COMMENT: No beast is more savage than man —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The state is edgy and nervous about the intensity of resistance to its atrocities and is indiscriminately persecuting the Baloch people. On Tuesday, the house of Lal Khan Marri, a school teacher, was raided in Hub. His elder brother, Mazar Khan, and paternal uncle Jan Ali were picked up — what will be their fate is unknown

The increasing apathy witnessed here in all aspects of life is certainly most disturbing for all those who want this unfathomable space’s blue and white rotating ball to become an abode of peace and harmony for all its inhabitants. Apathy is the termite that eats away at the inner moral core of individuals, groups, nations and countries, leaving a hollow outside structure incapable of any good to humanity. Apathy gives a free rein to the perpetrators of violence.

I know not all of us are zealous revolutionaries like Che Guevara who gave up his Cuba ministry to fight for the oppressed of the world and ended up dying in Bolivia on October 9, 1967 at the young age of 39 years. His was an exemplary life and his commitment to the oppressed people was unswerving and unreserved. He symbolises the unbending and undying revolutionary spirit, which takes on tyranny and oppression against overwhelming odds and defeats it or at least sows the seeds for its death. Surely those of us who do not resist or at least condemn tyranny become complicit, as complicit as the Balochistan government, which silently acquiesces in the murders of the Baloch.

Born in Argentina, Che travelled widely in Latin America and saw the poverty and oppression firsthand, which made him a revolutionary. His contribution to the Cuban Revolution is legendary and unique. Once a lady with the family name of Guevara inquired about the part of Spain his family had come from, suggesting a possibility of being related. He wrote, “I do not think you and I are very closely related, but if you are capable of trembling with indignation each time than an injustice is committed in the world, we are comrades, and that is more important.” His letters always ended with ‘Patria O Muerte’ and ‘Venceremos’, which mean ‘Fatherland or Death’ and ‘We shall overcome’ respectively. These were not empty words; no sacrifice was too big for him where the wretched and the oppressed of the earth were concerned.

Edward G Browne in his book, A Literary History of Persia, narrates Arab poet al-Mutanabbi’s (905 AD-965 AD) incident who he says “is generally regarded by all Arabic-speaking people as the greatest poet of their race”. He says, “His verses, however, breathe the old Bedouin spirit, amongst these being the verse which, as Ibn Khallikan says, caused his death. For, as he was returning from Persia with a large sum of money, which had been bestowed on him by Buwayhid prince Adudu’d Dawla; he was attacked near Kufa by Arabs of the tribe of Asad. Being worsted in the combat, he was preparing to take flight when his slave cried to him: let it never be said that you fled from combat, you who are the author of this verse:

‘I am known to the horse-troop, the night and the desert expanse,

Not more to the paper and pen than the sword and the lance!’

So al-Mutanabbi turned to combat and met his death like a true son of desert.”

Al-Mutanabbi died to honour the verse he had written. It was an awesome commitment to one’s word, not like the politicians here who make solemn commitments to befool people. Empty words are the hallmark here. One day the ‘state within a state’ is criticised and the next day it is refuted; examples abound.

In December 1964, when the blacks were officially segregated and discriminated against in the US as they were in South Africa, Che Guevara had led the Cuban delegation to the UN. In his impassioned address, he had criticised the UN’s inability to confront the “brutal policy of apartheid” in South Africa and then denounced the US policy towards their black population, stating: “Those who kill their own children and discriminate daily against them because of the colour of their skin; those who let the murderers of blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men — how can those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom?” Transpose some of the words according to the situation in Balochistan, and these scathing words also hold true for Pakistan’s actions there.

The state is edgy and nervous about the intensity of resistance to its atrocities and is indiscriminately persecuting the Baloch people. On Tuesday, the house of Lal Khan Marri, a school teacher, was raided in Hub. His elder brother, Mazar Khan, and paternal uncle Jan Ali were picked up — what will be their fate is unknown. The security forces have picked up a lot of Marris in the Marri Agency. There is no protest from any quarter barring a few journalists and columnists who now write about Balochistan. Those who speak the truth face dire consequences. The Greek philosopher Plutarch’s (46 AD-120 AD) quote rings true here: “No beast is more savage than man, when possessed with power answerable to his rage.”

In 2011, Pakistan was the deadliest country for journalists second year in a row and of the 46 killed worldwide it topped the list with seven. Balochistan suffered most with Javed Nasir Rind of Daily Tawar and Munir Shakir, correspondent Online News Network. Ilyas Nazar and Abdost Rind too were killed. Anyone exposing the atrocities in Balochistan is a fair target.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in a statement has said that the army has created an organisation to kill intellectuals and activists in Balochistan. It says the Tehreek-e-Nefaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB) — movement for the restoration of peace in Balochistan — has been formed by secret agencies, particularly by the ISI, to crush the Baloch nationalist movement. It adds that the TNAB is said to be the armed wing of Mutahida Mahaz Balochistan (United Front Balochistan), a political party headed by Siraj Raisani, the brother of provincial chief minister Aslam Raisani.

Here apathy is not restricted to individuals only; it is deeply embedded in the soul of institutions. Ironically, the Supreme Court wastes time on trivial issues but considers the abductions, killings and dumping of the Baloch youth as unworthy of its august attention. They take offence at the slightest supposed affront but the violation of human dignity by murder and torture of the Baloch activists does not move them. Dr Baqir Shah was no militant and was eliminated for standing up for truth but no institution seems bothered. Because there is no opposition to murders and kidnapping, the security forces continue to play havoc with the lives of the Baloch.

The writer has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C01%5C08%5Cstory_8-1-2012_pg3_2