Gul Khan Naseer ( ur, ), also known as Malek o-Sho'arā Balochistan ( ur, ; 14 May 1914 – 6 December 1983) was a politician, poet, historian, and journalist 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. ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. Born on 14 May 1914 in Noshki, Gul Khan Naseer was at the forefront of the Baloch nationalist movement and was most active between 1935 and 1980. His father's name was Habib Khan and he belonged to the Paindzai family of the
Zagar Mengal
Mengal ( Balochi: مینگل ) are a Brahui speaking Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Clans
There are two main clans of Mengal tribe, namely Shahizai Mengal and Zagar Mengal.
Shahizai Mengal inhabits in central and southern parts of Bal ...
sub branch of the
Mengal
Mengal ( Balochi: مینگل ) are a Brahui speaking Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Clans
There are two main clans of Mengal tribe, namely Shahizai Mengal and Zagar Mengal.
Shahizai Mengal inhabits in central and southern parts of Baloc ...
tribe. Gul Khan's mother "Bibi Hooran" belonged to the Rakhshani branch of the Bolazai Badini.
Education
Gul Khan Nasir studied until Fourth Grade in his village. For further studies he was sent to
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 ...
where he was admitted to the Government Sandeman High School. He subsequently went to
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
in order to pursue a higher education at
Islamia College Lahore
Government Islamia College Civil Lines ( ur, اسلامیہ کالج ), formerly called Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, is a government college in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded by Arya Samaj as the school of Dayanand Anglo Vedic on June 1, ...
. During his second year at Islamia College, a piece of coal went into his eye, causing him to leave education and return to Quetta.
Lahore was then the hub of knowledge and political and social activities. The political, cultural, social and literary movements in Lahore made quite an impression on Nasir. When he returned to Quetta, Balochistan was split into several parts, namely,
The Chief Commissioner's Province and
The Balochistani princely states
The princely states of Pakistan ( ur, ; sd, پاڪستان جون نوابي رياستون) were princely states of the British Indian Empire which acceded to the new Dominion of Pakistan between 1947 and 1948, following the partition of Bri ...
. The province of Balochistan was under direct British rule while the Balochistani States was indirectly controlled by the British through the Tribal Chiefs (
sardars
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 ...
) and rulers, whom they had bought. In this situation the rulers of
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. ...
were in no hurry to make the state progress and better the lives of its inhabitants. Because of these conditions, Nasir stepped into politics in order to join the other leaders who were fighting to liberate the people of
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. ...
from the Imperialist powers.
Boxing
When he went to Lahore, Nasir saw the students taking part in different sports so he joined the college football team. He also learned how to box.
"Boxing helped Gul Khan Nasir get out of many a tight spot in his life" – Aqil Khan Mengal
He participated in boxing tournaments. In the All India Universities Boxing Championship, he was the runner up. At this tournament he broke his nose.
Kalat State National Party
After the ban on "
Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat," on 5 February 1937 Baloch youth got together again and formed a new political organization,
Kalat State National Party
The Kalat State National Party (KSNP) was a Baloch nationalist political party in Balochistan in the princely state of Kalat from 1937 to 1948. They sought independence from British and full restoration of the Khanate of Kalat.
The party was for ...
(KSNP). Party members elected
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 ...
as president, Mir Gul Khan Nasir as vice president, and
Malik Faiz Muhammad Yousafzai
Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic du ...
became the Secretary General. The Kalat State National Party was affiliated with the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
. It played an important role in curbing the power and influence of 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 Tribal Chieftains, fought for the abolition of cruel and unusual taxes imposed on the poor by the Sardars, and campaigned for the establishment of a democratically elected Parliament fashioned after the British Parliament upon the independence of the State of Kalat. The KSNP had several ups and downs with the Khan of Kalat. At first most of the top leaders of the party such as Abdul Aziz Kurd, Faiz Muhammad Yoyusafzai, Gul Khan Nasir,
Abdul Rahim Khwajakhel
Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...
, Aalijah Ghaus Bakhsh Gazgi etc. were serving as government officials. In 1939, during an annual session of KSNP in which
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 also taking part as a representative of a Karachi-based political party, some thugs sent by the local sardars tried to disrupt the rally by firing at the participants. After that all the members of the Party who had government jobs resigned and were arrested. This was the incident which caused Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo to join the KSNP. After some time the Khan reconciled with the KSNP leaders and re-employed them as government officials. Once again tensions rose between the KSNP and the Khan of Kalat and this time the KSNP leadership resigned for good never to work as government servants again. Paul Titus and Nina Swidler in their article "Knights Not Pawns: Ethno-Nationalism and Regional Dynamics in Post-Colonial Balochistan" write:
The Khan attempted to play off nationalist and sardari differences by maintaining his authority as the traditional head of the Balochi tribes while appealing to the leaders of the Balochi nation. This was not always possible, and by 1939 the activities of the nationalists had so antagonized the sardars and British that they pressured the Khan to declare KSNP illegal in Kalat State. The ban on the party was lifted after World War II, though antagonism between the sardars and nationalists remained. In March 1946, for example the Balochi activist poet Gul Khan Nasir was expelled from Kalat State following complaints to the agent to the Governor-General in Balochistan from the Badini, Jamaldini and Zagar Mengal sardars. They claimed that Nasir and other activists had created disturbances in the town of Noshki
Nushki (Urdu , ) is a town and district in Balochistan, Pakistan. It lies in a plain south-west of Quetta, at an elevation of above sea level. From Nushki, the flat Balochistan desert stretches away northward and westward to the Helmand River.
...
by making speeches charging that the sardars were appropriating and selling local residents' wheat rations.
Muslim League
After Kalat's accession to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 1948, the KSNP broke up. 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 ...
,
Ahmedyar Khan joined the
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
after the accession but was hesitant to do it alone so he sent
Mir Ajmal Khan
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
to
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 ...
and Gul Khan Nasir to persuade them into joining the Muslim League with the Khan. Both Gul Khan and Ghaus Bakhsh thought that joining the ML would provide them the platform they needed to raise the voice for Kalat's rights. But within days they realized that they would never be able to achieve what they wanted while they were in the Muslim League. So they left the ML never to return to it ever again.
Usthman Gal
In the years that followed, Pakistan went through many changes. In 1954 the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
was banned in Pakistan and then in 1955, all the provinces of West Pakistan were merged into
one unit
The One Unit Scheme ( ur, ; bn, এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was a geopolitical programme launched by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955 ...
. In these conditions the
Baloch ethnic nationalist politicians under the leadership of Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Ghaus Bakhsh Gazgi Mengal, Gul Khan Nasir,
Agha Abdul Karim Khan Prince Agha Abdul Karim Ahmedzai was the younger brother of the last Khan of Kalat (princely state), Kalat, Mir Ahmedyar Khan.
See also
*History of Balochistan
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim Khan, Prince
Brahui people
N ...
(the brother of the Khan of Kalat),
Mohammad Hussain Anqa
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
and
Qadir Bux Nizamani Kadir is the primary transliteration of two Arabic male given names ( ar, قادر, also spelled Ghader, Kader, Qader, Qadir or Quadir) and ( ar, قدیر, also spelled Ghadir, Kadeer, Qadeer or Qadir). It's also one of the names of God in Islam, ...
formed the "Usthman Gal" which is
Balochi for "The People's Party". Agha Abdul Karim was elected as the President of this party.
Pakistan National Party
In 1956, the "Usthman Gal" was merged into the
Pakistan National Party
National Party ( ur, ) is a social-democratic, centre-left political party in Pakistan. It is one of the largest parties active in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan, along with the Balochistan National Party. It traces its legacy from the ...
which also included "
Khudai Khidmatgar
Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...
" from
N.W.F.P
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
, "
Azaad Pakistan Party Azaad may refer to:
* ''Azaad'' (1955 film)
* ''Azaad'' (1978 film)
* ''Azaad TV'', Hindi general entertainment channel
See also
* Azad (disambiguation)
{{Disambiguation