Head of the militant and fiercely nationalist Marri tribe, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri shot into prominence during the Pakistan Army’s offensive against the Baloch tribes in 1975, shortly after the NAP-JUI government was dismissed. His tribesmen retreated into the mountains, continuing their armed struggle that lasted till 1975.

The revolt was suppressed and Nawab Khair Bakhsh, an avowed Marxist, was forced to live in exile in Kabul, after the Communists took over the reins in Afghanistan in 1979. He later moved to London. It wasn’t until the early 80s that he worked out a deal with the Zia regime and returned to Pakistan. Thereafter, the Marri leader kept mostly to himself but emerged as a nationalist voice against the federal government on issues concerning the Baloch identity.

In 1989, Islamabad was anticipating the fall of Najibullah’s Afghanistan government and had set up a government of the mujahideen in exile in Peshawar. The following year, under the Pakistan Muslim League government, then Balochistan chief minister Taj Jamali got Nawab Khair Baksh and his men back from Afghanistan. The Marris moved to a camp in the suburbs of Quetta and have come to own the land due to their continued occupation through the years.

Recently, Nawab Khair Baksh was indicted in the murder of Balochistan High Court judge Khuda Bakhsh Marri. It was rumoured that his son Mir Ballach Marri had pulled the trigger in the elder Marri’s presence. Mir Ballach is now hiding in the tribal belt and is supposedly leading the resistance.