A Glimpse on the life of Nawab Khair Baksh Marri
Kambar Baloch
The Balochistan Post
Nawab Khair Baksh Marri opened his eyes in Kahan, an area in Kohlu District of Balochistan on 28 February 1928. His mother passed away when he was a child. After this tragic loss, some other people of his tribe were given the responsibility of his care. He was named by the name of his grandfather, Sardar Khair Baksh Marri.
When he was 4-years-old, his father, Sardar Mehrullah Khan Marri passed away. Being in age of infancy, Sardar Doda Khan Marri, his uncle was elected as the chieftain of Marri Tribe.
On behalf of British, he was sent to Aitchison College Lahore to get further education. When he was 22-years-old, he became the chieftain of his tribe in 1950.
According to majority of the analysts, Nawab Marri talked about freedom (Freedom of Balochistan) lately, but a renowned intellectual and an activist of 1970s, Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur said, in 1951 when Britain’s Political Agent Davis, inquired from Nawab Marri that why don’t you let your deprived people to get development from state (State of Pakistan), he replied: “Davis, if Adolf Hitler would occupy Britain and then would say that Germany would give development to Britain, after all what would be your reaction to it”. So, Davis said, “I will be ashamed, if I ask you this question again”.
In Ayub Khan’s regime, the Government of Pakistan moved to proceed on a project of exploring Petroleum from the Marri Areas. Nawab Marri refused to allow this and said that this natural resource (Petroleum) is the wealth of the Baluch Nation, and I don’t allow you to exploit it.
Nawab Marri entered the field of politics when Martial Law was imposed in Pakistan in 1958 and a military operation was underway. The government of Pakistan, during Martial Law, had ordered all Chieftains of Baloch Tribes to submit the arms to the government, therefore, all chieftains did so except Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, he destroyed his arms into many pieces, and said that it is a sort of humiliation for me to surrender my arms to the Government of Pakistan. Later on this principle became the part of his life. Formerly, Nawab Marri began his political career in the election of 1956, he became a part of National Assembly in this election. Beside this term elections, he became a member of National assembly in the elections of 1962 and 1970 as well.
In mid 1962, Shero Marri, a famous Guerrilla fighter with his colleagues began a Guerrilla War against Pakistan, so Nawab Khair Baksh Marri assisted them secretly. The struggle of 1962 vanished due to unsuitable circumstances.
According to the situations, Nawab Marri and Shero Marri advised freedom fighter to cease their activities, but they continued it including the trainings and arrangements of camps secretly.
In 1973, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dismissed the government of Balochistan (NAP Government) and began military offensive operations in entire Balochistan, colleagues of Nawab Marri and Shero Marri, who had continued the Guerrilla War, initiated a series of resistance activities against Pakistan Army. Once again, a disastrous war began between Baloch Freedom Fighters and Pakistan Army.
When war between Baloch Freedom Fighters and Pakistan Army began, Nawab Marri was offered to be the Chief Minister of Balochistan, however he denied the offer, and favoured war of freedom over all aspects.
In reaction, Nawab Marri’s house in Kohlu was set on a fire and his farms were destroyed. After that he was arrested in Hyderabad Conspiracy Case, he was in prison till 1978 and got released during the regime of Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
After his release, Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Ghaus Buksh Bizenjo proceeded with a move of negotiation with State, but Nawab Marri denied to be a part of it. In 1978, during an interview with an American journalist, Selig S.Harrison, Nawab Marri said that when the whole country (Balochistan) is mine, then why should I fight for some jobs only.
After 1978, some ideological colleagues of Nawab Marri and Marri Tribe went to exile in Afghanistan and Nawab Marri himself spent time in Britain and France.
In 1992, when Nawab Marri and his colleagues were living a life of exile in Afghanistan, the power of Mujahideen got intensified and they derailed the Afghan Government. After occupation of Afghanistan, Mujahideen began attacks on Baluch. A Baloch camp in Helmand was attacked by Mujahideen, some Baloch colleagues were martyred, Jan Mohammad Marri (martyred later) along with his some friends were arrested.
According to Nawab Khair Baksh Marri himself, “whether it was a mistake or a compulsion, I returned to Balochistan along my ideological colleagues and Marri Tribe”.
In 1992, Nawab Marri formed a study circle, Haq Tawar, in order to train his colleagues ideologically and to reunite the scattered power of the Baloch Nation. But the Pakistani Army and intelligence agencies of Pakistan were discreetly monitoring their activities. Pakistan knew that Nawab Khair Baksh Marri is the only obstacle in exploring natural resources of Balochistan, especially petroleum from Marri areas and in the development of Gawadar Mega Project.
Therefore, in 2000, the Government of Pakistan arrested Nawab Marri and his 150 colleagues and framed them in Justice Nawaz Marri’s murder case. Nawab Marri had said to his colleagues that I was not asked a single question about Justice Nawaz Marri’s murder case and I was offered many opportunities along with a luxury life in favour of my permission for the exploration of petroleum from Marri tribal areas. But Nawab Marri replied them in these words, “the natural resources of petroleum are the property of Baloch Nation only, and rights of its use belong to Baloch only”.
In 2000, once again the Baloch’s Guerrilla War began under the leadership of Nawab Marri’s ideological colleague, Ameer Buksh Langove, which is continued in entire Balochistan till today.
After studying Nawab Khair Baksh Marri’s life, 5 aspects of his life are noticeable, which are mentioned as below.
The first aspect is his ideology. He was a follower of Socialism, he worked for Socialism to end the Capitalist System, and he considered the Ideology of Socialism the final mission of his life and also for Baloch Nation.
The second aspect of his life is politics. In political aspect of his life, he talked about the Baloch Nationalism, and he used to emphasise that the first and basic need of a slave nation is the National Freedom.
The third aspect of his life is about techniques of politics. For the freedom of Balochistan, he selected the techniques of armed struggle along with literature and political parties, but he emphasised more on Armed Struggle, because an uncivilised enemy doesn’t understand the language of peaceful struggle, they only understand the language of power (Armed Struggle).
The fourth aspect of his life is war against Imperialism. He was against imperialists, because he knew that imperialists are the supporter of colonialists to make nations slave, such as they are supporting Pakistan to stabilise it in order to keep the nations in Pakistan slave, like Baloch and Sindhi Nations.
The fifth aspect of his life is to struggle for freedom of all slave nations in world, but he would never wait for others to assist him in this. In his last message, he talked about the freedom of Sindhi Nation and told them to get up and struggle for your freedom.
Nawab Khair Baksh Marri strongly believed in practical struggle for freedom of Baloch nation rather than relying only on theoretical forms. He mostly remained silent, but practically he was struggling for his purpose of life. Today’s Baloch National Movement is continued in its stable form, is all because of his struggle.
After 1988, the Baloch Politics was in confusion, some Baloch leaders had adopted politics that aimed to destroy Baloch National Liberation Movement and they became permanent parts of Pakistani Parliament, however, Nawab Khair Baksh Marri finished the confusion of Baloch Politics and gave it a clear mission and target of Liberation of Baloch Nation. It is the result of his strong ideology that he brought Balaach Marri, his son in Baloch Politics and today all Baloch youth have embraced his ideology and are committed on single objective of independence.
Nawab Marri sacrificed his entire life and family in the struggle of Baloch Liberation Movement, but had never considered it a big sacrifice. Once a journalist inquired him that what message would he like to give to Baloch Nation, to which he replied that he is not sure what message to give as he himself hasn’t been able to do much for the nation.