Mir Gul Khan Nasir Mengal

Mir Gul Khan Nasir was a prominent Baloch nationalist poet, historian, politician and journalist of Balochistan. Born on 14 May 1914 in Noshki, Gul Khan Nasir was at the fore-front of the Baloch Nationalist Movement and was most active between 1935 to 1980. His father’s name was Mir Habib Khan and he belonged to the Paindzai family of the Zagar Mengal sub branch of the Mengal tribe. Mir Gul Khan’s mother “Bibi Hooran” belonged to the Rakhshani branch of the Bolazai Badini. Mir Habib Khan had five sons and three daughters. Mir Gul Khan Nasir was number seven among his eight siblings and he was the fourth amongst his brothers (i.e.) Mir Samand Khan, Mir Lawang Khan, Mir Lal Bux, Mir Gul Khan and Col.Sultan Mohammad Khan

Marriage

Mir Gul Khan Nasir married Mir Bohir Khan Gichki’s daughter in the end of 1936. He had two daughters; Gohar Malik and Gul Bano. Gohar Malik was afflicted with Polio in her childhood. Mir Gul Khan Nasir didn’t have any male offspring. Due to this his wife told him to marry again but he said,

Education

Mir Gul Khan Nasir studied until Fourth Grade in his village. For further studies he was sent to Quetta where he got admission in Government Sandeman High School. After passing his matriculation examination from this school, he went to Lahore in order to pursue a higher education in Islamia College Lahore. During his second year in Islamia College, a piece of coal went into Mir Gul Khan’s eye due to which he had to discontinue his education and return to Quetta. Lahore, at that time, was the hub of knowledge and political and social activities. The political, cultural, social and literary movements in Lahore made quite an impression on Mir Gul Khan Nasir. When he returned to Quetta Balochistan was split into two parts namely The British Balochistan and The Balochistan state. The British Balochistan was under direct British rule while The Balochistan State was indirectly controlled by the British through the Tribal Chiefs (sardars) whom they had bought. In this situation the rulers of Balochistan were in no hurry to make the state progress and better the lives of its inhabitants. Because of these conditions Mir Gul Khan Nasir stepped into politics in order to join the other leaders who were fighting to liberate the people of Balochistan from the Imperialist powers.

Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan
Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat

In 1921 an organization named “Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan” was formed to struggle for the rights of the people of Balochistan. When Mir Gul Khan Nasir came back to Balochistan, he joined this organization and was an active participant in it. During this time he also briefly held the office of Vice-Minister of Jhalawan in Kalat State. By 1936 Anjuman-e-Ithihaad-e-Balochistan had become inactive so The Baloch youth formed another organization “Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat”. Malik Abdul Raheem Khwaja Khail was elected the General Secretary of this organization while Mir Gul Khan Nasir was the President. Mir Gul Khan resigned from his designation as the Vice-Minister of Jhalawan in order to promote the new organization. Afraid of the popularity of the Anjuman, the political agents of Kalat conspired against it and managed to ban the party in Kalat State

Kalat State National Party

After the ban on “Anjuman-e-Islamia Ryasat-e-Kalat”, the Kalat State National Party (KSNP) was formed with Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd as President, Mir Gul Khan Nasir as Vice-President and Malik Faiz Mohammad Yousafzai as Secretary General. The KSNP was also banned in Kalat State and all of it’s leaders were exiled from Kalat. The exiled leaders continued their activities from Quetta.In this regard Paul Titus and Nina Swidler in their book "Knights Not Pawns: Ethno-Nationalism and Regional Dynamics In Post-Colonial Balochistan" write:

The Khan attempted to play off nationalist and sardari differences by mantaining his authority as the traditional head of the Balochi tribes while appealing to the leaders of the Balochi nation. This was not always possible, and by 1939 the activities of the nationalists had so antagonized the sardars and British that they pressured the Khan to declare KSNP illegal in Kalat State. The ban on the party was lifted after World War II, though antagonism between the sardars and nationalists remained.In March 1946, for example the Balochi activist poet Gul Khan Nasir was expelled from Kalat State following complaints to the agent to the Governor-General in Balochistan from the Badini, Jamaldini and Zagar Mengal sardars. They claimed that Nasir and other activists had created disturbances in the town of Noshki by making speeches charging that the sardars were appropriating and selling local residents' wheat rations.

Usthman Gul, NAP and PNP

After the partition of India in 1947, the KSNP disbanded and a new party “Usthman Gul” was formed. Mir Gul Khan Nasir had played a role in the formation of this party and he joined it. In 1956 when several progressive parties of Pakistan joined together to form the National Awami Party (NAP), Usthman Gul was also amongst them.

In December 1970 Mir Gul Khan Nasir was elected as a Member of the Provincial Assembly from Chaghai on NAP’s Platform. At first he was the Acting Minister of Education, Health, Social Welfare, Information and Tourism. After the selection of other ministers he was the Minister of Education, Health and Social Welfare. During his time as the Minister of Education, he laid down the foundation for Bolan Medical College, Quetta.

After Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto overthrew the NAP government and brought Nawab Akbar Bugti in as the Governor of Balochistan most of the leaders of NAP were arrested on treason charges. These leaders included Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Nawab Khair Buksh Marri, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Khan Wali Khan, Habib Jalib, Qaswar Gardizai and Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal. In 1977, after General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Government in a military coup, The NAP leadership and workers were freed.

After being released from jail, Mir Gul Khan Nasir joined the Pakistan National Party (PNP).After some time as the Provincial President of PNP in Balochistan, Mir Gul Khan Nasir resigned and bid adieu to politics. He devoted the rest of his time to completing his books and research.

Literary Services

Mir Gul Khan Nasir wrote poems in English, Urdu, Balochi, Brahui and Farsi (Persian). Most of his poems are in Balochi language. He was good friends with Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Once Faiz Sahib offered to translate Mir Gul Khan’s poems in urdu but Mir Gul Khan turned down the offer. Most of Mir Gul Khan Naseer’s urdu poetry was written between 1933 – 1950 and there has bee no publication of his urdu poetry to this date.

Mir Gul Khan’s poetry is filled with revolutionary and anti-imperialist themes and it reflects his progressive nature and socialist ideals. Mir Gul Khan Naseer was very much against the class differences that prevailed at that time, and still do. His Urdu poems exhibit his dislike for the chauvinistic attitude of the rich towards the poor:

Mir Gul Khan wrote many books on history and poetry and translated several works from other languages into Balochi and Urdu. A list of some of his books is given below:

Gul Baang (1951) was his first collection of Balochi Poetry.

History of Balochistan (1952) (Urdu) Volume 1 – After much research Mir Gul Khan published this book which consists of 340 pages. It is a history of the Baloch Race and removes many mis-conceptions about the Baloch which were prevalent at that time.

History of Balochistan (1957) (Urdu) Volume 2 – This volume consists of 15 chapters and deals with the history of Balochistan from Khan Khudadad Khan to Khan Ahmed Yar Khan until 1955.

Daastaan-e-Dostain o Sheereen (1964) is considered to be one of the best books of Mir Gul Khan Nasir. In this book he has penned the classical Balochi Love Story of Dostain and Sheereen. In the preface of this book the famous Baloch author Azaat Jamaldini called Mir Gul Khan “The Great Poet of the Balochi Language”.

Koch o Baloch (1969) was a book in which Mir Gul Khan, through intellectual reasoning proved that the Brahvis and the Balochis actually came from the same race.

Garand (1971) is an important collection of Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s poems.

Balochistan Kay Sarhadi Chaapa Maar (1979) is an Urdu translation of General Dyre’s “Raiders of the Frontier” by Mir Gul Khan Nasir.

Seenai Keechaga (1980) is a Balochi translation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Sar-e-Waadi-e-Seena by Mir Gul Khan Nasir.

Mashad Na Jang Naama (1981) – Mir Gul Khan Nasir completed this Brahvi book when he was a student in the 8th grade but it was published in 1981.

Shah Latif Gusheet (1983) is a Balochi translation of that part of Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai’s poetry which concerns the Balochs.

Posthumous Compilations

Gulgaal (1993) is the ninth compilation Mir Gul Khan’s poetry.

Shanblaak (1996) is Mir Gul Khan Nasir’s tenth collection of Balochi Poetry which also includes Urdu translations by himself.

Mir Gul Khan Nasir died a natural death at the age of 69 on 6 December, 1983 from Lung Cancer. He was laid to rest in his native village “Killi Mengal, Noshki”.

Some Of Mir Gul Khan Naseer's Balochi & Urdu Poems

The Mir Gul Khan Nasir Blog

Some Poems In Mir Gul Khan Nasir's Own Voice

Here are about 29 poems in Mir Gul Khan Nasir's own voice. Mir Gul Khan Nasir Dapgaal

Mir Lawang Khan Mengal

Mir Lawang Khan was born in 1901 in Mir Habib Khan's house at Killi Mengal, Noshki. He was the second among five brothers i.e. Mir Samand Khan, Mir Lawang Khan, Mir Lal Bux, Mir Gul Khan Naseer and Col.Sultan Mohammad Khan. His family belonged to the Zagar Mengal sub-tribe of the Mengal tribe.

Education

Mir Lawang Khan was educated in his native town of Noshki. At that time Noshki only had a Primary School so Mir Lawang Khan only studied til 4^th grade (which in a backward area such as Noshki in that time was considered to be quite an achievement). After that he got involved in and played quite an important role in the tribal politics of that region and earned the reputation of being an important figure of the area.

Personal Life

The date or year of Mir Lawang Khan's marriage is unknown. He married three times. From his first wife he had two sons (Akil Khan & Shaista Khan) and one daughter. No child survived from his second marriage. He had two sons (Asghar Khan & Qambar Khan) and three daughters from his third marriage. His eldest son, Mir Akil Khan, grew up to be recognized amongst the top literati of Balochistan. It is said that Mir Lawang Khan liked to hunt a lot in his spare time.

Exile

Mir Lawang Khan and his siblings had ancestral property in Dasht-e-Goran (a small town in District Kalat). After the Independence of Pakistan in 1947 and the Annexation of Balochistan into Pakistan in 1948, Mir Lawang Khan was bothered and harassed a lot in Noshki by the Pakistani Agencies. This forced him to leave his home town and get settled in Dasht-e-Goran.

Death

Mir Lawang Khan's brother, Mir Gul Khan Naseer, was quite a prominent figure in the National Awami Party(NAP) and was the Education Minister of Balochistan during his party's government in 1972. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time) already had grievances with the NAP Leadership and after Nawab Akbar Bugti "revelaed" in an address at Mochi Gate, Lahore that Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (Governor of Balochistan at the time) and Sardar Ataullah Mengal (Chief Minister at the time) planned to separate Balochistan from Pakistan, Bhutto got his chance to persecute the leaders and workers of NAP. The NAP Governments in NWFP and Balochistan were toppled, its leadership was thrown in jail and a Military Operation was launched in Balochistan. During this time a mass scale armed resistance movement started against the Pakistan Army in Balochistan.

When the Pakistani Troops entered Dasht-e-Goran to arrest Mir Lawang Khan, he chose to fight them rather than surrender. After that a long battle ensued between the Pakistan Army which was laced with State of The Art Weaponry and a handful of Baloch Locals (who opted to fight alongside Mir Lawang Khan) and were using outdated and obsolete rifles. After almost a whole day of fighting and a loss of 25 soldiers, the Pakistan Army was able to kill the 35 Locals who took a stand against them. Author Selig Harrison in his book "In Afghanistan's Shadow: Baluch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations" describes the incident as, "72 years old Mir Lawang Khan, elder brother of the Baluch poet and political leader Gul Khan Naseer,hobbed out of his hut on crutches to the centre of the square shouting that he would die before permitting the troops to violate Baluch honour by intruding on the female members of his family,he picked up his out-modeled muzzle loader and started to fire at the soldiers from their fortified huts.

Soon most of the able bodied men in the village had joined him in hand to hand fighting that lasted for four hours. Army soldiers/sources concede that reinforcements had to be called in before the village could be subdued but deny baloch eye witnesses claiming that 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed before Mir Lawang Khan got martyred . Thirty Five villagers were killed by Pakistani MG'S and ARTY fire. Many Baluch compare Mir Lawang Khan to Nauroz Khan, the martyred leader of the 1958 uprising."^[1]. Mir Lawang Khan's younger brother, Sultan Mohammad Khan (a retired colonel in the Pakistan Army) was arrested the day he returned to Quetta after his brother's burial.

Legacy

Mir Lawang Khan has left a legacy that won't be forgotten soon, atleast not by the people of Balochistan. He is compared, far and wide, to Shaheed Nawab Nowroz Khan. The way he laid down his life for his motherland has earned him a lot of admiration and respect. He is mentioned wherever there is talk of Baloch Martyrs. A few lines from a poem in brahui about Mir Lawang Khan.
Taj Khan Mengal

Education of Mir Gul Khan Naseer Mengal

Mir Gul Khan Nasir studied until Fourth Grade in his village. For further studies he was sent to Quetta where he got admission in Government Sandeman High School. After passing his matriculation examination from this school, he went to Lahore in order to pursue a higher education in Islamia College Lahore. During his second year in Islamia College, a piece of coal went into Mir Gul Khan’s eye due to which he had to discontinue his education and return to Quetta. Lahore, at that time, was the hub of knowledge and political and social activities. The political, cultural, social and literary movements in Lahore made quite an impression on Mir Gul Khan Nasir. When he returned to Quetta Balochistan was split into two parts namely The British Balochistan and The Balochistan state. The British Balochistan was under direct British rule while The Balochistan State was indirectly controlled by the British through the Tribal Chiefs (sardars) whom they had bought. In this situation the rulers of Balochistan were in no hurry to make the state progress and better the lives of its inhabitants. Because of these conditions Mir Gul Khan Nasir stepped into politics in order to join the other leaders who were fighting to liberate the people of Balochistan from the Imperialist powers.

Mir Gul Khan Nasir Mengal

Mir Gul Khan Nasir was a prominent Baloch nationalist poet, historian, politician and journalist of Balochistan. Born on 14 May 1914 in Noshki, Gul Khan Nasir was at the fore-front of the Baloch Nationalist Movement and was most active between 1935 to 1980. His father’s name was Mir Habib Khan and he belonged to the Paindzai family of the Zagar Mengal sub branch of the Mengal tribe. Mir Gul Khan’s mother “Bibi Hooran” belonged to the Rakhshani branch of the Bolazai Badini. Mir Habib Khan had five sons and three daughters. Mir Gul Khan Nasir was number seven among his eight siblings and he was the fourth amongst his brothers (i.e.) Mir Samand Khan, Mir Lawang Khan, Mir Lal Bux, Mir Gul Khan and Col.Sultan Mohammad Khan.

Taj Mengal

Baloch nationalism

Regions	Balochistan (region) · Balochistan (Pakistan) · Sistan and Baluchestan Province (Iran) · Balochistan (Afghanistan)
Parties and student groups	Balochistan National Party · Jamhoori Watan Party · National Party · Baloch National Movement · Baloch Republican Party · Baloch National Front · Baloch Students Organization · Baloch Students Organization- Awami · Balochistan People's Party · Kalat State National Party
Militant groups	Balochistan Liberation Army · Balochistan Liberation Front · Baluch People's Liberation Front · Popular Front for Armed Resistance · Baluchi Liberation Front · Baluchi Autonomist Movement · Front of Nimruz · Baloch Republican Army · Balochistan Liberation United Front · Parrari
Key figures	Jumma Khan Marri · Khair Bakhsh Marri · Dad Shah · Sher Mohammad Marri · Ataullah Mengal · Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo · Mir Gul Khan Naseer · Nawab Nowroz Khan · Brahamdagh Khan Bugti · Allah Nazar Baloch · Abdul Hai Baloch · Yousaf Aziz Magsi · Prince Karim Khan · Akhtar Mengal · Hasil Bizenjo
History	Balochistan conflict · 1970s Insurgency and Rahimuddin's Reign · Iraqi support · Arms discovery in Iraqi Embassy · Turbat killings
Martyrs	Asad Mengal · Ghulam Mohammed Baloch · Lala Munir · Sher Mohammad · Akbar Bugti · Nawab Nowroz Khan · Mir Lawang Khan · Hameed Baloch · Balach Marri
National myths/epics	Mir Chakar Rind · Hani and Sheh Mureed

Mengal

The Mengal (Persian مینگل) is a tribe with about 250,000 people in Balochistan. Mengal tribe speak Brahui; a Dravidian language that has been heavily influenced by other Iranian languages spoken in the area, especially Balochi.^[1][2]. The Mengal are now closely linked to the Baloch people, with whom they have substantially intermingled and whose cultural traits they have absorbed.The tribe can be divided in two major branches: Zagar Mengal and Shahizai Mengal.
Taj Mengal

Mengal rules out compromise on rights

QUETTA: Balochistan National Party-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal said on Sunday there would be no compromise on the national rights of Baloch people who were determined to defeat the elements who had usurped the coast and resources of the province.

Addressing a public meeting, he said that besides looting resources of the Baloch people the usurpers had also plundered the resources of Sindh and Pakhtunkhwa. He said the land of the Pakhtuns was still without its real identity.

He alleged the rulers had deceived the Baloch in the name of negotiations in the past and after the bitter experience the people would not be misled again.

The public meeting adopted a resolution urging the United Nations to intervene to stop the killing of Baloch people in military operations, detaining of political activists and plunder of Balochistan’s resources.

The meeting held at the Ayub Stadium at the end of the party’s national council adopted several other resolutions. One of them said that the BNP would effectively use whatever means it deemed fit to achieve the right to self-determination, including creation of ‘a national state for the Baloch people’.

Akhtar Mengal presided over the meeting. Mohinuddin Baloch of Baloch Students Organisation, Mir Hasil Bizenjo of National Party, Rauf Lala of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Khudadad Khan of the Awami National Party and Mohammad Rahmoo of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz addressed the gathering.

Another resolution rejected the Gwadar project and said it aimed at converting the Baloch majority into a minority, to destroy the traditional economy of native fishermen and to displace the Baloch population. It said the oil terminal and oil city would pollute the Gulf of Baloch.

The meeting said that being a nationalist and progressive party, the BNP-M was struggling against tribalism, sectarianism and opportunism and promoting national thinking among the Baloch people.

The meeting rejected all mega projects, including Saindak, Rekodick and laying of gas pipeline, and demanded their cancellation.

A resolution claimed that the BNP would continue to expose the designs of establishment and agencies and Punjab’s interference in the region, particularly in affairs of Afghanistan.

Earlier, the party re-elected Sardar Akhtar Mengal as its president and Habib Jalib Baloch as secretary-general.

The meeting of the BNP’s national council, attended by 500 councillors, also elected the following office-bearers:

Senior vice-president Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, vice-president Sajid Tareen, deputy secretary-general Jehanzeb Baloch, joint-secretary Akhtar Hussain, information secretary Agha Hasan Baloch, finance secretary Amal Baloch, labour wing secretary Razzak Lango, peasant wing secretary Malik Naseer Shahwani and women wing secretary Yasmin Baloch.

The council also elected 32 members of the executive committee.

Taj mengal