Great Baluchi vocalist Kamal Khan passes away

he outstanding vocalist and poet of Baluchistan Kamal Khan Hout died of a weak constitution in his hometown early Sunday. He was 68.

Kamal Khan was taken to a hospital in Chabahar on Saturday night and was admitted to the CCU to receive medical treatment but died at 2am Sunday, the Persian service of MNA reported.

His style of singing was epical and heroic, part of the oldest styles of Baluch music, and was popular among the Baluchis.

“It is a great pleasure for me to attend the honoring ceremony of a prominent musician from Baluchistan, and I must admit that the music of the region has not been recognized and respected well,” vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian had declared in a ceremony the Iranian Academy of Arts arranged to honor Kamal Khan in 2007.

Kamal Khan never went to school but was able to read and write and always carried a notebook with him. He used to write his own poetry and poems by others in his notebook. He had a very good memory that surprised many people.

Musician Mohammadreza Darvishi had also described Kamal Khan as a grand singer in the true sense of the term in the Baluchistan region. This is true Darvishi said, “Because not only is he a great singer, but also an eminent poet who helped preserve the intangible history and ancient culture of the region.”

“There are many musicians and singers in Baluchistan who are number one in technique, but I dare say the singing techniques of Kamal Khan are unique compared to other styles in several other regions. Kamal Khan has a close relationship with the literature of Baluchistan. He is actually important, since he is a narrator of culture and civilization through the music of Baluchistan,” Darvishi once mentioned.

Photo: Kamal Khan Hout performs during a ceremony held by the Iranian Academy of Arts in Tehran on October 17, 2007 to honor the veteran Iranian Baluchi vocalist with a lifetime achievement award. (Mehr/Mohsen Sajjadi)

Shuhadae Jewni

Saved ......to be killed (An article on recent happenings in Karachi)

By Baluch Qaumdost

Karachi, gets it's name from a Baluch woman called Mai Kolachi. The Baluch of Karachi had decisive political power in the affairs of the city ,making it a cultural and political hub of the Baluch. The current state of the Baluch in Karachi is because of the policies designed towards their systematic execution by the Pakistani State. The penetration of the Pakistan Peoples' Party in the Baluch Localities of Karachi,the creation of mobsters to help the Peoples' Party keep a hold on the Baluch areas ,the “dumping” of Narcotics to target the Baluch youth and intimidation tactics.

These policies proved fruitful for Pakistan when the deprived and vulnerable Baluch populace saw the PPP as a means towards prosperity and the mobsters as their saviors from external threats.

The Pakistani State is suppressing the recent surge in increased Baluch Nationalism through the use of non-state Actors. The establishment of the Baluch Alliance, a party designed to “infiltrate” the nationalistic sentiments run by the same mobsters responsible for the widespread addiction levels among the Baluch youth,and the Lyari Gang War.

The Baluch Nationalists that the Government is seeking to eliminate are a small but devoted ring of Activists. This new wave of violence against the Baluch population started when the Baluch National Movement(BNM) pressed against the Land Mafia backed by the Coalition partners of the PPP the Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) a racist terrorist Outfit.

The MQM has been encroaching into Baluch localities by demolishing Baluch settlements under the guise of Development Projects like the Lyari Expressway which resulted in the dislocation of thousands of Baluch homes and the grabbing of private and amenity plots like the Gutter Baghicha, a park that the MQM run City District Government of Karachi is allotting to it's party members. Further The Nationalists drive against the PPP backed Drug Mafia who are responsible for the death of more than three thousand Baluch youngsters in the bloody Lyari Gang War .


This latest wave of state sponsored violence against the Baluch is lead by Uzair Baluch aka Sardar Uzair. The group is also responsible for Nadir Baluch's Murder, a Baluch Rights activist and social worker involved in anti-narcotics and Gutter Baghicha encroachments. This group also “hijacked” the protests following the PPP-MQM lead target killings and the crackdown by Pakistani Paramilitary Forces in Lyari. The protesters were burning Pakistani,and PPP Flags but the Pakistani Media and the PPP backed gangsters made the protest seem as if it was organized by the PPP's Peoples' Amn Committee (PAC). The PAC has lately been issuing death threats to members of the Baluch Movement for opposing PPP and the Occupation. The threats issued said that anyone working against the PPP or Pakistan will be killed in a manner that their faces would be beyond recognition. The PAC also hijacked another Protest in Malir forcing Baluch Activists carrying the National Flag to leave the venue while raising pictures of the slain Rahman “Dakait” Karachi's Notorious Mob Boss. The latest offense of the PAC is the attempted assassination of Baluch Student Organization Azaad(BSO-A) central committee member Jawad Baluch at Restaurant in Lyari..

The Baluch of Karachi will have to realize that gangsters can never be their saviors, they will have to understand that it’s only they, themselves who can bring an end to the problems created by the occupation of Pakistan and that they’ll have to take a stand for themselves and their coming generations.

Jundullah threatens to resume attacks on Iran, as first ever talks with govt failed

UBAI (Saud al-Zahid) Iran‘s Sunni insurgent Jundullah group said on Monday it would resume armed operations against the Islamic Republic after the failure of negotiations with Tehran and called on other ethnic groups in country to join the fight.

Jundullah engaged in negotiations with Iranian authorities for the first time ever at the request of local tribal leaders, the group revealed in a statement obtained by Al Arabiya. But the talks failed because the government pursued a policy of procrastination in responding to the nationalist and doctrinal demands of the Baluch population in the southeastern province of Baluchistan, it added.

The talks came following a suicide bombing that claimed the lives of more than 40 people, including 15 commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards last October in Pishin district near the border with Pakistan, the group said.

The Iranian government did not confirm or deny talks with Jundullah. If confirmed, the talks would be the first of its kind, marking a significant shift in Tehran's policy toward ethnic and doctrinal armed groups in the country as it has consistently rejected any sort of engagement with opposition groups.

Undeclared truce

"The movement raised basic, legitimate, logical and reasonable demands in order to solve problems in the (Baluchistan) region and continued to negotiate in good faith and committed throughout this period to an undeclared truce and to the halt of all military operations," the group said in its statement.

The group added that it would give the government in Tehran a "last opportunity" to respond to its demands before it would resume its attacks in the Baluchistan region, stressing it would use suicide operations.

Tehran considers Jundallah a terrorist organization linked to U.S. and Pakistani intelligence, and accuses it of targeting Iranian civilians. But Jundullah says it attacks military and government targets only in defense of nationalist and religious rights of the Baluch people.

Jundallah called on other Iranian ethnic groups such as Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen to join the fight against the Iranian government by launching their attacks from Kurdistan, Khuzestan and Turkmen desert regions.

BLF denied threatening private co-education school in Gwader

wader: “We are not against co-education. Our struggle is for freedom, illegal trawler mafia and money extortionists mince their ways or prepare to face the music. The enemy after disgraceful defeat has started propaganda”.

According to details a spokesman of BLF (Baloch Liberation Front) Mr Doda Baloch has called news agencies and strongly denied threatening a private co-education school in Gwader Balochistan. He said that BLF was fighting for the freedom of Balochistan. “Our organisation believes that beside arm struggle the Baloch youth and Baloch sisters should increase their educational capacities”. Enemy propagandas against Baloch freedom seeking organisations are their (enemy’s) failure and obvious defeat.

Meanwhile Doda Baloch also warned the illegal trawler mafia and those money extortionists that if they do not mince their ways they will be treated as traitors against the Baloch Nation.

We are at war with Pakistan; Arab hunters should limit their activities: Basham Baloch

Quetta: A spokesman of BLF (Baloch Liberation Front) has once again warned the Arab hunters to limit their activities. He said Baloch are at war with the state of Pakistan and Pakistani forces are committing atrocities against the Baloch people almost everywhere in Balochistan. The Baloch resistance organisation can attack Pakistani forces whenever and wherever they see the opportunity. That is why “We ask the Arab hunters to limit their activities. Baloch have old ties with the Arab countries and Arab people and we do not want to sabotage these friendly, political and social relations between the Arabs and the Baloch” Mr Basham Baloch said.

Meanwhile he also claimed that BLF fighters attacked an FC camp in Mand Town of Balochistan on Thursday evening. He said that the FC has suffered heavy loss of property and physical casualties.

It must be noted that earlier this month the Balochistan Student Organisation (azaad) had also issue a statement accusing the Arab hunters of sabotaging the Baloch traditions. They BSO statement had said that the Arab hunters should not disrespect or violate the Baloch code of honour in the name of hunting.