Banuk Karima Baloch “beacon for the lives”
Sagaar baloch
The struggle of Women in Politics and National Movements can’t be disregarded or forgotten, as large numbers of women had participated in politics and National Struggle and played prominent roles. They led demonstrations, raised the slogans of freedom, screamed for their national rights, and mobilized the masses. They have organized their political associations, founded newspapers, and taken part in political gatherings and demonstrations. Women from leading protests against taxation policies to distributing anti-colonial propaganda pamphlets, as well as feeding and treating wounded guerrilla soldiers, met often with violent resistance against colonial regime, all have been part of Women’s anti-colonial efforts.
History always remembered the women of oppressed nations who have performed a vital role in their national movement, few of them are:
Basanti Devi, Uda Devi from India,
Ransome-Kuti, and Winnie Mandela (wife of Nelson Mandela) from Africa, Leila Khaled of Palestine, Women in Vietnam War, and the Baloch women who always have been on the front line in every independent movement like GulBibi, Banari and Seemuk, etc; One of them was Banuk Karima (Lumma-E-Watan “1983-2020”) who was a prominent character and an Ideal leader of Baloch National Movement against the Pakistani Occupation.
Banuk Karima D/O Mehrab Baloch was born on 10 February 1983 in Dubai as her family was residing there. She opened her eyes in a house where some of her close relatives were already playing a significant role in the Baloch independence movement and it was Banuk Karima’s good fortune that from the first day of life she was actively learning about her national struggle. And this led her to the point where she itself started to lead her nation. From 2005 to 2020 she was playing the role of a leader who never stopped and endured every hard time with patience and wisdom.
BSO Azad had achieved a prominent position in the Baloch nation due to its ideology stance, Banuk Karima joined BSO-Azad as a member in 2005. The Movement of BSO-AZAD has been a revolutionary journey and Banuk Karima was a brave, loyal and unwavering member of this beautiful journey. She was elected as a CC member in 2006 for her outstanding performance and efforts. Banuk remained prominent throughout Balochistan due to her dominant political role. Kamal Baloch (Former Senior Vice-Chairperson BSO-AZAD) said in an interview that an old man in Mashkay passed a compliment in 2008-9 while showing me the video of Karima’s speech ” that she narrates very well’’. She taught Baloch women to be brave, to be aware of their self-reliance and fight for their rights, and to participate in their Baloch national struggle on that where no female was the active part of students’ politics. Her struggle was not only for women but for her nation, for all Baloch men, women, children, old and young, and she proved to be a beacon for them.
In 2008, Banuk Karima was elected as the junior Vice-Chairperson of BSO-AZAD and continued the struggle, and later in 2012, she became the senior Vice-Chairperson of the organization. She gave top priority to her national struggle, and in the course of this practical struggle She suffered immense hardships and sufferings, and she bravely faced every hardship and suffering, and the threats of state institutions, Army and ISI. The raids did not dampen her spirit, as the Baloch independence movement has been targeted under Pakistan’s Counter-Policy since 2008, especially the BSO-AZAD which was educating the youth. Banuk was a Valiant and a brave woman who always stood firm against the genocide of Baloch and faced any Trouble happily, which can be estimated from Banuk’s interview, “She said that once FC fired mortar shells on our house, which were fell right next to us, she further added that a rally was held in the city of Turbat in 2008 in which a large number of people participated. In this rally, the FC shot and killed a young man named Mukhtar, and at the same time, FC threatened Banuk that if she appeared for the second time, the same would happen to her”. She was not one of the characters retreating an inch. In 2013, when the organization was Unjustifiably banned by the State and, as well as the abduction of male members was at it’s Zenith, although the kidnapping has been going on for a long time and It is running consistently, but in 2013 every activity of the organization was banned due to which the organization was unable to do any of its formal work or meeting including circle, etc on the ground. In that Situations Banuk was the whole face of the Organisation (BSO-AZAD) be it media face or public face, all this responsibility fell on the shoulders of Banuk. After the abduction of Chairman Zahid Baloch (Chairperson BSO-AZAD) on 18-March-2014 Banuk worked as the acting Chairperson of BSO-AZAD and continued her struggle with sincere and heartfelt. She led a 40-day hunger strike camp in Karachi for the safe release of BSO-Azad Chairman Zahid Baloch, which was announced by the organization and in which Latif Johar was sitting, due to her untired struggle she became the first female Chairperson of a Student Organisations BSO-AZAD in 2015 central Council Session.
In 2015 Banuk Karima became the first female Leader of a student organization in Asia. And she led the organization at that time when the crackdown was at its height, the Baloch movement was going through an era of despair. The BSO itself was facing problems from both sides one was State repression, crackdowns and kidnappings, and the dumping of mutilated bodies, and the other was constitutional block formation front within the BSO due to some unconscious differences and Divergences. These were the two aspects in which BSO was under pressure, but the leadership was enough mature to deal with all the issues that were the reason BSO is in this position today and that whole leadership credit goes to Banuk. She was continuously facing state threats but despite all these Karima’s morale was as strong as a rock mountain. At the same time, she encouraged the women of Balochistan, particularly Makran, to stand and come out for their rights. An example of her bravery and courage can be seen in the fact that her paternal uncle Dr. Khalid was martyred in 2008/2007, and her maternal uncle Master Noor Jan was martyred in 2016/2017, Banuk herself says that Master Noor Jan was one of her closest and beloved one, meaning that her close relatives were also martyred, but despite all these, Banuk did not hesitate for any sacrifice for the protection of her motherland and nation.
She loved her colleagues so much, she says that once, one of her cousins was picked up by the FC and she kept the room open all night so that they might leave her cousin sometime in the night and he might come back and If he finds the room closed, he will be in trouble, it was not because he was Banuk’s cousin but because he belonged to the Baloch movement and was a member of the BSO.
.Lumma-e Watan has tried her best to carry out every decision responsibly. We can infer the BSO-BNM work together as an ally in the name of BNF, which was later concluded in the 2018 council session of BSO-AZAD, and the BNF held its meetings every three months in Mashkay, Panjgur, Jhao, Awaran, Naal, Turbat, and in different places of Balochistan. And Banuk always made her availability in that meetings as a responsible one.
At the 2015 council session, the organization decided that Banuk should seek asylum in Canada, to represent Balochistan and the Baloch nation, because at that time the State’s repression in Balochistan had reached its peak and it was impossible to do ground politics. Arriving in Canada, she said in an interview to Tag TV “that Balochistan is no longer safe for any Baloch, and I have come here under the decision of my organization BSO-AZAD that we should fight this battle even abroad. On the ground and off the ground, we have to tell the world what we want and what our purpose is, or what is the purpose of this freedom movement, the Baloch national freedom movement, and I am here to represent and to interpret my people.
There is little to talk about Banuk’s political role as she will be a beacon for the generation of this period and future. Her political role has encouraged the people that today not only women but also men are actively participating in politics and the Baloch independence movement. Because of Banuk’s courageous steps, women are entering politics as leaders, because the so-called religious leaders and gurus and some tribal chiefs used to denounce Baloch women as stepping foot in politics. The leadership and guidance of Banuk proved that all the claims were wrong and she broke all the chains and moved forward. And it was Banuk’s growing steps that pushed Baloch women out of the cages and urged them to play a significant role in all walks of life. Her sacrifices and political role have impressed people within and outside Balochistan as well, and the BBC included her name among the list of 100 most influential and Insphering women in 2016 because of her immensely popular role. It is no less our for the BBC that a cloture woman like Banuk is on their list.
When it comes to Baloch nationalism, Baloch nationalism in itself has Socialism and Feminism, because every class in Baloch Nation is burning in the fire of slavery and Baloch Genocide and resisting against the slavery life. Women have their e in the Nation and they are equally involved in every field like men, an example of which is Banuk Karima herself, who led a student organization. With this in mind, Banuk spoke on Gender Equality at the UN in 2018 so that women in Balochistan can participate fully in politics as well as in the field of education.
From the day that Banuk joined the BSO-AZAD, the BSO started struggling and educating in a new way, because Banuk was an institution within itself. And every Baloch student including me has been educated under this superfine organization which continues to date.
Banuk has always pursued a long-term policy, she has never adopted a short-term policy like reactionary and emotional. She has not pursued politics based on adventurism, rather she was rational under long-term policy. We can see her rationality that when a man named Mukhtar was shot dead by FC in Turbat Rally in front of Banuk in 2008, and on March 18, 2014, the Chairman of BSO-Azad Zahid Kurd aka Baloch Khan was abducted and disappeared by ISI in front of Banuk, so Banuk didn’t become Reactionary and Emotional, and further led the organizational and developed strategies and policies on a rational basis.
It was all thanks to the educations and strategies of the Banuk that the New York Times in its magazine named BSO as the largest student organization in Balochistan even in the whole Asia as well and it was thanks to these abilities and educational programs that the State was forced to its knees. In 2012, when Banuk was senior Vice-Chairperson then-Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik because they failed to stop Baloch National Movement had linked the BSO to the militant groups. And it was thanks to Banuk’s leadership and guidance that the BSO-AZAD gained a place all over the world, which the State has always been at the forefront to counter BSO-AZAD, programs, policies, and Members.
When some of BSO’s Central Cabinet and central committee members were abducted in 2017, Banuk was threatened by the State by contacting her from his abducted member’s cell phone. She was told if she would not return from Canada, and if she doesn’t give up her political ideology or give up her organization’s stances her friends will be brutally killed. Banuk boldly responded to every failed tactic of State and denied them. Banuk left the organization on the 21st Council Session in 2018 after completing her tenure.
She didn’t stop here and joined the Baloch National Movement (BNM) with a prominent role and with these abilities and strategies she energized and strengthen the Baloch movement and became a role model for Baloch women. The state was so much compelled and couldn’t stop her who was compelling the Barbaric State from bowing down, and the State realized that she should be removed from the path who has wagged the state. And so this tyrannical and oppressive state kidnapped Banuk in Toronto, Canada on December 20, 2020, and dumped her dead body in a lake on 21 December 2020.
To pay tribute to the services of the Banuk, BSO-AZAD gave her the title of Lumma-E-Watan. And her last rites were performed in her native village of Tump Turbat in Balochistan and in which a large number of people including men and women came from different parts of the country to attend but this Pakistani state did not allow anyone to attend her funeral prayers. Because Banuk was like a deluge for them, as Banuk’s sister Mahganj said in an interview with the BBC ‘a day after Banuk’s burial that once I and Banuk were watching an interview of Sher Muhammad Bugti, In which Sher Muhammad Bugti said that “this silence will one day turn into a storm”, and Banuk told me that this storm might be me (Banuk) or you. And Banuk showed the world like a deluge that her Corpse ruled in Balochistan. Banuk had previously feared that Canada would deploy the military of this extremist state of Pakistan here in Canada to target me and other Baloch liberation leaders, she said in a speech in 2017 and her fears came true in 2020.
Banuk Karima once said in a statement that “who likes death, but when it comes to Land, then life’s concernment doesn’t remain anymore”, and Banuk succeeded in putting her statement virtually.
Banuk once also said that “We don’t have colleges and universities to get an education, it’s okay, We don’t have hospitals for treatment, it’s okay We don’t have roads, it’s okay, We don’t have drinking water, it’s okay, But we don’t have our Freedom and we are not being given the right to live so we will speak out and resist”.
Banuk said in a statement that “When their is land then there is a nation, there is language and there is identity, without land the history, language, and status of nations will vanish out”.
On 13 November 2020 (Baloch martyrs Day) Banuk in a webinar said that “When we sacrifice our lives for our nation and land, knowing that life is given only once, we attain the great status of martyrdom so that future generations may be aware of the status of our nation and land”.
She is another statement saith that “To me, that every Baloch woman is a role model who has made her brother, son, husband or father a part of this national struggle or has found the dead body of any of her closest One”.