'N' mulls Long March to Dera

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-N is considering holding a Long March for Musharrafs trial in the murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti after Eidul Fitr. However, it would not reach Islamabad this time, as its destination would be Dera Bugti, TheNation learnt reliably on Saturday. According to well-placed sources within PML-N, partys Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif is in consultation process with his comrades as well as Baloch leaders to lead a long march followed by a sit-in at Dera Bugti. PML-N, in the proposed long march cum sit-in would pressurize the federal government to bring the killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti and other Baloch leaders to book, said the sources adding that PML-N along with Baloch nationalist parties would urge the government to try former President Pervez Musharraf on Akbar Bugtis murder. The sources said that if the plan matured, PML-N in its stay in Dera Bugti would ask the federal government to register FIR against Musharraf on Akbar Bugtis assassination. The PML-N long march would also assuage Baloch peoples anger against Punjab as they would feel that their Punjabi brothers are seeking justice for them, said the sources. The sources privy to the development commented that the move by PML-N to lead a long march towards Dera Bugti would also win sympathies for the party in the province where it lacked vote bank. In the proposed long march plus sit-in for an indefinite period, PML-N leaders would claim that they were not seeking Musharrafs trial on the basis of personal vendetta, rather they wanted justice for the oppressed Baloch people and their assassinated Sardars (clan chiefs), said a PML-N leader seeking not to be named. He said that another purpose behind this plan was to assuage angry Balochs who had started talking about independence. It would be a good gesture of love and affiliation with Balochs from the people of other three provinces particularly Punjab that they are raising their voice for the rights of Balochistan, he added. The PML-N leader further said that the consultation process in this regard would be completed in Ramazan so that the action could be launched after Eid if the party opted to go for it. Talal Bugti, the son of Nawab Akbar Bugti, talking to TheNation said that Mian Nawaz Sharif had not consulted him in this regard 'but we will welcome the move from the bottom of our hearts. He said that his son Shahzen Bugti had requested Mian Nawaz Sharif to hold such a long march for the trial of former President Pervez Musharraf and the rights of Baloch people. Talal further said that his party had urged PML-N to observe complete strike in Punjab on August 26, the day of Akbar Bugtis death. PML-N MNA Khurram Dastgir Khan who is the member of that parliamentary committee which had been constituted by Mian Nawaz Sharif in April 2009 to evaluate the ground situation in Balochistan, said that his party was considering to lead such a long march towards Dera Bugti. The modalities of the long march have not been finalized yet and we are mulling whether we should go from Dera Bugti to Quetta or not, he added. The PML-N lawmaker said that another reason behind delaying the proposed long march was the resentment brewing up among the dwellers of Dera Bugti on governments move of making Aali Bugti the chief of Bugti tribes. He said that Mian Nawaz Sharif was in touch with Baloch leaders and wanted to take them on board before announcing any date for the long march. Besides demanding the trial of Musharraf on Akbar Bugtis murder, we will also address other issues confronting Baloch people, he said adding that the long march of PML-N would be the gesture of solidarity with the people of Balochistan by the rest of the country.