National Democratic Party (NDP) observed the eighth death anniversary of prominent Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri at Quetta Press Club on Friday. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, Prof Manzoor Baloch and Dr. Din Mohammad Buzdar were guest speakers.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Buzdar read his paper on the life and struggle of the Baloch leader in tribute. He said that Nawab Marri secured his basic education in his hometown in Kahan (Balochistan) and then for higher education, he went to Lahore’s prestigious Aitchison College. He added that Marri was not initially interested in politics but with time, he felt the need to come into politics.
Prof. Manzoor said Baba Marri was a nationalist leader who, at a time when he had come back from Afghanistan, did not prefer to meet a non-Baloch for various reasons. He added that Marri was a humble soul who always made the Baloch nation believe that politics called for more than staging protests and rendering speeches.
Remembering his interaction with Nawab Marri, Prof. Manzoor said, “Baba once said it was the struggling Baloch youth on whom the nation should rely, not a person as small as him.” He added that the Baloch nation needed to learn and follow the footprints of the lifestyle of Nawab Marri.
The chief guest of the ceremony, Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, travelled from Karachi to join the eighth death anniversary of Nawab Marri. He was one of the closest companions of Nawab Marri during the time of the Baloch movement. He said that Nawab Marri was his teacher during the political movement in Balochistan.
Talpur began his speech with nationalism, saying in Islam, it is a major sin to consider a person or anything else equal to Allah. “Similarly, if Baloch nationalist demands for something other than Balochistan, then it is infidelity,” he said, adding that Baba taught the Baloch youth actual nationalism.
Speaking further, Talpur said most people complain that Nawab Marri did not write books. He added that “if they could not learn from Baba’s lifestyle, they would never consider his writings even if he had authored thousands of books.” He added that many people said that Nawab Marri had a lot of money. “Once Nawab told me that if he had money, he would not have spent his life with his son-in-law,” he said.
Talpur said that for the Baloch nation, their soil was their paradise. He stressed that if the Baloch nation followed in the footsteps of Nawab Marri, they could ‘secure their paradise’. “Baloch only has one path and that’s the path Nawab Marri had shown them,” he said, adding that Balochistan would not have received this much attention if Marri had not shown the right way.
Calling Nawab Marri a visionary leader, Talpur said he always understood the situations deeply. He shared with the gathering an incident that when General Ayub Khan’s martial law began the police were asked to arrest Marri. “When police entered his home to arrest him, he did not resist and cooperated with the police, which was shocking for them,” he said adding that after some days, they got to know that the police were told to shoot Nawab Marri on the spot if he had resisted.
