Marri resources belong to all Baloch, says exiled leader

LONDON: Exiled Baloch nationalist leader Mir Sher Alam Marri has said that no individual has the right to decide about the Marri resources and any attempt to utilise these resource will cause chaos, causing damage and internal divisions. 

Sher Alam Marri, son of renowned nationalist Mohammad Marri (General Sheroff), said that it was duty of the Marri tribe to follow the will of late Nawab Khair Baksh Marri who made his youngest son Mehran Marri chief (Nawab) of the Marri tribe and left a will with the Marri tribe elders. He said Nawabzada Jangeez Marri’s recent statement that he had been given permission by the Marri tribe to utilise the natural resources in Marri areas was unfortunate and counter-productive. 

Talking to The News, Sher Alam Marri said that the natural resources belonged to all Balochs and not just few individuals and therefore “no individual or his selected few people have right to take decisions which are suitable only to the interests of a few people.” 

He said that the matter of succession, as per Baloch traditions, is settled because Nawaz Khair Baksh Marri announced in his lifetime that Mehran Marri will be his heir and successor and will be responsible for making decisions concerning Marri tribe. “Anyone else who tries to ignore the will of Nawab Marri will be doing a great disservice to the cause of Balochistan.” 

Few days ago, PML-N’s leader in Balochistan and provincial minister Changeez Marri claimed that he had been given the “power of attorney and legal powers” by at least 25 elders of the Marri tribe to utilise the natural resources (coal, oil, gas, minerals) in the Marri areas for the “welfare and progress of the Marri tribe on behalf of the Marri tribe.”

But Nawab Mehran Marri, who represents Balochistan unofficially at the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC), said that Jangeez Marri was using a group around him to anoint himself as chief of the Marri tribe against wishes of his late father Nawab Khair Baksh Marri.

Mehran Marri stresses that Marri resources should be utilised for the welfare of the masses and not for the welfare of a group. “Nawab Khair Baksh Marri spent everyday of his life for the welfare of Baloch people and downtrodden from all other areas and belongings. He strengthened Marri tribe in order to strengthen common people. It’s his will that resources of Marri areas belong to the Baloch people, not to a few individuals.”