By Shafique Ahmed Shafique
Kaarwan Kay Saath
Book’s Name : Kaarwan Kay Saath
Author’s name : Meer Gul Khan Naseer
Publishers : Mehirder Institute of Research
and Publications. P.O Box No.556,
Quetta. Pakistan
Pages : 184
Price : Rs 220
Meer Gul Kham Naseer, Malikush Shora (laureate) of Baluchi language was a poet of five languages i.e Urdu, Persian, English, Baluchi and Brahavi. He was an active politician, very much involved in freedom Movement of Sub-Continent. It is interesting to know that being a great poet of Baluchi, he came in the world of literature as a Urdu poet and began to create poetry in Urdu. After Urdu he started composing in Persian and then his own mother tongue Baluchi.
The book under review “Kaarwan Kay Saath” is an anthology of his Urdu poetry. There are some poems in Persian too in it. Translations of some of his Persian poems are included in this book, which are translated by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Anwer Ahsan Siddiqi.
Born on May 14, 1914 in a village Mengal of Noshki, He belonged to Paaind Zai family. His father’s name was Meer Habibur Rahman and Bibi Hooran was his mother’s name she had belonged to the Rakhshani branch of the Bolazai Badini. His father had five sons and three daughters. Meer Gul Khan Naseer was seventh among his eight siblings and he was the fourth amongst his brothers.
He was admitted in his village school where he studied up to class IV then he was sent to study Sandman school of Apo Zai, Quetta. After matriculation, he went to Lahore for higher education and took admission in renowned Islamia College of Lahore.
Though right from the very beginning Naseer was against imperialism, Sardari, Girga and other tribal systems but his social and political consciousness, way of right thinking and treatment of literary expression became more bright, strong and unconquerable due to beginning of Progressive Writer’s Movement in Lahore and other cities of sub-continent. Lahore’s political and social environment and activities of college students’ against slavery and to achieve freedom from the yoke of British Government became eye-openers for him. He began to participate in the meetings and sittings of Taraqqi Pasand Musannefeen in Lahore and became a firm follower of Progressive Writers’ Movement. Unfortunately he could not complete his education due to eye disease. It is said that a piece of coal went into his eye owing to that reason, he had to come back to home in 1934. At that time, Lahore was the hub of knowledge as well as political and social activities. The cultural, social, political and literary movements in Lahore made quite an impression on Gul Khan Naseer. Although he could not pass even intermediate but what he could achieve in the shape of more modern awareness against feudalism, suppressions and oppressions of British authorities from Lahore were more precious and unparallel in comparison with Inter-degree. It was the impact of Lahore’s political environment that he became not only a big poet but a good journalist as well as historian.
He worked hard to unite like-minded people and started freedom movement against the government of that time as well as its brokers, agents and supporters who were busy to exploit peoples by all means and depriving them from getting education, having social and political awareness. He through poetry as well as practically awakened the masses in general, and gave courage and transferred his own social, political experiments, feelings and sentiments to the young generation in particular. For this reason he was arrested and remained most of his life in Jails of Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Quetta, Quli Camp, Sahiwal, Noshki and Muchh.
Nawab Yousuf Magsi and Meer Abdul Aziz Kurd influenced very much by the new political activities against slavery and left their backward and traditional tribal way of protest against hooliganism, up-handedness and injustices of British government, Sahukars, landlords, brokers and agents. That is the reason Meer Abdul Aziz Kurd and some of his co-activists were arrested by the British government and its slave-like agents and Sahukars.
Meer Gul Khan Naseer has nine books to his credit which are in Baluchi language. Of them all five books published in his life time and four came out after his demise. It is a matter of surprising for lovers of literature that a book of only184 pages in Urdu has been published in comparison to his Baluchi books. A poet who begins with composing Urdu poetry and whole life remained busy to create Urdu verses along with Baluchi was deprived from being author of Urdu poetic anthologies. In this situation Mehirder Institute of Research and Publications’ this act is commendable and we hope that Meer Gul Khan’s more remaining Urdu poetic works will be published by this esteemed organization. This courageous and straightforward poet, leader, journalist and historian breathed his last on December 6, 1983. He was suffering from cancer.