“Apologize to him on my behalf if ever you have an opportunity to meet him,” a former prime minister said, quoting her father’s last letter before he was hanged. “Tell him my hands were tied,” she told reporters.

Former Prime Minister the late Benazir Bhutto said it was important to come and convey her father’s message to Nawab Khair Buksh Marri. She went to the Marri residence in Karachi to extend her condolences on the death of Balaach Marri, a separatist leader and son of Nawab Marri. Balaach was killed in a military operation in mountainous area of Balochistan.

Nawab Marri was a legendary leader of modern nationalism, attracting more followers than any other leader in Balochistan.  He could have lived a life of luxury like most tribal chieftains but chose instead to struggle for his people. He had, however, remained silent for the past decade and his name rarely appeared in the newspapers.  After a road accident near Lasbela in the late 1990s, he mostly stayed at his residence in Karachi and rarely talked to people. But for all his soft-spokenness, he had a rare gift for conveying bitter truths in pointed and powerful language.

He remained consistent in his politics, holding firm and unwavering views on specific political issues. Nawab Marri became chief of his tribe in the 1950s, following the death of his father Nawab Mehrullah Khan Marri. His father had died when Nawab Marri was merely three year-old.   In the same year, he joined politics and was later elected Member of the defunct West Pakistan Assembly. He played an important role in seeking dismemberment of the One Unit system and restoration of historic provinces.

Nawab Khair Bukhsh was imprisoned on several occasions though not for corruption or on criminal charges. He was implicated in the Justice Nawaz Marri murder case and jailed for eight months. Marri later told a veteran Baloch journalist that during the interrogations the police never once asked him about the murder case, focusing their attention instead on digging for information about arms and ammunition dumped in Afghanistan, where Marri had lived in exile for a number of years and came back after the fall of leftist government.

A classic example of Nawab Marri’s integrity was displayed when there was a tie in the election for the Speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly. The only abstaining vote was Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri. Despite offers of top political appointments and money, neither party succeeded in buying Mr. Marri’s loyalty.

Marri Tribe

The Marri tribe has suffered perhaps more than any other tribe in Balochistan as a result of endless battles, first with British invaders and later in other military actions and is considered the backbone of the armed struggle.  Ever since the annexation of Balochistan, the Marri Tribal Territory has remained the hub of the insurgency and a stronghold of the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).  As one veteran Baloch journalist put it, “In Balochistan, every Marri tribesman is a suspect. They are born fighters.”

Islamabad has often lumped Marri in with the two other anti-development Sardars—Akbar Bugti and Sardar Athaullah Mengal. Majority call him as Marxist but for the people of Balochistan he was always a soldier and uncompromising patriotic leader who gave his entire life for the oppressed Baloch people.

Nawab Marri also tried the political route to attaining to attain rights for his people.  He was, however, dismayed and disappointed by the response of the government. He openly preached about a free and sovereign Baloch land and had harsh words for the Pakistani establishment. “Struggling within in the framework of Pakistani constitution would be an absolute waste of time. We need to fight for our rights,” he said in one of his few interviews.

Tribe after Nawab Marri

Nawab Khair Baksh Marri had laid to rest in New Kahan graveyard in Quetta where most of the political activists and leaders—having the same point of view, are buried. The death of Nawab Bugti in 2006 further fuelled the insurgency and encouraged Baloch youth to join the armed struggle. As a result of this the insurgency soon spread beyond the Bugti Tribal Territory and into Naseerabad division and Makuran division. Marri Tribal Territory was already in state of war.

The death of Nawab Marri, however, is being viewed in a rather different light. He was the only veteran leader who enjoyed the respect and had the ear of the armed groups. Not only is his death seen a huge loss, but the response to it may ultimately damage the very cause for which he struggled his entire life. Since it is customary for the chieftainship to be handed down to the eldest son, it is widely believed that Nawabzada Jangez Marri, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), will succeed his father as tribal chief. However, his political ideology is very different.

A comparison can be drawn here with what happened within the Bugti tribe after the death of Nawab Bugti.  When his grandson Ali Bugti became chieftain, the differences within the tribe increased and the people of the tribe are still suffering the consequences to this day.

It is perhaps premature to conclude that a similar fate awaits the Marri tribe because the tribe has been in a war like situation for more than one and half century. Suffice it to say that the only face recognized, respected and heeded by the armed groups is now gone.

Shezad Baloch A reporter at The Express Tribune, he is enrolled in the fellowship program at Intajour International Academy of Journalism, Germany. His website is www.shezadbaloch.com and he tweets as @shezadbaloch (twitter.com/Shezadbaloch)