A Bitter Love Letter

Dear Friends of Balochistan,

As we stand only one month away from celebrating the first anniversary of The Baloch Hal, I am writing this letter which was supposed to be a part of the first anniversary issue because of some important reasons.

If journalism is a business then The Baloch Hal was in fact the worst gamble of my life. If it is a mission then this newspaper is the proudest accomplishment in the lives of “three idiots” who founded it.

We started with almost nothing but saw this newspaper being quoted on the front page of Dawn, Pakistan’s most respected English language newspaper, and other leading Asian papers like The Hindu, The National and Pakistan Observer.

Since The Baloch Hal was Balochistan’s first online newspaper, it reached a wider and highly influential audience. We received feedback from the US and British diplomatic missions in Islamabad and met people in world capitals like Washington and New Delhi who regularly read this newspaper. It was not the best newspaper but the only available Baloch English paper for rest of the world.

As we complete one year, our bandwidth has enormously increased. This project failed to make the necessary money (which was never our goal) to meet its primary costs. In March, we decided to give it up but hundreds of friends and well-wishers wrote back urging us to resume the paper.

This is perhaps the only newspaper in the world which gets quoted by BBC, Voice of America, Voice of Germany and leading South Asian newspapers but still does not have an office and a computer set. We never allowed our financial limitations deter our determination to spread the word about Balochistan. Yet, we want to remind all our well wishers, this newspaper needs your donations and assistance.

We are not apologetic about seeking donations from the friends of Balochistan because this newspaper was never a profitable venture. No one working for it was ever paid a penny. Your donations will surely assist this newspaper survive and improve its quality. You will find the Flatter option below every page to make an online donation.

We believe The Baloch Hal has been a test for the educated Balochs and friends of Balochistan as to what extent they can support establishment of institutions of their own. Unfortunately, the response we got has been very disappointing.

If we fail to financially support this newspaper, we will perhaps end up selling it to a rich Baloch drug dealer or a transporter!

http://thebalochhal.com/2010/10/a-bitter-love-letter/