Arjun Das Bugti (ارجن داس بگٹی,अर्जुन दास बुगती) is a Hindu politician from Balochistan who served as the Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly from 1993 to 1996 alongside Bashir Masih. He served for four consecutive terms in the Assembly before fleeing to India.
Early life
editBorn Arjun Das, he was allowed to use the tribal surname of Bugti by Akbar Bugti, the head of the Bugti tribe, noted for his syncretic outlook and patronage of local Hindus.[1][2]
Political career
editBugti won four consecutive elections to the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan in 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1993 from the lone seat reserved for Hindus.[3] From 1993 to 1996, he served as the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, supported by the Jamhoori Wattan Party.[4][5]
Bugti was defeated in the 1997 elections by Tara Chand and migrated to India a few years later; he is currently an Indian citizen.[3][5] During Operation Jamhoor (2006) — which targeted Akbar Bugti and rendered thousands of local Hindus as refugees — Bugti had offered to arrange for the resettlement of Hindu casualties in India; most of the refugees declined.[6]
References
edit- ^ Titus, Paul Brian (1996). Marginality and Modernity: Ethnicity and Change in Post-colonial Balochistan (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780195776331.
- ^ "ڈیرہ بگٹی کے ہندو کتنا انتظار کریں؟". Independent Urdu (in Urdu). 18 May 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ a b Detailed Results of Elections to the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. Undated. Election Commission of Pakistan
- ^ "Beta Version Former Deputy Speaker". PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF BALOCHISTAN. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ a b "On the run: Brahamdagh's asylum in Switzerland opposed". The Express Tribune. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "Dera Bugti: A hometown in tatters". The Express Tribune. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2022.