Khair Bakhsh Marri

Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri (28 February 1928 – 10 June 2014), Balochi: نواب خیر بخش مری‎) was a Baloch politician from the province of Balochistan in Pakistan.[1][2]

Nawab Khair Baksh Marri
Born
Nawab Khair Baksh Marri

(1928-02-28)28 February 1928
Kahan, Kohlu, Baluchistan, British India
Died10 June 2014(2014-06-10) (aged 86)
Karachi, Pakistan
OccupationNawab, Politician
Years active1960s – 2014
ChildrenChangez Marri
Balach Marri
Ghazan Marri
Hyrbyair Marri
Hamza Marri
Mehran Marri

Early life and career

Khair Bakhsh Marri had received his early education in Kohlu, Balochistan and higher education from Aitchison College, Lahore.[3] Nawab Marri admitted himself in a 2008 interview that he was a 'latecomer' into politics due to the comfortable life he spent at Aitcheson College, Lahore and that he was indifferent to politics in his youth. Only when oil and gas exploration started in the Marri tribal areas during General Ayub Khan's regime in Pakistan, his tribal nationalist feelings and political consciousness were aroused.[3]

Government of Pakistan's longstanding view was that these Baloch tribal chiefs are 'anti-development' in their tribal areas and want to cling onto their own traditionally-held power over their people. The tribal chiefs do not want their people to get modern education due to their fear that then the Balochi people would rebel against their own tribal chiefs.[3]

Khair Bakhsh Marri became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, after winning a seat from Balochistan in the Pakistani general election, 1970.[1]

Reportedly Khair Bakhsh Marri was a leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist organization which was banned by the Government of Pakistan. He also was a key leader of the 1970s insurgency against the Pakistani government. Due to the steps taken by the federal government to suppress the rebellion by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto regime in the 1970s, Khair Bakhsh Marri spent many years in exile in Afghanistan, and only returned to Pakistan when the USSR-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah supporting him in that country, had fallen in the early 1990s.[1][2]

After returning to Pakistan from his exile, he decided to keep a low profile, but his Baloch nationalist views earned him a label of a 'communist nationalist'.[1]

Death and legacy

Khair Bakhsh Marri died on 10 June 2014 in Karachi, Pakistan at age 86. He was admitted to Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi in a critical condition on 6 June 2014 and had been under treatment there.[2]

Khair Bakhsh Marri had six sons — Balach Marri, Changez Marri, Hyrbyair Marri, Ghazan Marri, Hamza Marri and Mehran Marri.[2]

Khair Bakhsh Marri was also head of the Marri tribe.[2]

See also

References
  1. Hasan Mansoor (11 June 2014). "Khair Bakhsh Marri: a fighter all the way". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. "Baloch nationalist leader Khair Bakhsh Marri passes away". The News International (newspaper). 11 June 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. Malik Siraj Akbar (23 June 2008). "We are the masters of our land". Rediff News website. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
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