Sarfraz Bugti
Caretaker Minister for Interior, Overseas Pakistanis, and Narcotics Control
In office
17 August 2023 – 15 December 2023
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterAnwaar ul Haq Kakar
Preceded byRana Sanaullah
Pakistani Senator from Balochistan
Assumed office
12 September 2018
Minister for Home & Tribal Affairs of Balochistan
In office
January 13, 2018 – May 31, 2018
In office
October 14, 2013 – January 1, 2018
Personal details
Born1 June 1981
Balochistan
Political partyPakistan People's Party (since 2023)
Other political
affiliations
Residence(s)Dera Bugti, Balochistan, Pakistan
ReligionSunni Muslim

Mir Sarfraz Bugti (Urdu, Balochi: میر سرفراز بگٹی) (born June 1, 1981) is a Pakistani politician belonging to Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Sarfraz Bugti had served as Home and Tribal Affairs Minister of Balochistan.[1] Currently, Bugti is serving as a senator of Pakistan.[2]

On 17 August 2023, he took oath as Caretaker Interior Minister and resigned from the position on 15 December 2023.[3][4]

Early life and education

Sarfraz was born in a village of Dera Bugti, Balochistan, Pakistan.[5]

His father Mir Ghulam Qadir Masori Bugti was a tribal elder of the Masori sub-clan of the Bugti tribe who was a member of General Zia's Majlis-e-Shoora before becoming a part of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).[6] Mir Ghulam was known to be active against the sardari or neo-feudal system of Balochistan and being a political rival of Nawab Akbar Bugti.[5]

His brother Jan Mohammad Bugti has also been active in politics as a PPP candidate.[7]

Sarfraz completed his early education at the Lawrence College, Murree before enrolling at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad to study Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS) but had to interrupt his higher education when his father was jailed by Pervez Musharraf.[5]

Later, he tried to join the Pakistan Army and to pass the Inter-Services Selection Board (ISSB) exams.[5]

Political career

Provincial politics in Balochistan

In 2013, he won the Provincial Assembly elections from Constituency PB-24 as a representative of the Baloch community from Dera Bugti with a clear majority as an independent candidate by securing 10013 votes, and after elections joined PML (N).[8]

Sarfraz became Minister of Interior of Balochistan on 14 October 2013.

National politics as Caretaker Interior Minister

In August 2023, he took charge as the country's Caretaker Interior Minister.

One of his first decisions was to ask for the release of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) activists.[9]

On 15 December 2023, he resigned from this position in order to contest the 2024 Pakistani general election.[10]

in December 2023, Bugti joined Pakistan People's Party.

Political views

Pakistani nationalism

Baloch journalist Malik Siraj Akbar has called Sarfraz a representative of "hyper Pakistani nationalism", which he considers to be engineered by the country's establishment.[11]

Islamic welfare state

Sarfraz is a proponent of an Islamic welfare state.[5] This is in order to combat Balochistan’s high poverty rate.[12]

Activism against Baloch separatism

Sarfraz is a notable critic of Baloch separatism, and has spoken against the organization Baluchistan Republic Army (BRA) headed by Brahamdagh Bugti, grandson of Akbar Bugti. The BRA is declared as a terrorist organization by the Government of Pakistan.[13]

In a BBC interview, Bugti claimed that the Indian agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in funding and arming militants in Balochistan, but that it stopped doing so after its agent was arrested in Balochistan.[14][15]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "6 terrorists linked to RAW, NDC arrested from Quetta: Sarfraz Bugti - Pakistan - Dunya News".
  2. ↑ "Senate of Pakistan". www.senate.gov.pk. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  3. ↑ Latif, Amir (17 August 2023). "Pakistan's new caretaker Cabinet takes oath". Anadolu Ajansı.
  4. ↑ "Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti resigns". ARY NEWS. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Khan, Mariam (January 2018). "'There is no no-go area in Balochistan; the state has established its writ and it will consolidate it further' - Sarfraz Ahmad Bugti". Mag The Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Shahid, Saleem (18 December 2008). "Pro-govt elder's house attacked in Dera Bugti". Dawn News. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Fahim assails kidnapping of PPP candidate". Dawn News. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "PB-24 Official Result, Election Commission of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  9. ↑ "Interior Minister orders to release PTM activists". Pakistan Today. 18 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti resigns". ARY NEWS. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  11. ↑ Akbar, Malik Siraj (20 August 2016). "Why Modi's statements should be the least of our worries on Balochistan". Dawn News. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Instead of healing the Baloch people's wounds, the establishment has promoted a dangerous wave of hyper Pakistani nationalism. Hence, people like Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti spend most of their time questioning other people's patriotism and resort to bizarre ways to prove themselves as better Pakistanis than the rest.
  12. ↑ "40% Pakistanis live in poverty: lowest in Punjab (31%), highest in Balochistan (85%) – Welcome to Inford". Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  13. ↑ "Five Baloch militant outfits banned". Dawn (newspaper). 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  14. ↑ RAW funds militant groups in Balochistan: Sarfraz Bugti, News Pakistan, 5 December 2016.
  15. ↑ RAW involved in terrorism in Balochistan: Sarfraz Bugti
  16. ↑ "Balochistan Unrest: Internal-External Dimensions". NDU Journal. National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 26: 121. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 August 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.