‘We are Baloch and we want peace as much as the next person’

People gathered at the Football Stadium on the call of Uzair Baloch.

KARACHI: Folk songs and dances kept the spirits alive of the men, women and children celebrating the Baloch Cultural Day on Saturday.

Amid tight private security, the Baloch community conveyed the message that they were a peace-loving and culturally rich ethnic group.

Thousands of people from different parts of the city gathered at the Football Stadium on the call of Uzair Baloch, the head of the defunct Peoples Amn Committee (PAC). All the roads, streets and chowks were sealed as the youth danced to the cultural beats and shouted slogans of ‘Baloch Zindabad’.

“Baloch are not given respect outside Balochistan and Sindh,” complained a boy dressed in a traditional dress, Sajid Baloch. “Our youth is frustrated with the indiscriminate attitude of others. This cultural day has united us all and makes us proud.”

Almost all of the participants felt that their unity had strengthened them but certain elements were having a hard time accepting them as part of the society.

They also clarified that the people of Lyari were calm and not killers or extortionists but the media and the opponents of the PAC had portrayed a wrong picture.

Last year on the same ground, the event was celebrated but the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party was criticised for not participating in the event. This year, president of the PPP’s Karachi division, MNA Abdul Qadir Patel, Senator Saeed Ghani and other party leaders made sure their presence was felt.



The Qaumi Awami Tehreek President Ayaz Latif Palijo and Awami National Party Sindh’s General Secretary Bashir Jan were prominent political figures at the event.

“I love this cultural day and feel honoured to be called a Baloch,” said excited Fareeda Baji, who is Urdu-speaking by birth. “No one will see any discrimination in Lyari as we all are living in peace and with honour.”

“The anti-Baloch elements have created the hostile environment. We still feel proud of being Pakistani but our men are treated differently outside their homes,” said 16-year-old Sara Baloch. “On Baloch Day, we want to make sure people know that we still follow traditions of our ancestors,” said the former Sindh Assembly member and information secretary of the Lyari Resource Centre, Nasreen Chandio.

“I am proud to be a Baloch man,” shouted Uzair Baloch amid slogans in his favour. “This day tells the world that we are united and want to bring peace - all the political parties of the city support our call.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2013.