Islamabad: Denouncing the killing of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, prominent Baloch leaders and Pakistani human rights activists said that it spelt doom for the country's unity and may be the beginning of the end of President Pervez Musharraf's rule.
The countrywide protests after the Baloch nationalist leader's killing had "sent a clear message to Musharraf that his era is over," said Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Dawood, a descendant of Balochistan rulers who opted to join Pakistan during the time of partition in 1947.
"All sardars of Balochistan are discussing future plans. The government has invited the Baloch to fight and we will not back down," he was quoted as saying by Dawn in Balochistan capital Quetta on Thursday.
Veteran Baloch leader Sardar Khair Baksh Marri questioned Pakistan government's claim that Bugti's killing was not targeted.
In an interview Marri said he feared for the life of his own son Balach Marri, because the government had a 'mistaken notion' that he was an 'icon of resistance'.
Balach Marri, believed to be the leader of the banned Baloch Liberation Army, was presumed to be inside a cave, along with two grandsons of Bugti, when the 80-year-old Baloch leader was killed during a military action on August 26. It was later revealed that they were not present.
On the attacks against non-Baloch settlers in Balochistan, especially those from Punjab, Marri said he was not against Punjabis as such, but Punjab did not endorse the rights and autonomy of smaller provinces.
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