QUETTA: A jirga of the Bugti tribe will be held tomorrow (Thursday) to formally announce an end to the sardari system, Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer (DCO) Abdul Samad Lasi said on Tuesday. He said that tribal elders of all sub-clans of the Bugti tribe would attend the jirga, which would be organised by the Sui Youth Council and Dera Bugti Town Youth Council at Jinnah Stadium in Dera Bugti town. He said that all arrangements had been finalised for the jirga, which would also be attended by thousands of locals. Lasi said the jirga would also settle various disputes among sub-clans of the Bugti tribe and help bring peace to the district. He dispelled the impression that the jirga would select or elect a new nawab or sardar. Attaullah Khan Kalpar Bugti, a spokesman for the jirga, said that the sardari system was the main reason for the backwardness of the district. He said that the elimination of the sardari system would ensure the common man's participation in decision-making. He said the jirga would bring peace, prosperity and integrity to the district. It will bring the Bugti tribe into the political mainstream, he added. The district has been in the grip of political violence for the last couple of years.
| It's also been in the grip of nawabs and sardars and similar small-scale potentates. Now it can be in the grip of jirgas until somebody gets religion and then it can be in the grip of Islamic courts. |