On the external front, Nawab Marri said the Baloch movement was being suppressed by 'colonial America' which was following the footsteps of England. "The US wants the people world over to be subservient. The kind of damage the external forces have caused to the movements of smaller nations has no parallel in the world," he said.
Giving the example of Gwadar Port, Marri said the very idea of excluding the Baloch in the development process was the brainchild of the United States. "Give them a share," was what the Americans told the government of Pakistan because "they are opposed to freedom. We have warned the US that you can't win guerrilla warfare. Therefore, you should not involve yourself, regardless of the fact how fair or unfair a war is. The Baloch people will not suffice with a 'share' we want ownership on our land, resources and our sovereignty."
Replying to a question as to which of the old comrades of the Baloch movement he remembered the most, an old Marri suddenly burst into tears. "I remember those who sacrificed their lives for the Baloch land," Marri referred to his son Nawabzada Balaach Marri, the suspected head of the BLA, who was killed last November in mysterious circumstances. There was complete silence for around three to five minutes. Then he resumed, "In the past we often used to say that the Baloch are very brave men. They do not cry. But sometimes pain becomes so prickly that tears naturally come out -- even sometimes in public."
Another son of Nawab Marri, Nawabzada Harbayar Marri, was arrested last December by the police in London on the charges of possessing illegal weapons; he was released on April 17. In addition, the government of Balochistan froze the bank accounts of Nawab Marri and his sons. On July 10, 2007, Interpol on the request of the Balochistan police, issued Red warrants for the five sons of Nawab Marri, namely Hamza Marri, Zamari Marri, Harbayar Marri, Gazeen Marri and Balach Marri.
Squinting at his past, Marri, who is currently the topmost Baloch political and tribal leader, said he wished he was remembered in history as a real son of the soil. Though some Marris consider themselves as the vanguard of Baloch rights, Khair Baksh Marri says he is not content with his contributions. "I occasionally feel ashamed of not having done enough for the Baloch land. What my children and I have done so far is a minor contribution. We are all indebted to the land."
Malik Siraj Akbar, a graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, is a Pakistani journalist based in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan province.
Image: Slain Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto with Nawab Khair Baksh Marri at his home in Karachi on November 22, 2007 after Balaach Marri's death. Photograph: Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Pakistan: Geopolitical epicentre of Islamist jihad
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