Rich Baloch culture, a feast for Lok Mela visitors

The organizers have allocated spacious space to all the provinces for showcasing their indigenous folk culture in a creative and interactive manner.

The Balochi pavilion set up by the Balochistan Culture Department in collaboration with Lok Virsa catches the visitors’ eye with presentation of the richness of Balochi culture, arts, crafts, folk music, rituals, traditions, cuisine and folk entertainment.

The Balochistan pavilion is located at the centre of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pavilions. When one enters into Balochi pavilion through the beautifully designed gates and arches showing typical Balochi culture and architecture, he feels himself in Balochistan.

The Balochi contingent includes 50 craftspeople, 20 folk artists & musicians and four folk dance groups each comprising 10 to 15 dancers/performers. Master artisans are Kaneez Fatima, Malukan Bibi, Aziz Fatima,Natasha, Hazar Naz, Umeeda Bibi, Husna Bibi, Sajida Khan, Saba, Marzia Khanum, Kubra, Rukhdia & Rukhsana Bibi in Balochi embroidery, Muhammad Iqbal & Manzoor Hussain in carpet weaving, Muhammad Siddique & Muhammad Akram in *Khaddi* (handloom) weaving, Miral, Dilshad, Tariq Mehmood & Abdul Khaliq in leather work, Malai in needle work, Muhammad Hassan in leather embroidery, Rozi Khan in Balochi chappal (shoe) making and others.

Among them, female craftswoman Kaneez Fatima is a 42-year-old artisan of Balochi embroidery. Being an educated artisan, she has carried on this centuries’ old tradition from her mother and devoted years of her life to this art.

Kaneez stands out not only for her excellence but also in her tireless propagation of his ancient art by imparting it to the future generations.

Some of her apprentices have reached high professional levels while practicing their art. She has been participating in Lok Mela for the last 15 years and had been awarded several times with cash and certificates.

Balochi dance group are Pushtoon Athan dance party, Leva (camel dance) party, Balochi Chaap party Noshi and Balochi Chaap party Kharan. They entertain the onlookers regularly with their distinctive attire and unique dance moves.

Balochi artists and musicians performing at the pavilion include Amanullah, Hunoor Bux, Saal Muhammad, Behar Ali, Abdul Wahid, Ali Ahmad, Muhammad Saleh, Allah Dad, Saeed Ahmad, Gul Sher, Asghar Ali, Shahzada, Ashiq Hussain and Mashooq Hussain. A large number of music lovers, in particular from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa attend thrilling performances of the Balochi folk singers daily and praise for their talent.

When we talk about Balochi traditional cuisine, we cannot ignore “Sajji” which is the speciality of this mountainous region. Residents of Rawalpindi-Islamabad are thronging to the Balochi food daily and some were listened appreciating its unique taste.

Talking to media, Lok Virsa’s executive director Khalid Javaid said “it is our utmost effort to promote and preserve indigenous folk culture of Balochistan province. We have already taken a number of steps in this respect including establishment of a Lok Virsa’s children folklore society in two schools of Sibbi with a view to inculcate awareness among youth about their cultural heritage.

A proposal is also under active consideration to hold a folk festival in Quetta or any other city of Balochistan in near future, which will not only showcase Balochi culture but also cultures of the entire country”. ED Lok Virsa appreciated the role of Ministry of National Heritage & Integration as well as Norwegian Government for their generous support to his organization in playing its due role for this national service.

Commenting on the festival, a visitor Rashid Amin said “One can see here the glimpses from every corner of Pakistan created in the lush green surroundings of Shakarparian hills, contributing significantly to enhance the stature, beauty and landscape of the federal capital”. Another visitor Afsheen endorsing his viewpoint termed the event as a symbol of the federation’s recognition of and patronage to our rich cultural diversity and active participation of the people of Pakistan.

Criminal gangs dealing in drugs, guns, kidnapping and land scams with some of them even enjoying patronage from assorted political outfits and groups are a common sight in the narrow, crooked and overpopulated streets of Lyari.

But all this was not a sudden phenomenon emerging in the last decade or so. Nor is this all what Lyari is about.

Lyari also has a rich political and cultural history; a history that, rather ironically, has to be understood for anyone trying to make head or tails of the constant social and political turmoil and strife this large, awkward locality has been experiencing almost on a daily basis now.

First in line

Lyari is by far the oldest locality of Karachi having begun life centuries ago as a small fishing village.

The locality always had a large Afro-Indian/Pakistani population (Sheedis).

The Sheedis are believed to be the descendants of slaves, sailors, servants and merchants from East Africa who arrived between 1200 and 1900 AD.

In what is today Pakistan, these slaves largely settled along the Markran Coast in Balochistan (they are also called Makranis) and in lower Sindh.

Linguistically, they speak variations of Balochi and Sindhi and (in Karachi) they are also known to have created a distinct dialect of Urdu referred to as ‘Makrani’ in which Urdu words are mixed with Balochi and Sindhi expressions and even popular English terms, manly picked up from British and US films and TV series, are also regularly used, mostly in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Most Sheedis in Karachi were and still are associated with the fishing business (as fishermen, sailors and small boat operators). They also constitute the largest labour force employed at the Karachi port and harbour.

Over the years, especially after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Lyari also began to witness the influx of Pushtuns, Sindhis and Mohajirs (including Memons) and (in the last 30 years), many working-class Afghans, Bengalis and Burmese migrants have also settled here.

The area is a working-class reflection of the stunning ethnic, religious and sectarian diversity that is the hallmark of Karachi’s bulging cosmopolitanism and indigenous secularism.

But Lyari is also the area that hardly benefited from the industrial growth and economic progress that Karachi enjoyed between the 1950s and early 1980s.

In fact by the late 1960s Lyari was well on its way to becoming a modern, urban slum.

The right stuff

A young Lyari girl in a traditional ‘Makrani dress’ at a wedding. –Photo courtesy South Asia News.

But all this did not just produce a locality riddled with only crime, violence and economic desperation. The equation of poverty, overpopulation, diversity, crime, radical politics and the presence of a majority having a proud African lineage also gave birth to a working-class polity, spirituality and aesthetics that have generated a unique cultural scenario.

It is this mix that has correctly painted a perception of Makranis as being open-minded, large-hearted, hard-working people who speak a distinct slang-riddled version of street-Urdu and are passionate about football, boxing and the movies.

Some of the best international level boxers in Pakistan have almost all emerged from Lyari and same is the case with football. It is also perhaps the only area in Pakistan where these two sports actually overshadow cricket!

A majority of Makranis belong to the so-called Sunni ‘Barelvi’ school of faith – an indigenous sub-continental variation of ‘folk Islam’ that emerged in the 18th century as a reaction against the rise of puritanical Islamic movements.

Barelvi Islam is not a concrete doctrine. In essence it is highly decentralised and anti-dogma. It connotes the practice in which sub-continental folk mores are fused with the ritualism of Sufi Islam and the pluralistic and ‘poor-friendly’ culture of devotional music, charity and festivity found around shrines of Sufi saints across Pakistan and India.

Most Makranis of Lyari are the devotees of the legendary 12th century Sufi saint, Pir Mangho, whose shrine in the Mangopir area of Karachi is believed to be one of the oldest in the city.

The shrine also has hot sulphur springs and a large pond where the shrine’s keepers have harvested crocodiles for hundreds of years. Feeding these reptiles is considered to be a celestially ordained and beneficial ritual.

The Makranis come here in their hundreds, especially during the birth celebrations of the saint. Here they re-enact the dancing, musical and devotional rituals of their African ancestors.

Between the late 1970s and 1990s Lyari also produced its own music scene, popularly known as ‘Lyari disco’.

Music has always played a major role in the lives of the people of Lyari, both in the spheres of faith and entertainment – especially music driven by pounding and rhythmic drumbeats.

One of the first areas outside the privileged populace of Karachi to embrace the invasion of classical American and European disco music of the late 1970s was Lyari.

Two Lyari football fans in Brazilian soccer jerseys. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

Throughout the 1980s dimly-lit small recording studios sprang up in Lyari where talented young Makrani men and women would record bouncy Balochi tunes that fused basic disco beats with traditional Balochi and African musical dynamics.

First the resultant albums were almost entirely bought and sold in Lyari but a massive ‘Lyari disco’ hit by one Shazia Khushk (a Sindhi) helped the genre to break out and turn Khushk into a national sensation.

The song was ‘Bija Teer Bija’ – recorded (at a Lyari studio) and released in 1988, it was a funky, driven tribute to the charismatic chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto.

The song was first used by the PPP during its electoral campaign for the November 1988 general election.

People’s power

Recently, Lyari has been treated by the media as an area whose politics is rather complex. This is mainly due to the growing influx of working-class people belonging to various ethnicities settling here. With them have arrived attempts by different political parties close to these ethnicities to carve out a vote bank for themselves in Lyari.

Also related to this is the way street crime, land scams and politics have mixed in Karachi in the last two decades in which street thugs and gangs have been used by political parties to generate funds and garner votes.

The complexities in this respect are further heightened when some gangs and criminals ‘become too big for their boots’ and become an embarrassment for the parties, especially when gang warfare conducted purely on criminal grounds become politicised due to the gangsters’ past or present association with political parties.

In the last few years, Lyari has become a hotbed of this particular phenomenon in Karachi. Otherwise, its politics has remained rather uncomplicated.

Ever since the 1970 general election, Lyari has been an unbending vote bank of the PPP. The party has won every national and provincial election that it has contested from Lyari from 1970 right up till the 2008 election.

The credit for this goes to PPP chairman, Z A. Bhutto and his party’s original socialist manifesto that resonated successfully with the people of Lyari.

The populism and socialist policies of the first PPP government (1972-77) were hugely popular with the voters of Lyari, but the PPP and the Bhuttos became enshrined as perpetual heroes here after Bhutto was toppled by a reactionary military coup orchestrated by General Ziaul Haq and then hanged to death through a sham trial in 1979.

Lyari witnessed a number of violent protests against the Zia regime throughout the 1980s, many of these turned into armed conflicts between the police and youth belonging to the PPP’s student and youth wings.

Shrine keepers feed one of the many crocodiles at the shrine of Pir Mangho. -Photo courtesy AP

Lyari also became the breeding ground of radical left-wing politics and activity during the dictatorship. A number of young residents of Lyari were jailed and some were even hanged for their supposed involvement with Murtaza Bhutto’s Al-Zulfikar Organisation (AZO) and other supposedly clandestine ‘communist outfits.’

On her return from exile in 1986, the first large rally that Benazir Bhutto held in Karachi was in Lyari. Her marriage to Asif Ali Zardari also took place in Lyari (1987).

To date, though parties like the MQM, ANP, Sunni Tehreek and some militant Baloch and Sindhi nationalist parties have opened offices here, the PPP support base and vote bank remains steadfast and secure in Lyari.

Attempts have also been made by puritanical Islamic evangelist groups like the Tableeghi Jamat to recruit young poverty-stricken Lyari residents, but the Jamat’s attempts have failed to bag much interest.

Gangland

Lyari is also known for gang-related violence. Though wild and often deadly, many Lyari gangsters have ultimately been portrayed by most Lyari residents as victims of their circumstances; some have even been casted as Robin Hood like characters in Lyari’s many urban folklores.

The first well known gangster here went by the name of Kala Naag (Black Serpent). He was active in Lyari in the 1960s, peddling hashish and running a network of pickpockets.

Kala Naag who emerged from poverty to become a toughie ‘trained’ two angry young men from the area, Sheru and Dadal. Both men were huge American movie fans, loved to drink whisky, smoked hashish and made a living by selling black tickets outside cinemas.

Donkey cart racing is a highly popular sport in Lyari. Bets are placed on races that begin in Lyari and end on the beaches of Karachi’s Clifton area. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

They began to encroach upon Naag’s business and became rivals. Gang fights between their individual groups became common but in which only fists and knives were used. Then in 1967, Kala Nag was killed while fleeing the cops.

Sheru and Dadal battled it out between themselves until the arrival of Kala Nag’s son, Allah Baksh, also called ‘Kala Nag 2 (sic).’

Till the early 1980s, Lyari gangsters were largely involved in the trafficking of hashish, in bootlegging and street crimes. However, with the arrival of large quantities of sophisticated weapons and heroin, brought into the city by the large number of Afghan refugees pouring into Pakistan at the wake of the so-called anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, changed that.

Changing rules of the game and growing poverty and population in Lyari meant the emergence of deadlier criminals. Kala Nag 2 joined hands with one Iqbal Babu and brushed aside Sheru and Dadal.

Nag 2 and Babu’s new opponent was Haji Lalu. All of them were now arming their gangs with sophisticated weaponry and had begun to peddle heroin as well.

Lyari was distributed between Babu and Lalu, both of whose groups are also said to have had provided safety to anti-Zia radicals on the run from the police.

A video grab showing members of a radical Baloch outfit replacing the Pakistan flag with a Bloch nationalist flag at a college in Lyari.

Lalu’s gang and the gang operated by Babu and Kala Nag 2 were constantly battling in the streets of Lyari. Extortion had become big business. Babu hired Hanif Bajola, a contract killer to kill Lalu. Simultaneously, Lalu was training his friend Dadal’s orphan son to make a hit on Babu.

Meanwhile, Dadal’s teenaged son, Rehman (Rehman Dakait), entered the fry to take revenge for his father’s downfall engineered by Babu and Kala Nag 2.

Lalu’s son, Arshad Pappu also arrived on the scene. Yet another generation of Lyari gangsters was in the making.

Rehman’s anger was used by Lalu against Kala Nag 2 and Babu. Nag was arrested by police (in 1991), whereas Rehman and his men mowed down a large number of Babu’s thugs, including four of Babu’s sons.

In 1996 Babu was arrested and put behind bars. So was Rehman, but in 1997 he managed to break out and escape. He was now at loggerheads with his mentor Lalu who was put behind bars in the early 2000s, leaving his son Arshad Papu to run his gang.

Rehman Dakait now replaced with uzair Baloch

For almost a decade after this, Rehman and Papu’s gangs battled to enforce their authority over Lyari’s deteriorating crime scene. This was also the first time when Rehman and Papu were said to have developed links with the PPP and MQM men in the area.

Rehman engineered the formation of the Peoples Aman Committee, a charity organisation that distributed money and food to the people of Lyari and was also patronised by the PPP. But the committee was also manned by Rehman’s thugs in the extortion and kidnapping business.

In 2009, the PPP, now back in power, felt that Rehman was becoming too big for his boots. It looked the other way when Karachi police shot dead Rehman.

In 2011, when the Committee, now under Uzair Baloch, got embroiled in a deadly tussle with thugs patronised by the MQM, the PPP’s Sindh government banned the committee.

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

QUETTA: Balochistan, usually associated with images of barren lands, mountains, deserts and political unrest, has a rich culture of arts and crafts which is still unknown to many Pakistani. One of the popular arts and crafts of the region is the Balochi embroidery, which is mainly done by women.

Exploring the culture of embroidery in Balochistan

While most of the motifs and designs of Balochi embroidery have been inspired by nature, some of the patterns take inspiration from the pottery of the Mehrgarh civilization, one of the oldest civilisations of the world, which once existed in the Bolan district of Balochistan, says Faheem Baloch, a lecturer at the University of Balochistan.

The art, which involves the use of threads, beads and tiny mirrors, has been passed down for many generations. “This is an integral part of the Baloch culture, which has been inherited by our ancestors,” says Mah Dem Baloch, who sells Balochi dresses to various shops in Quetta.

Intricacies of the art

The embroidery is considered by many as a Baloch emblem, distinguishing the culture of Balochistan with that of other ethnic groups. “The colourful and distinct embroidery patterns serve as ethnic markers, which differentiate Balochs from Pashtuns (Pathans), Punjabis and Sindhis,” adds Mah Dem, who hails from Makuran, better known as the Makran division, and has been involved in this business for the last 30 years. However, even within Balochistan, there are different embroidery designs and terminologies applied to garments from different tribes of the region. For instance, jalar, naal, kapuk and peri wal are popular in the Mekran division and kalati embroidery is attributed to dressing of people of the Kalat district. Meanwhile, Sibi, Mastung, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Bugti and Marri have their own unique designs.

Practice makes perfect

However, the art doesn’t just come naturally and women in Balochistan have to practise regularly to master the skill. These women usually set aside a few hours for embroidery after completing their daily household chores. Speaking about the process, Mah Dem adds, “The girls and older women in interior Balochistan do not use charts or diagrams but create extremely complex designs in a random manner. They are guided by family members and elders of the area.”

Meanwhile, tastes and preferences regarding the colour of embroidered clothes differ for people belonging to different age groups. Whereas young girls prefer wearing embroideries in bright colours, older women wear dark colours like blue, black or brown and it is compulsory for widows to wear black or dark colours.

Commercial value

While both hand embroidery and machine embroidery have great commercial value, Baloch women in Karachi give preference to machine-embroidered and printed embroidery. The most expensive among these dresses, which range between Rs15,000 to Rs70,000, are made for brides. “It takes six months to a year to make one such dress,” said Shoaib Shadad, Baloch linguist at Islamic University Islamabad.

The popularity is not restricted to just local cities as there is a huge demand for Baloch dresses in Gulf countries where the Baloch population lives, informs Yar Jan Badini, editor of a monthly Balochi magazine.

However, Shadad feels that women employed in the embroidery industry are exploited by retailers and dealers in cities, who pay them a very small percentage of the price of dresses.

Support from the government

Meanwhile, to save the art from dying, the Balochistan government has patronised the region’s embroidery by establishing training centres in some parts of Balochistan, mainly in Makran, Kharan, Rakhshan, Kalat, Mastung, Khuzdar and in addition to awarding monthly stipends to students. The training centres were handled by the provincial industries department and the directorates of small industries.

However, Shadad is of the opinion that the embroidery industry needs proper marketing as well as modification in terms of technology. The art demands efforts and time and it should be kept alive with more support and appreciation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2012.

Brahvi speaking tribe include Raisani, Shahwani, Sumulani, Bangulzai, Mohammad Shahi, Lehri, Bezenjo, Mohammad Hasni, Zarakzai (Zehri) , Mengal and Lango, most of these tribes are bi-lingual and are quite fluent both in the Baluchi and Brahvi Languages. The Pashtoon tribes include Kakar, Ghilzai Tareen, Mandokhel , Sherani, Looni, Kasi and Achakzai.

LANGUAGES
Balochistan, despite its scarce population, has an uncommon racial and tribal diversity. Most of the people in the cities and towns understand and speak more than two languages. In adddition to Baluchi, Pashtoo and Brahvi, the majority of the population understand and speak Urdu, the national language. In Kachhi and Sibi districts, people speak Seraiki and Sindhi. Quetta city, the confluence point of all linguistic groups accommodates not only Urdu, Baluchi, Pashtoo, Brahvi and Sindhi speaking people but Punjabi, Darri and Persian speaking ones as well. Dehwar tribe of Sarawan sub-division in Kalat, also speaks a language derived from Persian.

CULTURE
Cultural landscape of Balochistan portrays various ethnic groups. Though people speak different languages, there is a similarity in their literature, beliefs, moral order and customs. The cementing factor is religion which provides a base for unity and common social order.

Brahvi, Balochi and Pashtoon tribes are known for their hospitality. Guest is accorded is held in high esteem and considered a blessing from God. Better off people even slaughter sheep or goat for their guest. Sometimes, it so happens that where there are more houses, the guest is assumed to be the guest of the whole village. This open heartedness is the loving feature of the tribal people and is not as deep in the city or town dwellers.

Another adorable feature of Balochistan culture is faithfulness and sincerity in all relationships. There is no place or respect for unfaithful people in prevalent moral order. If fidelity is reciprocated with disloyalty or betrayal it is never forgotten.

DRESS
The mode of dress among the Balochi, Pashtoon and Brahvi tribes is very similar having a few minor dissimilarities. Turban is the common headwear of the men. Wide loose shalwar (a bit similar to loose trouser) and knee-long shirts are worn by all. The dress of the woman consists of the typical shirt having a big pocket in front. The shirt normally has embroidery work with embedded small round mirror pieces. Big ‘Dopatta’ or ‘Chaddar’, a long rectangular piece of cloth cascading down the shoulders and used to cover head, are used by the women.

FESTIVALS
There are religious and social festivals celebrated by the people of Balochistan. Two major religious festivals are Eid-ul-Azha and Eid-ul-Fiter. On these festivals people adorn their houses, wear new dresses, cook special dishes and visit each other. Eid-Meladun-Nabi is another religious festival. It is a celebration of the Holy Prophet’s birthday. Numerous colorful social festivals are also source of jubilation. Sibi festival that traces its roots to Mehergar, an archeological site of ancient human civilization, attracts people from across the country. It is attended by common folks, ministers and other government officials. Folk music performance, cultural dances, handicrafts stalls, cattle shows and a number of other amusing activities present a perfect riot of color. Buzkashi is a peculiar festival showing valour of Balochistan people. It is celebrated on horse-back by two teams that use their skills to snatch a goat from the each other.

The village of Kahoum is located by the hillside of Birak Mountain in the province of Baluchistan in southeast Iran. About 40 families live in this village under primitive conditions in tents called kapar.  The residents are deprived of schooling, healthcare and clean water. Baluchestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and its capital is Zahedan. The province is the largest in Iran, with an area of 181,785 km² and a population of 7.2 million.

The Baluchi music derives from its roots in ancient Persian music. Due to their demographics and strong cultural values, the Baluch people have been able to keep the their rich traditional heritage alive. The art of playing double flute is traditional to Baluch and can be seen in many parts of present-day Baluch geography.

Origin

Folk music has always played a great role in Baluchi traditions. The Baluchi music and instruments belong to the same branch of Persc from prevailing further in the 21st century. However, a Swedish folk band Golbang has made achievements in introducing Baluchi folk music in the western world.

Major instruments

The instruments used in Baluchi music can also be found throughout modern day Kurdistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most commonly used instruments in Baluchi folk music are Tanbur, long-necked lutes. Lutes have been present in Mesopotamia since the Akkadian era, or the third millennium BCE. Dohol a large cylindrical drum with two skin heads, it is the principal accompaniment for the Surna an ancient Iranian woodwind instrument that dates back to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 BCE). Ney which is also commonly played with using single or double flutes. Suroz, a Baluchi folk violin is also commonly played. Other Baluchi musical instruments include: Tar, Saz, and others.

Traditional Baluch dances

Dances performed by Baluch people:

Do-Chapi

An ancient Persian dance mostly performed by forming a circle by a group of people, dancing and clapping. Do-Chapi almost always includes Surna and Dohol.

Lewa

Lewa is also a Baluchi dance performed mostly by a group of people in a circle with hand movements. Lewa almost always includes a Surna and Dohol.

Baluchi music composers and performers

• Mureed Bulaedi
• MULLA KAMALAN
• Faiz muhammad (Faizok)
• Mulla Musa
• Mulla Ghulam qader
• Qadir Bakhsh (Qadok)
• Mulla Mazar
• Amina Tuti
• Noor Khan Bizenjo
• Noor Mohammad Noral
• Arif Baloch
• Akhtar Channal Zehri
• Ali Reza Askani
• Asim Baloch
• Qasim Gazichi
• Bakshi Baloch
• Saeed Borhanzahi
• Shah Jaan Dawoodi
• Noor Mohammad Nooral

Listen Balochi Music Performers

• Mulla Kamalan (http://www.balochmultimedia.com/2002/11/mulla-kamalan-download-page.html)
• Noor Mhommad Nooral(http://www.balochmultimedia.com/2009/02/noor-mhommad-nooral-download-page.html)
• Arif Baloch (http://www.balochmultimedia.com/2009/10/arif-baloch-download-page.html)
• Shajan Dawodi (http://www.balochmultimedia.com/2007/07/shajan-dawodi-download-page.html)
• Ghulam Rasool Dinar Zai (http://www.balochmultimedia.com/2006/10/ghulam-rasool-dinar-zai-download.html)

Sajjad Ali and Sanam Marvi: “Rung Laaga”

“Rung Laaga”, an original soundtrack by maestro Sajjad Ali, was restructured for this performance in a collaborative effort by Ali and Sanam Marvi. The song, which was sung in Braj and Punjabi, centres on the symbolic significance of colour in different cultural contexts. The new composition of “Rung Laaga”, which was a very difficult job, was an excellent effort by the house band as they introduced their own classic rock sound to it. The song got trippier towards the end, due to backing vocalists, which made it one of the finest departures in the history of “Coke Studio”.  (10/10)

The Sketches: “Mandh Waai”

Although The Sketches have been around for quite some time, this was essentially their first proper introduction to music listeners worldwide. Under the guidance of the house band, The Sketches proved to be the melodious mascots of Sindhi folk and Sufi poetry as they took one on a musical voyage. The band comprises Saif Samejo and Naeem Shah as the lead vocalist and guitarist respectively. With Samejo’s soothing vocals and the brilliant songwriting by the band, The Sketches are a noteworthy introduction to the mainstream music scene. (9/10)

Akhtar Chanal Zahri: “Nar Bait”

After stunning everyone with his outstanding performance of “Danah Pa Danah” in the first episode, Akhtar Chanaal Zahri returned with vibrant rhythms of Balochistan in the form of “Nar Bait” — a traditional Balochi and Brahvi folk song. The song’s ancient native style of music employed vocal accents in conjunction with percussive elements to enhance the rhythmic pattern of the groove. “Nar Bait” featured catchy rhythms, eventually taking a very funky turn and entering into a pop-rock realm. House band played a crucial role to enhance the sound of Brahvi tune, turning it into a super hit number and making the centuries-old traditional music a part of Pakistani pop culture. (10/10)

Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi: “Pyaar Naal”

Whatever is said or written about the living legend Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, is insufficient as his contribution to Pakistani music in general and now in “Coke Studio” is incomparable. What else would one like to hear than a heart touching romantic song in Esakhelvi’s engaging voice? And when it combines with contemporary music under the supervision of Rohail Hyatt, the end product is bound to be truly magical. With Esakhelvi’s “Pyaar Naal”, “Coke Studio” epitomised the beauty of Siraiki language by perfectly arranging the soft and catchy melody. The house band set the right mood by enhancing the song with instruments like the accordion (played by Jaffer Zaidi) and the mandolin (played by guest musician Amir Azhar). The overall feel of the song seemed to have put Esakhelvi at ease as he delivered to his fullest without putting much effort on the harmonium and tabla. (10/10)

Komal Rizvi: “Lambi Judai”

Like it or hate it, Komal Rizvi did steal the show this time around by covering legendary Reshma’s cult hit, “Lambi Judaai”. Compared to this episode’s other songs, the singer received the highest number of likes on the Facebook page of “Coke Studio”. With over 14,000 YouTube hits within a single day, these numbers speak volumes about her stellar performance. There will always be comparisons made between the original version by Reshma and this one. Komal actually did a splendid job. Her high-pitched vocals breathed life into the song. What added more flavour to the performance was the music by house band’s keyboard player Jaffer Zaidi. (7/10)

These traditional patterns the Balochi women create with a variety of colors require a lot of hard work and concentration. These patterns are time taking yet they cannot be copied by speedy embroidery machines. One can easily tell the difference between the machine embroidery and the hand embroidery, and the hand embroidery is what people prefer. The reason is simple; the hand embroidery is unique and appeals much more to the aesthetics of people than the machine embroidery.

When you go to Balochi embroidery women, they show you a variety of patterns, made as samples on a big cloth. The customer chooses the patterns of choice and provides the women with threads and cloth. These women then create personalized designs for each customer, according to the color scheme and the chosen fabric. These designs can take days to be prepared but they are worth the time. The Balochi women are not usually allowed to go out of their homes to earn a living, so they create amazing pieces of art while staying at home.

These patterns are made on shawls, waist coats, caps, dresses, wall panels, floors and sofa cushions. Tiny round mirrors are used in the embroidery that make the embroidered stuff stand out from the other types of embroidery.

What is fantastic about this embroidery is that it is never old and extremely adaptable. It can be merged with new fashions and seems highly trendy, when a mix of traditional embroidery is created with new styles.

The embroidered wall panels are fascinating and give homes an artistic hint. Floor and sofa cushions also attract a lot of attention because they are so beautifully made and  lots of color contrasts are used that cannot be ignored by the human eye.

We certainly need to cherish this artistic talent which is a part of our culture and identity, so it does not die away. A lot of effort and time is required for this hand embroidery; it cannot stay active without the right amount of support and appreciation. The present fast-paced lives are making it harder for people to indulge in creating such crafts but it is possible to keep this tradition alive, by providing it the support and appreciation it deserves.

Western historians dismiss the Daptar Sha’ar as nothing more than myth and legend, totally unsubstantiated by verifiable evidence, and it remains for future scholars to probe into the murky origins of the Baluch. These legends are cited here not because they have serious historiographic value but because they are widely believed and are thus politically important today. For the most part, Aleppo is a unifying symbol of a common identity in the historical memories shared by all Baluch. In recent years, however, Arab attempts to attribute Arab ethnic origins to the Baluch have become a divisive factor in the nationalist movement.

Whatever the authenticity of the Aleppo legends, scholars in Baluchistan and in the West generally agree that the Baluch were living along the southern shores of the Caspian at the time of Christ. This consensus is based largely on linguistic evidence showing that the Baluchi language is descended from a lost language linked with the Parthian or Median civilizations, which flourished in the Caspian and adjacent areas in the pre-Christian era. As one of the oldest living languages, Baluchi is a subject of endless fascination and controversy for linguists. It is classified as a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family, which includes Farsi (Persian), Pushtu, Baluchi, and Kurdish. Baluchi is closely related to only one of the members of the Iranian group; Kurdish. In its modern form, it has incorporated borrowings from Persian, Sindhi, Arabic, and other languages, nonetheless retaining striking peculiarities that can be traced back to its pre-Christian origins. Until150 years ago, the Baluch, like most nomadic societies, did not have a recorded literature. Initially, Baluch savants used the Persian and Urdu scripts to render Baluchi in written form. In recent decades, Baluch nationalist intellectuals have evolved a Baluchi script known as Nastaliq, a variant of the Arabic script.

Ethnically, the Baluch are no longer homogeneous, since the original nucleus that migrated from the Caspian has absorbed a variety of disparate groups along the way. Among these “new” Baluch were displaced tribes from Central Asia, driven southward by the Turkish and Mongol invasions from the tenth through the thirteenth centuries, and fugitive Arab factions defeated in intra-Arab warfare. Nevertheless, in cultural terms, the Baluch have been remarkably successful in preserving a distinctive identity in the face of continual pressures from strong cultures in neighboring areas. Despite the isolation of the scattered pastoral communities in Baluchistan, the Baluchi language and a relatively uniform Baluch folklore tradition and value system have provided a common denominator for the diverse Baluch tribal groupings scattered over the vast area from the Indus River in the east to the Iranian province of Kerman in the west. To a great extent, it is the vitality of this ancient cultural heritage that explains the tenacity of the present demand for the political recognition of Baluch identity. But the strength of Baluch nationalism is also rooted in proud historical memories of determined resistance against the would-be conquerors who perennially attempted, without success, to annex all or part of Baluchistan to their adjacent empires.

Reliving their past endlessly in books, magazines, and folk ballads, the Baluch accentuate the positive. They revel in the gory details of ancient battles against Persians, Turks, Arabs, Tartars, Hindus, and other adversaries, focusing on how valiantly their generals fought rather than on whether the Baluch won or lost. They point to the heroes who struggled to throw off the yoke of more powerful oppressors and minimize the role of the quislings who sold out the Baluch cause.

Above all, they seek to magnify the achievements of their more successful rulers, contending that the Baluch were on the verge of consolidating political unity when the British arrived on the scene and applied their policy of divide and rule. This claim is difficult to sustain with much certainty on the basis of the available evidence. Nevertheless, the Baluch did make several significant attempts to draw together politically, and their failure to establish an enduring polity in past centuries does not prove that they would fail under the very different circumstances prevailing today. As Baluch writers argue, given the technologies of modern transportation and communication, the contemporary Baluch nationalist has new opportunities for cementing Baluch political unity that were not open to his forebears.

From the book
In Afghanistan’s Shadow:
Baloch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations
By Selig S. Harrison

Baluch tribes and the paths that Alexander the Great took. This also includes the harsh desert path where previously Cyrus the Great and Semiramis are thought to have lost large portions of their army. These stories are thought to have inspired Alexander to do better than Cyrus and Semiramis.[11

The Median Empire, Lydian Empire, and Neo-Babylonian Empire, prior to Cyrus the Great's conquests.

About 60 percent of the Baloch live in Balochistan, a western province in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.^[9] Around 25 percent inhabit the eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the Islamic Republic of Iran; a significant number of Baloch people also live in Sindh and South Punjab in Pakistan. Many of the rest live in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and in some parts of Africa. Small communities of Baluch people also live in Europe (particularly Sweden) and in Perth, Australia, where they arrived in the 19th century.

The Baluch people of today are descendants of ancient Median and Persian tribes. Historical references of ancient Persia have made it possible to arrive at this conclusion. Maka is mentioned by Greek historian Herodotus as one of the early satraps of Cyrus the Great, who successfully united several ancient Iranian tribes to create an empire.^[14][15] In the Behistun Inscription, Darius the Great mentions Maka as one of his eastern territories.^[16] Darius is recorded to have personally led his elite forces, whose ranks were restricted to those with Persian, Mede or Elamite ancestry, to fight the invading Scythians of Asia^[17] and then led the conquest towards the Indian sub-continent,^[18][19][20] where he conquered Sindh in 519 BC, constituted it as his 20th Satrapy, and made use of the oceans there.^[21][22] Darius wanted to know more about Asia, according to Herodotus; he also wished to know where the “Indus (which is the only river save one that produces crocodiles) emptied itself into the sea”.^[23] The present region of Makran, which is inhabited by Baluch people, derived its name from the word “Maka”. The Babylonians had also made voyages using Maka to communicate with India.^[24] Maka had also communicated with Euphrates, Tigris and Indus valley, objects from the Harappan culture have also been found in modern-day Oman, other archaeology suggest that Maka was exporting copper. Herodotus mentions the inhabitants of Maka as “Mykians” who were also previously involved in several conquests with Cyrus the Great and after the conquest of Egypt with Cambyses,^[25] they went to Sindh in command of Darius I, and also took in army of Xerxes the great at the battle of Thermopylae, where they were dressed and equipped the same as Pactyans, Utians and Paricanians, the tribes adjacent to the Mykians. The word Maka later became Makran as it is common in closely related ancient Avestan and Old Persian languages to use “an” and “ran” at the end of plurals,^[26] which then translates as “the land of Mykians”. They are mentioned as “the men from Maka” in daeva inscriptions. The “daeva inscription” is one of the most important of all Achaemenid inscriptions; in the Baluchi language, dêw translates as “giant devil or monster”. Mykians were also responsible for many inventions, such as qanats and underground drainage galleries that brought water from aquifers on the piedmont to gardens or palm groves on the plains. These inventions were important reasons behind the success of the Achaemenid Empire and survival of Mykians in their largely harsh natural environment. Other inscriptions also record that gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquise, cornalin, cedar wood, wood and the decoration for the relief at Susa were from Maka.^[27] The Mykians of the other side of ancient Maka, the present-day region of Balochistan and Sindh had later taken independence because they are not mentioned in the book written by Arrian of Nicomedia about campaigns of Alexander the Great but he only mentions the Oman side of Maka which he calls “Maketa”. The reasons for this may have been the arguably unjust rule of Xerxes.^[28][28][29] It is highly likely that the ancient Mykians were one of the Median or Persian tribes and an important part of Achaemenid empire, as they are not mentioned as one of the ancient Iranian tribes that Cyrus the Great and Darius I had fought with. Cyrus himself was of both Persian and Median ancestry as his father was Cambyses I, who is believed to have married Mandane of Media, the daughter of Astyages, a Median king.^[30]

A teenage Omani girl wearing a traditional Balochi dress.

Historical evidence suggests that Baluch people were the ancient inhabitants of the Maka satrapy in Achaemenid empire. Baluch inhabiting the coastal areas in the region of Makran (Chabahar, Gwadar), Gulf (Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain) and Arabian Sea (Karachi and other parts of Sindh) and tribes including the Rind, Bizenjo, Brahvi and Gabol are highly skilled in designing boats, fishing and other skills required to survive in their environment. Herodotus also mentions that Darius had made use of the ocean in this region of Sindh. The Slemani Baloch who inhabit the region of Baluchistan including Makran—for example, tribes including the Brahvi, Marri, Bugti, Buzdar, Mazari, Mengal, Rind, Bizenjo, Hasni, Zehri, Dehwar and others—carry different skills to survive in their mostly mountainous environment and have a history of aggressive behavior towards invasions. These tribes are not confined to one specific location as they also contain sub-tribes and can be found all over the region.

The origins of the word “Baluch” are shrouded in controversy. According to German archaeologist and Iranologist Ernst Herzfeld, it is derived from the Median word brza-vaciya, which means “loud cry”, while others claim the word derives from ancient Iranian languages.

Baluchi culture

The origins of Baluchi culture and traditions can be traced back to Mesopotamia, which is widely accepted as the origin of the Baluch people.

Baluchi customs and traditions are conducted according to codes imposed by tribal laws. These strong traditions and cultural values are important to Baluch people and have enabled them to keep their distinctive ancient cultural identity and way of life with little change to this day.

Baluchi culture is mentioned in the Pirmohamad M. Zehi’s account of his travel to the province of Sakestan, or the present-day Sistan va Baluchistan province of Iran, which holds strong significance to the culture of Baluch people. Baluch people have preserved their traditional dress with little change over the centuries. The Baluch men wear long shirts with long sleeves and loose pants resembling the Achaemenid outfits of ancient Persians; the dress is occasionally accompanied by a turban or a hat on their heads. The dress worn by Baluch women is one of the most interesting aspects of Baluchi culture. They are of strong significance to the culture of Iran and hold a special place in the society. The women put on loose dress and pants with sophisticated and colorful needlework, including a large pocket at the front of the dress to hold their accessories. The upper part of the dress and sleeves are also decorated with needlework, a form of artistry that is specific to the clothing of the Baluch women. Often the dress also contains round or square pieces of glass to further enhance the presentation. They cover their hair with a scarf, called a sarig in the local dialect.^[31] These customs are unique to the people of Iran and the art of this needlework on women’s clothing may provide one with a picture of the freedom and high status of Baluchi women in Achaemenid era.^[32] Gold ornaments such as necklaces and bracelets are an important aspect of Baluch women’s traditions and among their most favored items of jewelry are dorr, heavy earrings that are fastened to the head with gold chains so that the heavy weight will not cause harm to the ears. They usually wear a gold brooch (tasni) that is made by local jewelers in different shapes and sizes and is used to fasten the two parts of the dress together over the chest. In ancient times, especially during the pre-Islamic era, it was common for Baluch women to perform dances and sing folk songs at different events. The tradition of a Baluch mother singing lullabies to her children has played an important role in the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation since ancient times. Apart from the dressing style of the Baluch, indigenous and local traditions and customs are also of great importance to the Baluch.^[33]

Some jewelery traditional to Baluch women. However, due to poverty and fear of Islamic organizations, cultural fashion has become very limited. Islamic organizations have repeatedly targeted Baluch people.

Baluch people are culturally and traditionally regarded as secular. However, Baluch people are a minority, and growing Islamic fundamentalism in the region is seen as a threat to Baluchi culture. Other challenges include violations of basic human rights, psychological warfare, propaganda in mass media of their modern geography enabled by poverty, illiteracy and inaccessibility to information in the digital age.^{[34][35][36][37][38][39]} According to Amnesty International, Baluch activists, politicians and student leaders are among those who have been targeted in forced disappearances, abductions, arbitrary arrests and cases of torture and other ill-treatment.^[40] Islamic radical organizations such as ‘Sepah-e-Shohada-e-Balochistan’ and others^[41] claims responsibility for killing Baluch nationalists in order to secure Islam and Pakistan. Bodies of missing Baluch student activists and nationalists are later found dumped with signs of severe torture. Baluch sources claim that these missing Baluch students and activists are picked up by civilian dressed officials who come with the Pakistan’s security forces.

Baluchi music

Folk music has always played a great role in Baluchi traditions. Baluchi music and instruments belong to the same branch of Iranian music performed by many other Iranian peoples including Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Tajiks and others. Traditions like the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation by singing lullabies to children and praising warriors also have a significant role in Baluchi music traditions. The fact that both men and women participate in folk music reflects on the pre-Islamic significance of folk music in Baluchi culture. Many years of invasions, wars and later adopted religious values have prevented Baluchi music from prevailing further in the 21st century^{[clarification needed]}. However, a Swedish folk band, Golbang, has made progress in introducing Baluchi folk music to the Western world. The most commonly used instruments in Baluchi folk music are tanbur, long-necked lutes. Lutes have been present in Mesopotamia since the Akkadian era, or the third millennium BCE. The dohol, a large cylindrical drum with two skin heads, is the principal accompaniment for the surna, an ancient Iranian woodwind instrument that dates back to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 BCE). The ney is also commonly played, using single or double flutes. The suroz, a Baluchi folk violin, is also commonly played. Other Baluchi musical instruments include the tar and the saz. Balochi music has also influenced Sindhi and Seraiki folk music.

Geographic distribution

Major ethnic groups in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the surrounding areas, 1980. The Baluch are shown in pink.

The total population of ethnic Baloch people is estimated to be around 9 million worldwide. However, the exact number of those who are Baloch or claim to be of Baloch ancestry is difficult to determine. As of 2010, the Baloch are 4.97% of Pakistan’s 177,276,594 million people.^[43] They make up 2% of Afghanistan’s roughly 30 million people^[44] and 2% of Iran’s estimated 67 million.

Baluch ancestry is also claimed in the neighboring areas that adjoin Baluch majority lands. The Brahui are also considered Baloch but they speak the Brahui language. Despite very few cultural differences from the Baluch. Many Baluch outside of Balochistan are also bilingual or of mixed ancestry due to their proximity to other ethnic groups, including the Sindhis, Saraikis and Pashtuns. A large number of Baluch have been migrating to or living in provinces adjacent to Balochistan for centuries. In addition, there are many Baluch living in other parts of the world, with the bulk living in the GCC countries of the Persian Gulf. The Baluch are an important community in Oman, where they make up a sizable minority.

There is a small population of Baloch in several Western countries such as Sweden and Australia. Some Baloch settled in Australia in the 19th century; some fourth-generation Baloch still live there, mainly in the western city of Perth.

Baluch in Oman

The Baluch in Oman have maintained their ethnic and linguistic distinctions. The Southern Baloch comprise approximately 22% of the country’s population. The traditional economy of Baluch in Oman is based on a combination of trade, farming and semi-nomadic shepherding.

Baluchi language

The Balochi language is spoken in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf Arab states, Turkmenistan, and as far as East Africa and some Western countries. It is classified as a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family, which includes Kurdish, Persian, Pashto, Dari, Tajik and Ossetian. The Baluchi language has the closest similarities to Kurdish, Avestan, old Persian and other Iranian languages.

Iranian languages family tree

Two main dialects are spoken in Sistan va Baluchestan and Baluchestan: Eastern and Western. The exact number of Baluch speakers is difficult to know, but the estimated number could be around six million. The majority speak Western Baluchi, which is also the dialect that has been most widely used in Baluchi literature. Within the Western dialect are two further dialects, Rakhshani (spoken mainly in the northern areas) and Makkurani (in the south).^[47]

The Baluch have several tribes and sub-tribes. Some of these tribes speak Brahui, while most speak Baluchi. Multilingualism is common, with many Baluch speaking both Brahui and Baluchi. The Marri tribe Domki and the Bugti tribe speak Baluchi. The Mengal tribe, who live in the Chagai, Khuzdar, Kharan districts of Balochistan and in southern parts of Afghanistan, speak Brahui. The Lango tribe, who live in central Balochistan in the Mangochar area, speak Baluchi as their first language and Brahui as their second. The Bizenjo tribe living in the Khuzdar, Nal, and parts of Makran, speak both languages, as do the Muhammadsanis. The Bangulzai tribe mostly speaks Brahui, but has a Baluchi-speaking minority (known as Garanis).

The Mazaris widely speak Baluchi or both dialects. The Malghani are part of the Nutkani tribe, which is the largest tribe in the tehsil. The Talpur, Mastoi, Jatoi, Gabol, Lashari, Chandio, Khushk, Khosa, Bozdar, Jiskani, Heesbani, Magsi, Zardari, Rind, Bhurgri, Jakhrani,MIRJAT,JAMALI and other Baluch tribes that settled in Sindh speak Sindhi, Baluchi and Saraiki. The Qaisrani Baluch living near Taunsa Sharif in the Punjab province of Pakistan speak Saraiki and Baluchi, while their clansmen living the Dera Ghazi Khan tribal areas speak Balochi. The Lund Baluch living in Shadan Lund speak Sindhi, Sairaki and Balochi. The Leghari, Lashari, Korai, and Kunara Baluch in the Dera Ismail Khan and Mianwali districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa speak Saraiki as their first language. The Tauqi Baloch in the Khara, Noshki, Chaghai and Washuk districts of Balochistan can speak both Baluchi and Brahui, but their primary language is Baluchi. The Buzdar are one of the largest tribes of Baloch in southern Punjab, living in the Koh-e-Suleman range.The Mashori are also one of the large tribe of Baloch in southern Punjab and in large area of Sindh.

References

Baloch Cultural Society held a conference on Baloch language and Culture in London, United Kingdom, on 3rd April 2011. Distinguished linguists like Carina Jahani, Dr Agnes Korne, Dr Badal Khan Baloch, Waja Akbar Barakzai, Honshang Naruee, Shahsawar K expressed their views and presented documents about the history of baloch language and culture. Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri spoke about the Iranian and Pakistani states' anti Balochi language policies. Like

Veteran Balochi language poet waja Akbar Barakzai chaired the first half of the conference while the second half was chaired by Hoshang Naruee. A fair number of Baloch, and speakers of other languages attended the conference.

Waja Akbar Barakzai in his comments wished that the Baloch cultural Society had invited someone (A doctor) to speak about the anti Balochi language policies of states (Iran and Pakistan). He thanked the participants for taking interest and joining the conference and appreciated the speakers for their valuable time and contributions.

Dr.Agnes Korn: spoke about Balochi dialectology, history of research and present state. She explained about the different dialects of Balochi language spoken in different part of Balochistan. According to her presentation and sources that she presented, Balochi is an Iranian language.

Dr.Badalkhan Baloch: Mr Baloch’s topic and presentation attracked several Baloch youth presented in the conference as he spoke about the the legendary Baloch figure Mir Chakar Khan Rind.

Dr Hoshang Noraiee: Cultural Homogeneity or Diversity in Baluchistan. He also spoke about ideological aspects of culture. In his presentation he showed some picture which he thought were changing aspects of Baloch culture. According to his point of view Baloch culture was shaping in different ways due pressure of globilisation and modernity. He also presented a case study of religious ideology of Jundollah which he thinks is being infiltrated in Baloch culture.

Professor Carina Jahani’s topic of speech was Balochi oral literature (traditional tales and their themes). She said that it is useful and important to continue to arrange such gatherings to promote Balochi language and Baloch culture. According to Carina Jahani’s presentation Balochi is an Indo European language – most Baloch schalors hold the same view as Carina.

She also stressed and urged the Baloch youth to read more and more balochi books/write ups, articles etc to improve their Balochi. During question and answer session she also said that Baloch must make collective efforts to to promote their language and must come up with a common script to standerdise their language.

Dr Shahsawar K: Mr Shahsawar’s speech was mostly about the economic aspects of the language.

The Video presentations and papers of all the above mentioned speakers will be posted on Balochwarna and other Baloch sites as soon as they are ready.

Waja Hyrbyair Marri in his ending speech thanked the guest for their contributions and praised the Baloch cultural society for organising such an important event. He said it was important to continue to hold such informative events to introduce Baloch language and culture to International community.

Text of Hyrbyiar Marri’s Speech “Luckily, We Baloch are owner of a rich culture, deep rooted language valuable traditions. Our ancestor paid ultimate prices to uphold our culture despite the efforts of occupying states that have tried their utmost to dilute and distort our way of life and impose their alien languages and culture on us. The speakers have already explained the history of Baloch language and culture according to their understanding and knowledge.

I just would like to add that Patriot Balochs have sacrificed their lives to preserve the Baloch culture and traditions. Brave Baloch leaders like Mir Hammal Baloch, Prince Abdul Karim, Nawab Nauroz Khan, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and countless others, all had upheld the Baloch culture of resistance in defense of their motherland – they fought against foreign invaders including the protégées, Mongols, the British, Punjabi and Persians to keep them off Baloch land and stop them from polluting the Baloch Culture. Similarly the current Baloch struggle is not only to regain Independence but it is also to protect the Baloch traditions, language and culture because if we do not struggle to safeguard our language today, Balochi might become extinct or influenced by other languages and become non-existence in its true spirit.

According to the Director-General of UNESCO, “Languages are indeed essential to the identity of groups and individuals and to their peaceful coexistence. They constitute a strategic factor of progress towards sustainable development and a harmonious relationship between the global and the local context….”

However, the occupying states of Iran and Pakistan are doing their utmost to eradicate Baloch language, Culture and traditional values by killing Balochistan’s most learned youth including poets, students, lawyers and other enlightened members of Baloch society. Only two days ago they killed and dumped Ramatullah Shaheen – who was a Balochi language poet and a Journalist. The systematic mass disappearing and killing of the most conscience minded Balochs illustrate the mentality of occupying forces and their intentions to eliminate all those who are promoting Balochi Music, poetry, language and culture. The main purpose of destroying well-informed youth is that they [occupying states’] want the educated people to become obedient to them and promote their culture.

They are also trying to ethnically flood Balochistan by settling people of other cultures with intentions to influence Balochi language and change the demography of Balochistan. The announcement of the state to induct Baloch youth in army is meant to kill two birds with one stone, meaning, to divert the Baloch Youths’ attention from Baloch patriotism and to make them fanatic uniformed Taliban.

Pakistan and Iran have historically enabled the eradication of Baloch identity and culture. The legacies of these states’ violence against the Baloch people remain in the unsolved mass disappearances and the lack of justice and accountability for torture and other crimes against humanity. Baloch today still routinely face collective repression for speaking in their mother tongue and wearing their National dress. The persecution of Baloch activists for simply saying the words ‘Baloch’ and ‘Balochistan’ indicate the scale of the institutional violence of denying an entire people the right to speak their language and express their true identity. On several occasions people have been arrested and humiliated for wearing Baloch National Dress and growing breads or folding those in Balochi style, especially in Marri and Bugti regions. Moustaches and bread of several Baloch have been forcefully shaved by Pakistani officials in a bid to disgrace them and make them look like Punjabi occupiers.

All nations give priority to their language, culture and National identity so should we the Baloch. Baloch scholars such as Syed Zahoorshah Hashumi and Dr M Y Dorra Baloch, also known as MirDorra, tried to standardise Balochi language and introduce a common Balochi script but after their death not many people have pursued their dreams to complete the mission of these scholars. Today despite facing similar difficulties, Kurdish, Tamil, Sindhi and other occupied Nations’ language’ are Internationally recognised (to some extent) but unfortunately Balochi is yet to reach to that stage – which is an indication that we must work hard to promote Balochi language and culture. We should encourage and help those scholars who are genuinely working hard to promote Balochi language in Balochistan and on International level.

Before I finish, I once again thank the honourable guests for their contributions and I congratulate the organisers of this conference for this successful event. I do hope that Baloch Cultural Society will continue to organise meetings, conferences and study circles to promote Baloch culture, language and traditions”.

Click Here to view the picture of the conference

For more information please contact:
Baloch Cultural Society-UK
On: balochsocietyuk@gmail.com