The Rise of Baloch Nationalism and Resistance – IV

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Although an amnesty was declared in 1970, the Farrars (rebels) of Marri area weren’t disbanded but continued as in the past and kept the government wary and unable to make any physical or political inroads into the Marri area. In 1970, before the general elections, Mir Ali Bakhsh Talpur of Mirpurkhas visited Babu Sher Mohammad Marri in the Tadri Mountain along with Mohammad Bhabha and Yusuf Nashqandi. Mohammad Bhabha was a political activist and believed that educated youth could be of help to the Baloch people. He put that proposition to Babu, who accepted it after consultation with Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri and Mir Hazar Khan Ramkani. Thus began the involvement of Marxist revolutionaries with the Baloch resistance.

The 1970 elections in Pakistan saw the Awami League (AL) of Sheikh Mujib ur Rehman win a majority. Thereby the person who had been branded a traitor in the Agartala Conspiracy Case stood on the threshold of becoming the Prime Minister (PM) with a majority big enough to have his way. But for the Punjab-dominated establishment and army, this was an unacceptably bitter pill to swallow for it could have loosened their grip on power forever as the AL had the support of the National Awami Party (NAP) of Wali Khan in West Pakistan. Moreover, the Bengali people were more politically aware and would likely thwart any attempts at usurping civilian power. Then began the pantomime of how to deny the Bengalis their rightful share in power. The establishment found in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto a willing partner in the efforts to thwart Sheikh Mujib from getting into the coveted position of PM.