Baloch leader says teacher killed due to Marri links

LONDON: A Baloch leader alleged on Tuesday that intelligence operatives of Pakistan had shot dead a senior school teacher in Quetta due to his close ties with Balochistan’s main Marri tribe.

Mehran Baloch, a Briton who is Balochistan’s unofficial representative at the UN Human Rights Council, told The News over phone that Nazir Ahmed Marri was killed by the state operatives due to his association with Mehran’s father and influential Marri leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri. “Nazir Ahmed Marri was like a family member. He had helped in our education and upbringing. He was very close to my father,” Mehran Baloch, Nawab Marri’s youngest son said. Nazir Marri was a senior teacher at Killi ShaiKhan High School. He was gunned down by unknown men who were riding a motorcycle on Arbab Karam Khan Road in Quetta, according to Mehran. On Pakistan’s most wanted list, Mehran divided his time campaigning between Dubai, London and Switzerland.

Baloch educationist shot dead in Quetta, angry students blocked streets

Occupied Balochistan: Unidentified gunmen today shot dead a school teacher in the Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan.

Nazir Ahmed Marri, a senior teacher at Killi ShaiKhan High School, was gunned down by men riding a motorcycle on Arbab Karam Khan Road in Quetta. The gunmen escaped after the attack.

Sources said the rescue teams rushed to the spot and shifted Marri’s body to Civil Hospital.

It is worth mentioning that teacher Nazir Marri was abducted by Pakistani security agencies several times in past years and he was subjected to brutal torture.

COMMENT: Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The Baloch have their own culture, language and their own concept of patriotism and nationalism and refuse to subscribe to the Pakistani concept of patriotism and nationalism

The Latin quote Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium means, “I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery.” It embodies the Baloch sentiments and what they are working towards today; only a heartless person will fault them for this course because since 1948 they have been at the receiving end of state brutality. The problem between the Baloch and Pakistan has its genesis in the fact that since the forcible annexation in March 1948 after the initial 227 days’ independence of Kalat, the Baloch have been coerced by the state to subscribe to the Pakistani concepts of patriotism, nationalism and national interests. The Baloch reluctance to comply and conform to what is known as the Pakistan ideology has resulted in numerous military operations but fortunately, from each they have emerged more united and more determined.

The Baloch have their own culture, language and their own concept of patriotism and nationalism and refuse to subscribe to the Pakistani concept. The Pakistani state abhors diversity or nonconformity to their established concepts and with the intention of making the Baloch accept their version of patriotism, it has waged a war against the Baloch since 1948. The present operation, though more vicious and sustained than the previous ones, is being clandestinely conducted by the Frontier Corps (FC) and intelligence agencies; the 1973-77 one was equally brutal but was openly conducted by the military. The present spate of brutal abductions and killings is also more systematic and widespread.