Nawab Sardar Baz Mohammad Khan Jogezai was a Pashtun tribal elder and the only representative from Baluchistan Province to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

Early life

Jogezai was born to Bangul Khan Jogezai in 1884 at Killa Saifullah. In 1906, he was appointed a Sardar of the Bori Tahsil in Loralai District by the Coronation Durbar. Under the Sandeman system, these Sardars were paid monthly emoluments in return for maintaining peace in their frontier tracts; Jogezai received Rs. 1800, as of September 1935.

Political career

British India

In August 1946,

Jafar Khan Jamali Mir Jaffar Khan Jamali (1911 – 7 April 1967) was a prominent politician, tribal chief and an All-India Muslim League veteran from Balochistan province, Pakistan. Early life and career Mir Jaffar Khan Jamali was born in 1911 at Rojhan als ...

— then, an upstart leader of the provincial Muslim League — persuaded Jogezai to submit his candidature for representing Baluchistan Province at the Constituent Assembly of India as an independent candidate after

Qazi Muhammad Isa Qazi Muhammad Isa ( ur, ); (17 July 1914 – 19 June 1976) was a Pakistani politician and one of the prominent leaders of the Pakistan Movement. Jogezai's opponent was Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai of the Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan, who was supported by the Indian National Congress. It appears unlikely that any poll did take place; a pro-League faction of the electorate published public letters including in local newspapers expressing support for Jogezai and soon enough, he had secured a super-majority of over forty signatures against a paltry ten by Achakzai. Despite the win, Jogezai abdicated attendance until the

Mountbatten Plan The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

sanctioned the creation of Pakistan and its own constituent assembly, obeying the League. During the Partition, he played a significant role in ensuring that the referendum on the province's accession to Pakistan passed smoothly despite opposition from Sardars who were aligned to the Congress or the Khanate of Kalat, preferring outright independence or accession to India. Scholars and activists sympathetic to Baloch ethno-nationalist causes narrate that Jogezai, having failed to win the confidence of the electorate in multiple discussions on the accession, had the voting preponed by a day. Yet, there was renewed pandemonium with representatives of tribal factions unclear on the implications of accession to their political future and no voting could take place; nonetheless, Jogezai, in connivance with the British Government, declared a successful accession. Pro-Pakistan authors concede that the accession was won by manipulations but downplay their significance; Jogezai's declaration of accession without depending on a poll is portrayed as an ingenious strategy to outmaneuver the British Government who had apparently postponed the vote by a day to buy more time for the Indian National Congress. Axmann agrees that no voting did take place but finds it impossible to sieve out further truth from these competing claims which fail to agree even on the basics like the strength of the electorate or the date of accession; however, he feels that the accession would have succeeded irrespective of Jogezai's alleged stratagems.

Pakistan

Jogezai had an insignificant role in the Constituent Assembly, choosing to remain absent during most of the proceedings. Records show that he took part in a division of the house only once voting against an amendment that sought to prevent the state from suspending fundamental rights on grounds of "internal discontent"; he did not table any amendment and would deliver his solitary speech on 13 October 1953, a year before the eventual dissolution of the Assembly, criticizing the denial of political reforms in Balochistan as an insult to Jinnah's (and the League's) assurances before and during the accession. In June 1949, Jogezai was appointed an advisor to Mian Aminuddin, the Chief-Commissioner of the province before being replaced in August, 1950. In March 1952, he was appointed by the Assembly as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions. In September 1958, the Government of Pakistan chose Jogezai as its envoy to pacify the Khanate of Kalat who — in colloboration with Achakzai, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and others — rejected the One Unit Scheme and demanded the restoration of his erstwhile territories as a single state; the parley failed and martial law would be imposed in the next month, leading to the

Jhalwan Disturbances Jhalawan ( Brahui: جھالاوان) was an administrative division of the Khanate of Kalat, a princely state of Brahui that acceded to Pakistan in 1947. It was established in the 17th century and its boundary was fixed with Sindh in 1853 ...

. In the

1970 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bang ...

, Jogezai was nominated by the Qayyum Muslim League from Quetta I; he was defeated by Maulvi Abdul Haq.

Death and legacy

Jogezai's family remains significant in Baloch politics. His elder son

Gul Mohammad Khan Jogezai Sardar Gul Mohammad Khan Jogezai was Governor of Balochistan, Pakistan from July 1991 to 1994. He was born into the Sardar Family of Jogezai sub-branch of Kakar Pashtun tribe in Killi Zingiwaal Bori Loralai Loralai ( ps, لورلايي ...

was the Governor of Balochistan from 1991 to 1994; the younger son,

Jahangir Shah Jogezai Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

was a bureaucrat before his appointment to the Senate in 1985. Among his grandsons, Nawab Ayaz Jogezai has served in the Provincial Assembly, the National Assembly, and the Senate.

Notelist

References

{{Reflist Pashtun people Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan