Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Baloch Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch and in other ways, may refer to: * Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan * Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan * Balouch, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan * Baloch (s ...

: میرغوث بخش بزنجو ) was a Pakistani politician from

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

. He served as the 3rd Governor of Balochistan.

Early life

He was born in Nall Khuzdar Balochistan in either December 1917 or 1919. His father's name was Safar Khan. One of the founding members of the National Awami Party, he served as the Governor of Balochistan from 1972 to 1973 and was a key signatory to Pakistan's Third constitution - Constitution of Pakistan of 1973.

Education

Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo obtained his high school education up to the 8th Grade from Sandeman High School

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

. After the 1935 earthquake, he got admission in Sindh Madrasa tul Islam,

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Then, for further education, Ghaus Bakhsh enrolled into

Aligarh University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a public central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Anglo-Orienta ...

where he studied for four years, thus completing his formal education.

Entry into politics

In 1938, after returning from Aligarh, Ghaus Bakhsh joined the Baloch League, a party based in

which was formed by some Baloch intellectuals.

In 1939 the Kalat State National Party (KSNP) arranged its annual convention in Mastung. The Baloch League sent Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo as a representative to attend the convention. On 6 July 1939 an armed tribal force was sent by the

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

s of Balochistan to disrupt the annual rally of the KSNP. This tribal force opened fire on the participants of the rally but police and Levies Force interfered in time and a potential bloodbath was averted. After this incident many of the KSNP workers and leaders were either arrested or exiled from Kalat. Abdul Rahim Khwaja Khel, Babu Abdul Karim Shorish and others who were at Government Posts resigned. Mir Gul Khan Nasir who was the Secretary Judicial Affairs, Mir Hammal Khan who was the Custom Officer, Mir Mohammad Faazal Khan Mohammad Shahi who was Education Minister and Faiz Mohammad Yousafzai who was Assistant Collector also tendered in their resignations though it is believed that the resignations of Mir Gul Khan and Mir Hammal Khan were accepted in 1941. After this incident Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo joined the KSNP. In fact, the resignations of Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Mir

Abdul Aziz Kurd Abdul Aziz Kurd (1904–1979) was a co-founder of the Anjuman-e-Ittehad-e-Balochan-wa-Balochistan. Among the pioneering Baloch nationalists, he wished to establish an independent Balochistan. Kurd was born to a civil servant to the Khanate of Kalat ...

and Mir Hammal Khan are believed to have been tendered in as a result of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh's efforts. Initially he was against

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Muslim League

After Balochistan joined Pakistan, the

Khan of Kalat The Khanate of Kalat ( bal, کلاتءِ ھانات) was a Baloch Khanate that existed from 1512 to 1955 in the centre of the modern-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Its rulers were Brahui speakers. Prior to that they were subjects ...

Ahmed Yar Khan decided to join the Muslim League. He sent Ajmal Khan to go and persuade Mir Ghaus Bakhsh and Gul Khan Nasir to join the party with him. Both Ghaus Bakhsh and Gul Khan thought this would be a good opportunity to further their political cause so, they joined the party. Ghaus Bakhsh also persuaded Abdullah Jan Jamaldini,

Ghulam Mohammed Baloch __NOTOC__ Ghulam Mohammed Baloch ( Balochi: غلام محمد بلوچ) was a Baloch nationalist politician. At the time of his assassination in 2009, he was serving as the president of the Baloch National Movement, as well as the General Sec ...

and

Bahadur Khan Ustad Bahadur Khan (born Bahadur Hossain Khan; 19 January 1931 – 3 October 1989) was an Indian sarod player and film score composer. Early life and family Ustad Bahadur Khan, a Bengali, was born on 19 January 1931 in Shibpur, Brahmanbaria, B ...

to join Muslim League. In 1955, all of West Pakistan's provinces and princely states were merged into one unit. This was not acceptable to the Baloch nationalists. So, on 14 July 1955, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Abdul Karim, Gul Khan Nasir, Mohammad Hussain Anqa and Qadir Bakhsh Nizamani formed the Usthman Gal which means "The People's Party".

Usthman Gal

In 1955, all of West Pakistan's provinces and princely states were merged into one unit. This wasn't acceptable to the Baloch nationalists. So, on 14 July 1955 Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo,

Prince Abdul Karim Prince Agha Abdul Karim Ahmedzai was the younger brother of the last Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmedyar Khan. See also *History of Balochistan The history of Balochistan began in 650 BCE with vague allusions to the region in Greek historical rec ...

, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Mohammad Hussain Anqa and Qadir Bakhsh Nizamani formed the Usthman Gal which means "The People's Party".

Pakistan National Party

In 1956, Usthman Gal and Warur Pashtun from Balochistan, Khudai Khidmatgar from

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

Azad Pakistan Party The Azad Pakistan Party was a leftist Pakistani party founded in November 1949 by Mian Iftikharuddin, an ex-Congressite and a member of the Muslim League who worked for the Pakistan Movement. It was formed in 1949, becoming Pakistan's first opposi ...

from

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Sindh Mahaaz and

Sindh Hari Committee The Sindh Hari Committee was a leftist and Sindhi nationalist political organization in Sindh, Pakistan that sought to promote the interests of the ''haris'' (landless peasant farmers) of Sindh. It was founded in 1930 by G. M. Syed. In 1947, ...

from

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

merged to form the Pakistan National Party. PNP was an umbrella for progressive people from all walks of life. It was composed solely of ethnic

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

s and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

National Awami Party

In 1957,

Maulana Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

broke off from

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

and joined the Pakistan National Party (PNP), thus, the National Awami Party came into being. This became the biggest party of Pakistan containing within its folds, some of the most prominent progressive politicians of that era.

Ayub's martial law

In 1958, Field Marshal

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

imposed

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in Pakistan. One day Mir Ghaus Bakhsh bought some shot gun cartridges from an ammunition store. One of the notes that he used to pay for the cartridges had an inscription "Down With One Unit" on it. When the Government found out about this,

Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (Urdu/Baloch language, Baloch: میرغوث بخش بزنجو ) was a Pakistani politician from Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan. He served as the 3rd Governor of Balochistan, Pakistan, Governor of Balochistan. Early l ...

was arrested and sent to the "Quli Camp" which was quite a notorious and infamous torture camp located in Quetta Cantt. Other Baloch leaders like Mir Gul Khan Nasir and Faiz Mohammad Yousafzai were also imprisoned and put in the "Quli Camp". Here they were subjected to inhumane torture and abuse. Ataullah Mengal quotes Mir Gul Khan Nasir as saying: :"They kept

separate from us and tortured him so much that when he was brought back I didn't recognize him. He used to shave but now the guards were bringing an old man with a beard."

National Awami Party government

In the

1970 General Election in Pakistan General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly. They were the first general elections since the Partition of India, independence of Pakistan and ultimately the ...

, the NAP came out as a majority party in

and

. Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo was elected from the

Lyari Town Lyari Town ( sd, لیاری ٽاؤن , ur, ) is named after the historic locality of Lyari. Lyari Town was the smallest borough (called "town" in Karachi) by area, but also the most densely populated one. Lyari Town was formed in 2001 as par ...

area of

with the help of the another notable politician of Pakistan -

Mahmoud Haroon Mahmoud Abdullah Haroon ( ur, ; 1920 – 6 November 2008) was a Pakistani politician with a career spanning over five decades who served as chairman of the Dawn Media Group, publisher of many newspapers in Pakistan.

. In 1972, NAP formed its governments in both the provinces. In

became the Governor of Balochistan and Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal became the first Chief Minister of Balochistan. Mir Gul Khan Nasir was a Senior Minister in this Government and held the portfolios of Education and Health. Nawab

Khair Bakhsh Marri Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri (28 February 1928 – 10 June 2014), bal, نواب خیر بخش مری) was Pakistani politician from the province of Balochistan in Pakistan. Early life and career Khair Bakhsh Marri had received his early educ ...

, Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Bugti and Sardar Abdul Rehman Baloch of KECH were other Members of the Provincial Assembly from NAP. Dr.

Abdul Hai Baloch Abdul Hai Baloch ( ur, عبدالحئی بلوچ), also known as Abdul Hayee Baloch (1 February 1946 – 25 February 2022), was a Pakistani social and political activist from Balochistan. Early life and education Baloch was born on 1 February 1 ...

was a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

."Warsa i Nasiriyat" by "Abdul Sabur Baloch"

Constitutional Committee

Pakistan ran under the remnant of Martial Law LFO (Legal Framework Order) without any proper constitution. It was obligatory on the Legislature to frame a new constitution for a country, so it appointed a 25-member Constitutional committee composed of all the political parties represented in the parliament according to their strength on 17 April 1972, to prepare a draft of the permanent Constitution of Pakistan.

Khan Amirzadah Khan Khan Amirzadah Khan (15 November 1918 – 13 September 1977) was a member of the Khudai Khidmatgar, Khudai Khidmatgar movement and a leader of the National Awami Party (Wali), National Awami Party in Pakistan. Born in Bakhshali village, Mardan ...

and Mir Ghous Bux Bizenjo were representing National Awami Party. This Constitutional Committee headed

Abdul Hafiz Pirzada Abdul Hafeez Pirzada ( ur, ; 24 February 1935 – 1 September 2015) was a Pakistani lawyer, legal theorist, and politician, who served variously as minister for information, minister for law, minister for finance, and minister for education ...

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

work day and night for many months and framed a draft constitution which was presented in the parliament and adopted as the well-known 1973 constitution. Khan Amirzadah Khan deliberated and delivered his famous speech of 5 hours and 35 minutes on this constitution, this speech is still holding the record of the longest extempore speech of the

. According to this constitution, no person could hold membership of more than 1 Assembly at a time. Hence, Khan Abdul Wali Khan resigned from the membership of NWFP assembly and retained the seat of National Assembly of Pakistan. On the advice of the party leadership, Khan Amirzadah Khan resigned from the National Assembly and retained the membership of NWFP assembly seat. Where Khan Amirzadah Khan was elected as leader of the opposition, which he retained till the end of the tenure of the assembly.

Dismissal of NAP government and arrest

In 1973, the Bhutto regime citing Nawab Akbar Bugti's claim that the NAP Leaders were trying to disintegrate Pakistan as a basis, dismissed the NAP Government. Mir Ghaus Bakhsh resigned in protest. Mir Gul Khan Nasir and Sardar Abdul Rehman were arrested. A few days later Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Ataullah Mengal,

, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh's son Bizen and Colonel (R)

Sultan Mohammad Khan Sultan Mohammad Khan (Pashto/Dari: ), also known as Ghazi Sardar Sultan Mohammad Talaei, was an Afghan aristocrat, chief minister and regent. He was a powerful brother of Emir Dost Mohammad Khan, the eventual ruler of Afghanistan who seized contr ...

(the head of Balochistan Reserve Police) were arrested. They spent more than four years in jail.

Hyderabad tribunal

Later, a commission known as Hyderabad tribunal, was set up and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo,

Sardar Ataullah Mengal Ataullah Mengal (; 24 March 1929 – 2 September 2021) was a Pakistani politician and feudal figure. He was the head of the Mengal tribe until he nominated one of his grandsons, Sardar Asad Ullah Mengal, as his tribal successor. He was also the ...

, Mir Gul Khan Nasir,

, Khan Abdul Wali Khan,

, Syed Muhammad Kaswar Gardezi,

Habib Jalib Habib Jalib (24 March 1928 - 12 March 1993; Urdu, Punjabi: ) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression. Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz said that he was the poet of ...

and many others had to defend themselves in a treason case in front of the tribunal. After the ouster of

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and Politician, statesman who served as ...

's government by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, negotiations for the winding up of the Hyderabad tribunal and the release of all detainees was initiated leading to their eventual release in 1979.

NDP and PNP parties

After their release Khair Bakhsh Marri and Sherof Marri decided to opt out of Parliamentary politics while Mir Ghaus Bakhsh, Mir Gul Khan Nasir and Ataullah Mengal joined Wali Khan's National Democratic Party or NDP. But after the

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...

, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh and Wali Khan developed differences and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh along with Mir Gul Khan formed the Pakistan National Party (PNP) while Ataullah Mengal went into exile in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. After some time, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh and Mir Gul Khan Nasir had a falling out due to which Gul Khan (who was the President of PNP Balochistan) resigned from his post in the party. On 14 August 1986,

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

led an Independence Day march in

against the

General Zia Ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's regime and addressed nearly 10,000 people in that protest march, after which she was arrested by the police. Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo as head of Pakistan National Party had also tried to reach the protest meeting to make a speech, but was also arrested.Police Arrest Bhutto, Kill Four Protesters in Pakistan
Los Angeles Times (newspaper), Published 14 August 1986, Retrieved 16 May 2020 In 1988, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo took part in the elections but lost. This was Mir Bizenjo's last election.

Death

Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo died on 11 August 1989. His sons remain active in Baloch politics. After the death of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh, his son Mir Bizen Bizenjo took over the political faction of his father. But after sometime, Ghaus Bakhsh's younger son Mir

Hasil Bizenjo Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo (3 February 1958 – 20 August 2020; Urdu: میر حاصل خان بزنجو) was a Pakistani politician who served as Minister for Maritime Affairs, in Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to May 2018. He previously served as ...

rose to prominence while Bizen Bizenjo faded into the background.

Legacy

Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo along with

Nawab Yousaf Aziz Magsi Nawab Mir Yousaf Aziz Magsi was a co-founder of the Anjuman-e-Ittehad-e-Balochan-wa-Balochistan alongside Abdul Aziz Kurd. In 2011, a commemorative seminar was held at the National Language Authority in Islamabad.Abdul Aziz Kurd Abdul Aziz Kurd (1904–1979) was a co-founder of the Anjuman-e-Ittehad-e-Balochan-wa-Balochistan. Among the pioneering Baloch nationalists, he wished to establish an independent Balochistan. Kurd was born to a civil servant to the Khanate of Kalat ...

, Mir Gul Khan Nasir and Faiz Mohammad Yousafzai is considered to be one of the founders of democratic politics in Balochistan and is, to this day, remembered as "Baba i Balochistan" or "The Father of Balochistan" by Baloch nationalists. In 2017, at a public meeting organized on the 28th death anniversary of Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, the then chief minister of Balochistan

Sanaullah Zehri Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri ( ur, ) is a Pakistani politician who had been the Chief Minister of Balochistan from 24 December 2015, to 9 December 2017. He belongs to Channal Zarakzai family and also the ''Sardar'' of the Zehri tribe and chief ...

criticized the people waging a war against Pakistan and under the cover of Baloch liberation. He stated that these political leaders were enjoying their lives in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and in other Western countries and yet they were inciting local Baloch people to rebel against the state of Pakistan. He praised Bizenjo's politics of reconciliation with the state of Pakistan. He also said that Bizenjo never favoured militancy in Balochistan and always preferred talks to bring durable peace and development in Balochistan.

Bibliography

References

External links

Role of Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bezanjo in the Politics of Balochistan An Analysis
by Naudir Bakht, April 1999
Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 1Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 2Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 3Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 4Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 5Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Part 6GoogleBooksBaloch Nationalsim: Origin And DevelopmentPost-Colonial BalochistanPashtun Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bijenzo, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Aligarh Muslim University alumni Baloch nationalists Baloch people Governors of Balochistan, Pakistan Tumandars 1989 deaths People from Khuzdar District Year of birth missing Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977