Crucial verdict

We are approaching a decade since Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a mountain hideout in Balochistan’s Kohlu district. The killing turned Bugti, who had long been seen as a pro-establishment figure, into a nationalist hero; the simmering struggle in Balochistan became centred around him as a result. Former president Pervez Musharraf, accused of Bugti’s murder also remains a relevant national player, even eight years after he exited office. Against this backdrop the verdict delivered by the ATC in Quetta on Monday, acquitting Musharraf and the two men accused alongside him – the then interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and the then Balochistan home minister Mir Shoaib Nousherwani – assumes considerable relevance. The immediate reaction from Bugti’s son, Jamil, and his grandson Shahzain has predictably been an angry one. Shahzain, himself a key nationalist figure, has said that they will appeal the verdict in higher courts. The prosecution’s request for exhumation of the body had also been denied. While the voices of the Baloch have in many ways been silenced, including through a PTA shutdown of websites and the caution exercised by the mainstream media, those which do come through reflect a similar rage. This recent verdict will only add to the deeply felt perception, whether valid or invalid, that Balochistan has consistently been denied justice and kept in a state of deprivation. We must remember that perceptions can be hard to change.

But we need to be rational. The ATC has said that there was insufficient proof that Musharraf was involved. Logically, this seems to be an accurate assessment – no matter what the reasons of the lack of evidence may be. The direct role of a president in a mountainside murder was always going to be hard to prove. A conspiracy to kill would need to be established, drawing in many ropes; and this is always a hard task. Right now the evidence against Musharraf is flimsy, leaving the court little choice but to acquit. But in the rugged outbacks and remote hamlets of Dera Bugti and the rest of Balochistan these legalities will hold little meaning. It is the sentiments that count. It is also true that we know very little about precisely what happened at Kohlu that day. We do know, however, that there is a deep sense of mistrust that runs across Balochistan, a deep disillusionment with the state and its institutions. We need to find a way to win back the Baloch, by setting about the task of uncovering the many mysteries of Balochistan as a means to calm grievances in a province where they will have grown with the verdict in favour of Pervez Musharraf in a key case.