Mir Gul Khan
Naseer (Politician, Scholar, Historian, Poet) 1914-1986
The
poet-politician gave a new meanings and form to Balochi poetry. The
concept of freedom and sovereignty were beautifully portrayed. He opposes
Balochistan losing its independence.
The degrading poverty .His
poetry is the greatest manifestation and the most profound expression of
the Baloch political and social approach since the early thirties .His
exhortation to the Baloch to up hold their tradition is a clear sign of
the deep-rooted hatred felt towards the new political
dispensation.
His poems soon turned to popular slogans and were the
subject of discussion by the elite.
Mir Gul Khan Naseer was the
greatest revolutionary poet in Baloch literary history. His work embraced
some fifty years of his life. He participated in the Baloch struggle for
national independence and remained behind bars for several years from 1941
to 1979. He was a socialist by inclination and opposed the tribal system
and its attendant injustices. His contribution to Baloch political
awareness is overwhelming. Mir Gul Khan Naseer considered himself destined
to guide the people towards social awareness and the achievement of their
political rights. He assigned himself the task of educating the youth for
the great cause for which he suffered immensely during his
lifetime.
He was uncompromising, honest and respectable. As far
back as November 1936 he composed a poem praying that he might have
courage and strength to awaken the people from ignorance, so that they
would be able to find a proper place among world nations once again. The
poem, which is in Urdu, shows his determination for a lifelong struggle in
a cause, which was very close to his heart6.
Mir Gul Khan Naseer is
an institution in Balochi poetic history. His message is impressive. It
circles round the Baloch and their history. His works portray a deep
hatred for Pakistan and its institutions, which he regarded as corrupting
and degenerating in substance and nature. The new generation of
revolutionary poets has been greatly influenced by his philosophy. 1 have
not attempted any translation of his work for the simple reason that none
of his poems can be singled out for omission for the purposes of this
chapter. A separate treatment would be required if Mir Gul Khan’s poetry
were to be analyzed in the context of the Baloch national struggle and its
impact on youth.
Mir Gul Khan Naseer is the author of many books on
Baloch history and traditions. His poetic work includes three books: Gul
Bang, Shapgerouk and Grand, Gul bang, published in 1952, contains
fifty-one poems. His second publication, Shapgerouk was printed in 1964.
It includes forty-three poems. The Grand appeared in 1971 and contains
some seventy poems. Mir Gul Khan had a prolific pen and a philosophical
mind. His treatment of the Baloch social and traditional ethos depicts a
high sense of history and culture. His poems describe the Baloch and their
country in a true historic perspective. Mir Gul Khan was the product of
agonizing socio-political conditions. He saw the British Raj in
Balochistan, a brief period of Baloch sovereignty and ultimately
Balochistan losing its independence and merging into a newborn state.
British rule perfected a tribal system molded to the requirements of an
alien rule, with the sardars exploiting the Baloch masses. The
pre-independence era was also the period of the Khan’s oppressive rule
with the connivance of his British masters. The short period of Baloch
independence from August 1947 to’ March 1948 witnessed conspirational
maneuvers against the Baloch, culminating in the merger of their state
into Pakistan. The post—1948 years are the time of constant struggle to
gain some sort of political and social rights. Mir Gul Khan Naseer
participated actively in the process and his attitude was clearly shaped
by these events.
The periodic uprisings and deep discontent among
the Baloch after 1948 are by no means an isolated phenomenon. It is fairly
common in Balochi literature and folk traditions. Disapproval of the
accession to Pakistan was widespread. The Khan is greatly hated. This
hatred is widely depicted in folk literature as well as in poetry. To
quote a single instance, a cartoon was carried by Balochi, (Karachi) in
December 1957 showing the Khan of Kalat prostrate before the Pakistan
authorities, asking for privileges. The cartoon is captioned” Dream, this
is your luck. Our ‘Khan-e--Muazim’, do not dream for the power (and
respect) of previous days”
Since the ‘great betrayal the Baloch
poet watches every event with distaste and expresses his resentment for
the socio—political set—up. The opposition to the accession of the Khanate
to Pakistan was upheld and his hero Abdul Kareem Khan, the brother of Khan
of Kalat, Ahmed Yar Khan, is regarded as one of the great patriots.
In 1958 came the first encounter
with the Pakistan Army, when Mir’ Namrouz Khan and a few others revolted
and took to the mountains. Apparently they were aggrieved because of the
arrest of the Khan of Kalat by Pakistan’s army in a pre-dawn attack on his
residence in Kalat on 6th October 1958; but the causes were deep down. Mir
Namrouz Khan and his followers were clearly against the Khan’s decision to
accede to Pakistan, and when the Khan showed a semblance of authority by
demanding certain rights, they readily pledged their support. The
Insurgency had, however, wider repercussions.
Leadership of that uprising was
in the hands of petty tribal notables, and in some cases they behaved in a
manner prejudicial to their professed aims; still they were regarded as
heroes by the masses. In certain places many people were harassed by
elements claiming contacts with the Yaghis, the rebels, sometimes
alienating people in the Makkuran region; but as a whole the people
considered them the upholders of their pride and self—respect. Baloch
literature during and after this period is full of praise for them. The
pattern then changed, and the educated class played a greater role in
1973-77 uprising. This event hap been regarded as the beginning of the
Baloch ‘Liberation Movement’.
Every Baloch in all walks of life
supported the ‘movement’, which was so popular with the people that the
Pakistan government decided not to trust the local people and brought in
on a massive scale, army officers seconded to the civil services, to hold
the administrative assignments in the province. By 1975—76 almost every
district head was an army officer or a civil servant from the Panjab and
North West Frontier Province.
The
poet-politician gave a new meanings and form to Balochi poetry. The
concept of freedom and sovereignty were beautifully portrayed. He opposes
Balochistan losing its independence.