 1 a.m. I was woken up by a telephone call from a very distraught Mrs Azizullah Shaikh. Her home was being stoned by hooligans. Her husband had gone into hiding to evade arrest, and she was alone at home with her three young daughters. I took my son Sherazam and a couple of our servants and rushed over to her house. We saw a dozen or so thugs fleeing into the surrounding darkness when they saw our car approaching. Inside we discovered Mrs shaikh and her three daughters cowering in the corner o a room. The idea that a government could stoop so low as to threaten a defenseless woman and her young daughters sickened me. My son and I kept an all night vigil and left only after sunrise.
Page 375/377 – the banning of nap found UDF Opposition alliance in a weakened position. Having banned NAP the government was required under law to refer it’s dissolution of the Party to the Supreme Court. Exercising a leap in convoluted logic, CJ Hamoodur Rahman chose to construe NAP’s long held demand for greater provincial autonomy to be nothing more than a claim for a provincial ‘right of self-determination with the right to accede’. The Supreme Court had fallen prey to playing its historical role – since the days of Justice Munir – of acceding deferentially, yet again, to the wishes of the government of the day. The sum of the supreme court’s long judgment —– was to endorse the Prime Minister’s contempt for political opposition.
Page 391 – in the meantime yet another government-opposition crisis had taken place. On 14 November the Opposition created an uproar in the Assembly over the Government’s introduction of the proposed Fourth Amendment to the 1973 Constitution, to further curtail the writ jurisdiction of the High Courts in cases of preventive detention. It thwarted the Court’s ability to prohibit such detentions or even grant bail to people so detained. It was clearly directed towards disabling the Courts from intervening in cases of blatant political victimization.
In the ensuing parliamentary commotion the serjeant-at-arms was ordered to evict the Opposition MNAs from the Chamber. Failing to do so, FSF troopers were called in. These government hired ruffians bodily lifted eight struggling MNAs and dumped them unceremoniously in the National Assembly car park. Among the victims was the acting leader of the Opposition, Mufti Mahmood. It was a scandalous display of unwarranted aggression and only helped in furthering the growing bitter divide between members of the Opposition and Bhutto.
Page 393 – After having been forcibly ejected from parliament Mufti Mahmood refused Bhutto’s offer of a dialogue to sort matters out. This offer of Bhutto was a typical Bhutto gesture. He would now hold himself out as a man of reason offering to settle the dispute in a calm and sensible manner – completely ignoring the fact that it was he who had shoved the aggressive Fourth Amendment down the throats of the Opposition, as well as had them manhandled and ejected from the Assembly Chamber. When his ‘judicious’ offer would meet with rejection, he would get the theatrical opportunity of twisting his hands in dismay and then announce that he was faced with such an ‘obstructive’ and hostile opposition, that he had little choice but to ‘crush them’ for the sake of good governance.
Part IV
Page 394/395 – 19 December 1975 had been nominated a ‘Black Flag Day’ and a rally had to be held at Karachi’s Katrak Hall, near the Empress Market. On the way to the hall we were forced to disembark from our vehicles as FSF and armed police had taken charge of all routes leading to the Hall. Asghar khan, Maulana Noorani and I forced our way through the blockade on foot helped by a crowd of several thousand already assembled there. When we walked through a narrow alley and entered the gate a large body of police made their sudden appearance and a DSP took the three of us into police custody. The police contingent charged the crowd with their steel tipped ‘lathis’. The narrowness of the alley made their task much easier as they had only to contend with those in the front. Later I was told they brutally cleared the alley all the way to the main road. Besides the police, only my three sons, Mir Ali Buksh Talpur and my driver remained in the alley refusing to budge until they discovered what had happened to me. But they too were charged, Talpur’s wrist was broken and my sons injured. We were taken to the Soldier Bazaar police station and detained there. After a while an angry crowd swelled outside and the police decided to release us before the situation got out of hand.
All over Pakistan similar rallies had been disrupted by the local police and FSF. Having muzzled the press and despite having achieved near complete control of all media, Bhutto’s government was determined not to allow the Opposition any opportunity of communicating with the public in any form whatsoever. The government’s open and adversely hostile attitude towards the Opposition was now impelling even the less belligerent Opposition parties into adopting a firmer stance.
Page 397/398 – On 6 February 1976 tragedy struck. Asadullah, the twenty year old son of Attaullah Mengal was gunned down outside my brother Mir Balakh Sher’s house at Karachi, along with his friend Ahmed Shah Kurd. I later learnt that Asadullah who was constantly being followed by local intelligence agencies, sought to evade them earlier that day, by swapping cars at a friend’s house. In the friend’s car he, accompanied by Ahmed Shah, arrived at my brother’s house in the Muhammad Ali Housing Society a few minutes before 8 p.m. He informed the servant that he was expecting to receive a phone call there. At about 8 p.m. as the telephone rang, the servant heard loud bursts of gunfire. Outside the gate he saw Saadullah’s car crashed against the wall and a number of armed people surrounding it. It was then that he noticed that both ends of the street had been blocked by black vehicles. He witnessed the men carrying two prone bodies from the crashed car to one of their vehicles before driving away.
My initial shock at this horrible event quickly changed to sorrow when my thoughts turned towards Attaullah Mengal. Almost a month after the incident ominous rumours began to circulate that after being critically wounded, instead of being taken to a hospital, Asadullah was taken to Malir where he was tortured to extract information about his dealings in Balochistan. He died during the torture and to this day, apart from the perpetrators themselves, no one knows the whereabouts of his remains.
Page 409 – My last meeting with Bhutto took place on 4 June 1976. Sardar Shaukat Hayat met me as I was leaving the Assembly building and insisted that I accompany him to the prime minister’s Chambers to meet Bhutto. We spoke for about fifteen minutes, once again receiving assurances from Bhutto that he was all in favour of settling his disputes with NAP leaders amicably. By now Bhutto’s declarations held little value and I wondered at the real meaning behind our meeting. Only a short while later it dawned on me that I had become party to yet another stunt. Bhutto was off very shortly to Afghanistan, probably also to tell Sirdar Daud that NDP and he were working closely to resolve the dispute between the government and the jailed leaders.
Page 412 – In the middle of the night I received a disturbing call from my family. Five masked men had invaded the ground of my residence and, after knocking a sleeping servant unconscious, they tried to smash entry into the house. Unable to gain entry they then attempted to seize my cars. They managed to push one about ten feet towards the gate before the servants became alerted and rang the alarm. Members of my family then opened fire upon the intruders. Unfortunately in the dark all five intruders managed to flee unhurt.
I would learn some years later from an unimpeachable senior PPP source that the attack had been arranged by Jam Sadiq Ali under specific instructions of Bhutto, who probably wished to remind me of the vulnerability of my family.
Page 416/420 – On January 1977 Bhutto, who had dithered over the issue, announced suddenly that the elections would be held, two months later, on 7 March.
The first sign of the government’s electoral intentions became publicly apparent when Maulana Jan Muhammad Abbasi, the PNA candidate contesting Bhutto’s Larkana seat, was abducted by the police to prevent him from filing his papers against the PPP leader. Taking cue from the leader, a host of other PPP leaders opted to follow a similar electoral route to victory. This illustrious company included Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Mehran Khan Bijarani, Atta Muhammad Marri, Malik Sikander Khan, Sultan Ahmned Chandio, Yusuf Chandio and some others.
All fourprovincial Chief Ministers also ensured they would not be ‘disgraced’ by the presence of any rival candidate in their constituencies.
Rafi Raza stated : I met Bhutto on his return from Larkana —– I said his unopposed election was astonishing, no one could accept that the PNA candidate had simply failed to show up. The error was further compounded by the publicity given to the ‘Undisputed leader’, as if it were a presidential election. Bhutto tetchily asked why, if I was surprised at his unopposed election, I did not enquire how my friend Mumtaz was similarly elected from Larkana.
Kausar Niazi stated : One of Mr Bhutto’s intense desire was well known to me, he had expressed that more than once in my presence. And that was – he wanted a victory with two thirds majority. Bhutto needed a two thirds majority in the National assembly to amend the Constitution to obtain his cherished goal of a presidential form of government. With him, of course, as the president.
Part V Conclusion
Page 431 – the NWFP was a prime example of election misdeeds. Bhutto assigned Muhammad Hayat Taman, his political advisor, the task of making election preparations in NWFP. Gen Imtiaz, Bhutto’s military secretary was sent there for three weeks to assist Taman.
The deputy commissioner (and returning officer) of Kohistan district, who was earlier asked to keep the results of his constituency a secret, was then summoned by the troika. He was threatened with dire consequences if he did not accede to the chief secretary’s request to make up the deficiency in the PPP candidates votes and reverse the results. “On my hesitation the DIG took me aside and said my dismissal would not take days but hours, and many charges could be levelled against me”
US ambassador, Henry Byroade, who was with Bhutto as the election results came in, said, “the results we coming in at about 70%. He was losing Karachi. He was losing Peshawar. Then the Punjabi numbers started coming in and guys who were absolute thugs won by 99%. Bhutto became absolutely quiet and started drinking heavily, calling Lahore, he said, what are you people doing.
With our general consensus, Mufti Mahmood in a lengthy reply rejected Bhutto’s offer of talks: “I regret to say you have again avoided to clarify your stand regarding countrywide pre-planned rigging of general elections. On 7th march, the country was subjected to a farce in the name of general elections. The admin- istration made every endeavour to subvert the national will and to ensure a new lease of life for a leader and a government which had been overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate –
Much publicity was given internationally to the joint resignations of Gen Gul Hasan and Air Marshal Rahim Khan as ambassadors to Greece and Spain respectively. They were soon to give an extremely hostile press conference in London against the Bhutto regime. They sent a letter to Gen Zia demanding that he decline from accepting illegal and undemocratic orders from a fascist Bhutto.
On the lighter side there was an amusing incident at Sihala jail. My son Sherazam, then a student at Karachi had flown to Rawalpindi, borrowed a car from Wali khan’s son and come to visit me. When he was preparing to leave the car would not start. It had to be push-started. While Sherazam sat in the driver’s seat the car was pushed by the whole PNA leadership consisting of Mufti Mahmood, Asghar Khan, Professor Ghafoor, Maulana Noorani and myself. With all the opposition heavyweights behind it the car had no option but to start immediately.
(the following is being included much against my grain, only to show the kind of man Bhutto was, and to what limits he could go):
On the sixth day of the hunger strike I experienced severe chest pains that almost rendered me unconscious. I sensed someone watching me from the other side of the bars. I was surprised to see the jail superintendent standing there all by himself. He seemed very perturbed for some reason. Then strangely he broke down, “as a jail superintendent I’ve done some awful things in my life but I have my limits. Bhutto Saheb personally rings me up almost daily to see if I have broken you yet. But today he gave me orders which, even though I am scared of him, I cannot obey. I have applied for leave and am taking off tomorrow. I’ll face the consequences of my decision but my mind is made up”. Then he warned me, “the deputy jail superintendent is a vicious man, I don’t know what will happen when I’m gone” ———-
I had known Bhutto for some 23 years. To him lying, double-dealing and deceit were normal means of attaining and keeping power. His evident acceptance of new elections was now belied by his unexpected trip abroad. It was a clear indication that mischief was afoot.
During one of the PNA meetings at Sihala Asghar khan revealed disturbing news, Bhutto had decided to deal with the PNA hardliners once and for all. Bhutto had now concocted an ingenious plan by which Kausar Niazi and Ghulam Mustafa Khar would become victims of an assassination plan. In retaliation an enraged PPP mob would then proceed to murder Asghar Khan, Shah Ahmed Noorani and myself. This may seem a bit farfetched to some, but even Kausar Niazi, one of the plot’s two sacrificial victims, believed in its authenticity.
Gen Arif writes about a very revealing episode: “Gen Zia expressed his apprehension to Bhutto that, if the agitation did not end, it could erode army’s discipline and cause division in the ranks. This would be a disaster for the army and for the country. Mr Bhutto sensed the mood and laid on the charm, “you are my brother and I trust you”. He asked Gen Zia not to get unduly worried as the government did not plan to employ the army in a hurry again. He went on to confide that he had taken ‘other measures’ to deal with the PNA situation. That statement rang an alarm in Gen Zia’s mind”.
WELCOME ROJHAN MAZARI
By Ismail Mazari
History
Rojhan is the Capital Seat of the Mazari Baloch tribe who have held this territory since 1632 A.D. Prior to this the Mazari Tribe were settled in the Bambhore Hills of present day Kahan in Balochistan. The original city of Rojhan, situated a few kilometers from the present city, was burnt by the Sikh invaders under the command of Raja Kharak Singh in retaliation of a predatory plundering raid by Mazari chief Behram Khanin 1836 on Mithankot ruled by Sikhs at the time. Later on Truce between Both The present City was constructed during the reign of the famous Mazari Chief, Nawab Sir Imam Buksh Khan Mazari, K.B.E, K.C.I.E. during the early and middle part of the 19th century. The word ‘Rojhan’ traces its roots back to the ancient Babalonyian and Caspatic languages of the Indo-European language family, meaning the ‘City of Tents’. The City is a site to many ancient yet beautiful tombs of the Mazari Nawabs and Sardars dating as back as the 17th Century..
Location
Rojhan Mazari is situated in District Rajanpur of Punjab near the inter-provincial borders of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab. The City of Rojhan Mazari is spread over an area of four square kilometers and is connected by road and railway to Kashmore in the South West and Rajanpur in the North West.
Thanx.