Homage paid to late editor Chakar Khan Baloch

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: It was an impressive gathering. Leading Baloch, Pashtun and Punjabi journalists, writers, poets, editors, intellectuals and bureaucrats arrived at Balochi Academy on a teeming Sunday. They had nipped out to pay glowing homage to an outstanding Baloch journalist, Mir Chakar Khan Rind, the editor of Monthly Balochi Duniya, a highly credible magazine published from Multan on the politics and society of Balochistan. Chakar Khan had passed away last month to leave a matchless journalistic legacy.

There was one thing common among all speakers: Envy towards the veneration Chakar Khan had enjoyed as a plausible journalist during his life time. They all saw him as the undisputed bridge between the Balochs living in Balochistan and the other parts of Pakistan. For editors, it was understandably a matter of jealousy, as pointed out by Anwar Sajidi, editor Daily Intekhab, that Chakar Kahn’s monthly published in Urdu language continued to be the most widely quoted magazine in every book written on Balochistan in post-1980 era.

Another element about the personality of late Chakar Khan that echoed in all speeches of panegyric was his optimism and unflinching faith in the Baloch people. Extensively trips in the breadth and width of Balochistan were another aspect of Chakar Khan’s personality.

As the condolence reference commenced inside the conference hall of Balochi Academy with Commissioner Quetta Division Mohammad Nasim Lehri in chair, chairman of Balochi Academy Siddiq Baluch and editor of Daily Intekhab Anwar Sajidi joined him on the stage.

Extolling the professional and national services of late Chakar Khan, Abdul Wahid Bandeeg, an ex-chairman of the Balochi Academy, said the late Baloch editor had given a sense of Baloch history and people to his readers. When young people read him in remote districts of Balochistan, they came to know that Balochs lived elsewhere outside Balochistan. Balochi Duniya, the monthly magazine Chakar Khan used to bring out, continuously spoke of Baloch rights. Many Baloch writers give credit to Balochi Duniya for introducing them with the world of journalism.

“Throughout my life, I have been  a regular learner from Balochi Duniya,” he exclaimed, “ Chakar Khan, till the end of his life, never compromised on journalistic principles as he was never apologetic about his professional commitment. He rejected all offers and bribes extended to him by successive governments to give up his journalistic mission but he stuck to his profession with extraordinary commitment.”

Aseer Abdul Qadir Shahwani, secretary general of the Balochi Academy, said the death of Chakar Khan was the end of a school of thought and he would remain unforgettable among the Baloch people and the journalist colleagues.

“ Chakar Khan attracted many young men and women to start writing. I started writing in Urdu because of the magazine, Balochi Duniya, printed by Chakar Khan,” he recalled. He added that Chakar’s was a unique writing style which was a blend of seriousness and wit.

“His editorials were so popular that many magazines used to reproduce them. Efforts are also being made by his admirers to compile all his editorials in shape of books so that they remain a source of information for coming generations, historians and researchers,” he said.

Daily Intekhab editor Anwar Sajidi remembered the extensive trips to different parts of Pakistan he had made along with Chakar Khan. He said Chakar was a unique bridge between Balochs spread all over Pakistan. Services rendered by late Chakar Khan to the Baloch people would always be remembered.

Sajidi recollected that Balochi Duniya had been banned during Zia’s martial law days on the request of the Iranian government as Chakar equally spoke for the rights of the Baloch people living in Iran.

Senior Pashtu language journalist Abdul Jabbar Kakar said the best way to continue the mission of Chakar Khan would be to introduce the native languages such as Balochi, Pashtu, Bravi and Punjabi at schools in order to enable the children at an early age to read and write their languages.

“If we had introduced mother tongues at schools much earlier, we would have traveled a long way towards progress. People like Chakar Khan are born once in centuries. The best service we can offer to our coming generations is to teach native languages at schools,” he said.

In his speech, senior journalist Maqbool Rana said if contributions made by Balochi Duniya were excluded from the history of Baloch journalism then hardly would anything remain to be proud of. Fearless publications like Balochi Duniya were never needed as urgently as they are required today. Balochi Duniya gives every reader a complete sense of chronological history of Balochistan. Therefore, every effort should be made to reproduce the editorials of the outstanding magazine that has been serving the Baloch culture and history for so long.

Commissioner Quetta Division Mohammad Naseem Lehri, who was the chief guest of the event, said the government would offer all forms of assistance to the Balochi Academy in its efforts to publish volumes of late Chakar Khan’s works. He recounted his meetings with the legendary Baloch journalist who never complained about the financial crisis his newspaper faced throughout its publication. He said every society needed brave and committed people like Chakar Khan to devote themselves for the welfare of their nation.

Balochi Academy Chairman Siddiq Baluch also spoke on the occasion and thanked all the people who attended the reference organized to pay tributes to the Baloch journalist.