Toronto,
May 12th – A gathering in Toronto remembered Mir Gul Khan Naseer, the revolutionary poet of Balochistan, and paid tribute to a great son of the soil
for his exceptional literary work and political struggles dating back to the
1930s. Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada) hosted the event; attended by
Baloch, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bangladeshi, and Ahwazi communities to
express solidarity with the Baloch struggle for freedom and rights.
The
Mir Gul Khan Naseer day event commenced with a moment of silent contemplation
in the memory of Baloch martyrs of the liberation struggle. Mohammad Ali Baloch
initiated the evening with reciting revolutionary verse by the national poet of
Balochistan. Mumtaz Baloch welcomed the guests and invited the speakers to shed
light on life and struggles of Mir Gul Khan Naseer. She began by speaking on
the importance and the relevance of the poet’s literary and political
endeavours with today’s Balochistan.
The
main theme of the event: “Mir Gul Khan Naseer – A Poet’s Struggle for Baloch
Unity, Freedom and Social Change” echoes the challenges Baloch nation is
confronting today in their collective struggle for nationhood and freedom from
foreign dominance.
Zaffar
Baloch – President, BHRC (Canada)
(Full
text of the speech)
Azam
Bhatti – Spokesperson, Sindh Rights, expressed his solidarity with the Baloch
struggle and emphasized on the historic ties between the two nations of Sindh
and Balochistan. He stated that poets in any society are the visionary
individuals who foresee the truth and guide their people to their destiny. He
mentioned that the state-sponsored atrocities in Balochistan are now being
repeated in Sindh and the nationalist leaders and activists are being
disappeared and in some cases killed in custody and their bodies dumped. Mr.
Bhatti emphasized on Sindhi-Baloch unity and struggle for a common national
cause.
Abu
Sufyan – Spokesperson, Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front stated that Ahwaz
nation’s struggle against the theocratic fascist state of Iran unites us with
Baloch people, currently under occupation of Iran and Pakistan. Mr. Sufyan
spoke in Arabic, the national language of the Ahwaz people. He mentioned the
atrocities against his people by the fundamentalist regime of Iran that has
denied cultural, political, and economic rights to the oppressed nationalities
of the country. Mr. Sufyan added that freedom is the birth right of all nations
under foreign occupation.
Mir
Akram Baloch – Organizer, BHRC (USA) began by congratulating all present in the
hall on Mother’s Day and saluted the Baloch mothers who gave birth to sons and
daughters fighting for the rights of their motherland. Mr. Baloch recited poems
in praise of Mir Gul Khan Naseer about his great love for his people and the
sacrifices he made for the common Baloch – shepherds, peasants, students, and
the poor tribal masses facing hardships under tyrant chieftains.
Tahir
Gora – Poet and Spokesperson, Punjabi Council of Canada stated that the Punjabi
dominance and military occupation of Balochistan must end immediately. Mr. Gora
added that Baloch people’s struggle for independence is a just cause and
Balochistan will one day become a free nation. He emphasized that the Punjabi
nation and its ruling classes have lost their sense of national heritage and
don’t feel proud of their language and cultural history – this is the reason
why they never understood the significance of Balochi, Bengali, Sindhi,
Seraiki, and Pashto as mother tongues and the importance of nationalist
struggles as political movements that have challenged the defunct Pakistan
Ideology based on “Two Nation Theory.” He expressed his solidarity with the
Baloch national liberation movement and added that it will end in victory and
freedom. Mr. Gora also recited Punjabi poems including one by the great Sufi
poet Buley Shah.
Laurie
Deamer (USA) – Human rights activist involved with Baloch struggle. Ms. Deamer
presented a paper on Mir Gul Khan Naseer by Dr. Naseer Dashti. (Full text of
the paper).
Munir
Pervaiz Saami – Director, Progressive Writers Association (Canada) expressed
his solidarity with the Baloch people in the darkest times of their history.
Mr. Saami praised Mir Gul Khan Naseer for his intellectual contributions and
steadfastness to the principles of enlightened humanism. He also recited his
own poem in Urdu on the subject of struggles for freedom with an English
translation of the verse.
Fawad
Choudhary – Film Producer, Bangladesh spoke on the subject of struggles of his
people that culminated in the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
Mr. Choudhary praised Mir Gul Khan Naseer for his role in developing Balochi
language and poetry in relation to modern and progressive trends in literature.
He specially mentioned about Mir Gul Khan Naseer’s 1975 poem (written in
Hyderabad Jail) on the assassination of Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehaman, the founder
of Bangladesh.
Senge
Sering – Director, Gilgit Baltistan National Congress (USA) expressed his
solidarity with the Baloch peoples’ struggles for freedom and rights. Mr.
Sering praised the Baloch mothers on the occasion of Mother’s Day and saluted
them for their bravery in playing a leading role in the movement for raising
voice for the missing persons in Balochistan. He also described the political
issues facing people of Gilgit Baltistan in their struggle against the
occupation forces of Pakistan and China.
Mumtaz
Khan – Director, International Centre for Peace & Democracy stated that the
conflict in Kashmir and Balochistan originated with the creation of Pakistan by
the British Raj. Mr. Khan expressed his solidarity with the people of
Balochistan in their endeavours for freedom from foreign occupation and
subjugation. He spoke at length on the terrorist nature of the Pakistani state
and the army’s role in spreading political chaos and militarism in the region
with serious dangers of war and nuclear repercussions. He explained that
without the end to the military’s dominant role in Pakistan and the dismantling
of the structures of terrorism, the Taliban-linked proxy wars in Kashmir and
Balochistan will grow, engulfing the entire region in a never-ending nightmare.
Tarek
Fatah - Author and Columnist for
Toronto Sun. Mr. Fatah described in-depth the challenges Baloch people are
facing today in their fifth war of independence from Pakistan. He stressed on
the role of Baloch leadership that stands disunited while their people suffer
at the hands of the state security forces and army’s proxy death squads with
impunity. Moreover, Mr. Fatah maintained that lack of unity is a major drawback
in the movement disenchanting Baloch youths and the international community
alike. He emphasized that Pakistani authorities whether civilian or military
should leave Balochistan immediately because they do not have any legal or
moral authority to continue the occupation that began with the invasion of
Kalat in 1948. Mr. Fatah, speaking on the issue of general elections 2013, said
that the Pakistani establishment has manufactured the results in order to hand
over KP and Balochistan to ISI-controlled puppets to manage the post-2014
scenario of withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.
The
Mir Gul Khan Naseer event concluded with the presentation of a resolution on
the independence and sovereignty of Balochistan. The resolution was presented
by Zaffar Baloch - President, BHRC (Canada) and was adopted unanimously by the
house on May 12, 2013. (Click for the text of the resolution). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VNO_u92jnzvy-UBaY5z4q-Bz4zRWcvl0J-M0_NbxNs8/edit
View the video of Declaration of independent For a soverign Balochistan, read to the meeting by Zaffar Baloch; https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ls0LyzTsdGw
Please click on the link to view the pictures of the event; https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.540438092684908.1073741825.153593348036053&type=3
Mir Gul khan Naseer, An introduction: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b0nRcNGIJCZs25vy5GL5tVtonduZpqaFd1xKUTLDtXc/edit
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