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.

Baloch Vanguards Calendar 2010

Dear all

We are pleased to present The Baloch Calendar for 2010http://balochcalendar.tk . To best of our ability and knowledge we have tried to provide information about Martyrs, profile of Intellectuals and historical events of Baloch nation.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Baloch web sites and virtual groups that have encouraged and provided us with useful information to complete this project, especially The Baloch, Baloch Warna, Baluch Sarmachar, Sarmachar Tribune, Gwank and Baloch Culture.We are also grateful to intellectuals particularly Waja Abdul Samad Ameeri and Waja Ismail Ameeri for their help in terms of information cleansing. Our thanks are over due to Waja Janmohd Dashti, Waja Dr. Hameed Baloch and Waja Dr Inayatullah Baloch for compiling and writing informative books that guided us a lot in our work.

There is always room for improvement and correction, therefore, we will welcome and appreciate feedbacks from all our well wishers about the calendar. As you may notice that some dates of this calendar are without information. This is due to unavailability of information. We will be more than happy if anyone can provide information and pictures for empty dates or wants to highlight missing dates to update The Baloch Calendar for 2010.Our contact detail are available on the calendar site.

Thanking you in anticipation
Baloch Vanguards Team

List of Baloch abducted on the rise; more than 400,000 Baloch are displaced

Karachi: Family members of the missing persons observed a token hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Friday, demanding release of their loved ones. Carrying portraits of their loved ones, the innocent children and wives of many of the missing persons remained there for several hours.

The demonstration and hunger strike was observed under the auspices of Voice of Baloch Missing Persons Committee. About 50 children and women [mainly the family member of abducted Baloch] from different parts of Balochistan participated in the protest.

Speaking at a press conference at the camp, Chairman and Vice Chairman of Voice of Baloch Missing Persons Committee, Nasrullah Baloch and Qadeer Baloch, respectively, and mother of Mir Wadood Raisani said that the people of Balochistan have been suffering from military operations for the last 62 years and genocide of Baloch people continues unstopped.

They said that the people of Balochistan suffered military operations in 1948, 1958, 1962, 1973 and the year 2000 and so far thousands of Baloch people have been killed in bombardment on Baloch population whereas thousands went “missing”. They said that the “missing” people were brutally tortured physically as well as mentally in military torture cells.

They said that about 200,000 people were forced to migrate from Bugti area after 2005 as a result of bombardment while as many as 250,000 people migrated from Kohlo Kahan, Barkhan, to different areas of Sindh and Punjab.

They said that they have prepared a list of 1695 “missing” persons from different cities and towns of Balochistan, and it includes 14 women.

They regretted that the chief justices of Supreme Court of Pakistan and Balochistan High Court have not adopted any practical measures for the recovery of “missing” persons. They pointed out that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had promised that missing persons would reach their homes after Eid but sadly enough not a single person has been released so far. On the contrary, the number of missing persons was on the rise, they said.

Recently two brothers of Shaheed Majeed Baloch, Maqbool Zafar and Javid Baloch have been arrested from killi Ismael in Quetta and there was a raid on the house of Mr Sadiq Raisani, one of the notable lawyers in Balochistan and a member of Baloch Bar. Two Baloch 18 and 20 years old respectively have been arrested by the Pakistani FC from Mand Town in Balochistan on 22/01/2010. According to eye witnesses the victims were on their way to town when two vehicles of FC surrounded them, nicked them from the crowed and drove towards an unknown location. The youth are still missing.

Source: The News, and Balochistan National Newspapers

UK: Protest against the killing of Baloch in Karachi and Khuzdar

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London: A large number of Baloch, Sindhi and other human rights activists have gather in front of British parliament to condemn the target killing of Baloch in Karachi, Para-military operation in Lyari and the killing of Baloch students in Khuzdar. BHRC (Baloch Human Rights Council) had given the call for protest.

The protesters were holding placards and banners inscribed against Pakistan and Iran, demand of withdrawal of Pakistani military from Balochistan and urged the Western powers to stop supporting pro-Taliban Pakistan. The participants of the protest chanted slogans against MQM, Pakistan, Iran and Pakistani and Iranian current leaders including Ahamdinejad, Rehman Malik and the leader of MQM Altaf Hussain. Some of the slogans were; “Baloch Want Freedom, Stop killing Baloch in Karachi, Pakistan sanctuary of Taliban, West stop supporting Pakistan and stop killing Baloch and Sindhi people”.

Addressing the rally Dr Abul Doshaki read a poem which literally meant that Baloch in the UK are with the people of Lyari (Karachi) and the people of Balochistan at these difficult times.

Mr Ali Baloch while speaking at the rally said that Baloch are the oldest settled people in Karachi and the MQM and Pakistani state was now trying to expel them from their lands. He said “it is a shame that the immigrants have become a Nation where as Baloch as a nation are being turned into immigrants in their own land”. He said that Pakistan just wanted Baloch land and resources it has no sympathy with the Baloch people. “The Baloch of Karachi have learnt from their mistakes for supporting Pakistani political parties but they are determined not to repeat such mistakes again and people of Balochistan should help their brothers in this difficult time to make them feel that they are not alone and will not be left alone at any difficult time.

Waja Hyrbyair Marri urged the Baloch of Karachi to stop following the “killer of Baloch” party (PPP) and join the Baloch pro-independence forces. He said that Pakistan and Iran were killing Baloch under different pretexts, like criminals, drug dealers and anti states. He said Baloch must unite and stand together to overcome all the challenges that we are facing today. “Baloch of Karachi are also our brothers and they will find every Baloch beside them at difficult times, but they (Baloch of Karachi) must now realise that PPP doesn’t recognise them as human, they (PPP) only view the Baloch as their voters” he explained.

Hyrbyair Marri also strongly condemn the killing of two Baloch students in Khudzar by Pakistani FC and said that they were participating in a peaceful rally and were exercising their democratic right but the so called democratically elected government has given free hand to FC to kill peaceful protesters in Balochistan. “Such actions of Pakistani forces prove that there is no room left for the Baloch to struggle in peaceful and democratic ways”.

Waja Samad Baloch and Ghulam Hussain Baloch of BHRC also said in their talks that they are with the people of Lyari. They also strongly condemned the killing of two Baloch students in Khuzdar. They said that BHRC will continue to highlight the Human Rights Violation in Balochistan and will continue to urge the International community to take notice of gross human rights violations in Balochistan.

Balochwarna

PPP doesn’t consider Baloch as human beings; Baloch should come out of PPP deception: Hyrbyair Marri

London: Baloch patriot leader Hyrbyair Marri has said that if Baloch people of Karachi come out from the deception of PPP, then from Kerman to Nimroz and Gwader to Barkhan all Baloch (even the mountains of Balochistan) will come to their help. He said it doesn’t bother PPP if Baloch people get killed in Karachi because PPP do not consider Baloch as human beings but they only recognise Baloch people as their voters - that is why Baloch in Karachi are being treated as third grade citizens.

“PPP leader Rehman Malik sometime justifies the killing of Baloch as being supports of BLA and sometimes as members of criminal groups. PPP is the party that has always been at forefront for massacring and plundering the Baloch people”, Hyrbyair Marri expressed these views while speaking to Sana News from London. He said that remainder of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto are blood-thirsty, the Baloch of Karachi should depart from this commercial party and join the Baloch struggle for National Liberation. Then these Baloch will not be alone and other Baloch will stand with them shoulder to shoulder, but in the name of PPP the state is using ethnic group MQM to massacre Baloch and for strengthening the occupation on Baloch land.

“Where ever the Baloch live, Pakistan started operation against them using different pretexts. He said the Immigrants have become a Nation but the Baloch as a nation with their own history; language and culture are being treated as refugees in their own homeland and the enemy is planning to eradicate our National identity” He explained.

He said it was a disappointment that many Baloch are still being deceived by the rulers using the slogan of Pakistan. “Until and unless the Baloch are not prepared ideologically and recognise their national responsibilities, the enemy will target them one by one using false pretexts like gang war, criminals, drug mafia and land mafia”.