BSO-Azad Pays tribute to Sir Zahid Askani.
It is said that a teacher has a great role in shaping and embellishing any decent society, where the teacher is considered as the backbone of the nation. But if that backbone is attacked then the youths of the nation will be unproductive.
It is a teacher who makes all the engineers, doctors and scientists in a country and also plays the main role in advancing the country’s economy, technology and its developments. It has been proved that being a sincere teacher is like oxygen for the bright future of a country, society or a nation.
Other than this, education has long been used as a tool to promote the social and intellectual ways of a ruling elite. It has been used as a mean to dominate and discriminate across the globe. Teachers and their provided literatures have played role to decolonize the minds of native people not to prolong the oppression and occupation of their country. In the same way, teachers and intellectuals of occupied countries played their role to get rid of the oppression of colonialism. A teacher is the one who has been listened to the most; who has easily mobilized his students and people of society against the oppression; and who takes colonial studies out of its society. That is why he is one of the main targets of colonial powers.
In the Baloch society, the role of Pakistani teachers and curriculum has been very important to deface the Baloch culture, tradition and language. On the other hand, majority of Baloch areas have been deprived of education and educational institutes, but some legendary characters also got birth out there who not only saved Baloch from educational deprivation, but also taught them to save their identity as a Baloch nation and forced them to think against oppression. They longed to see prosperity within Baloch society and show the real face of Baloch civilization. They are the ones who challenged religious extremists and made the education necessary for Baloch girls for the betterment of baloch society.
Therefore, it became a challenge for them to live or survive within Pakistan with that sovereign thoughts. It was also necessary for Pakistan to kill such role models who thought of betterments as a slave nation. Among them, there was a teacher who became an inspiration for the Baloch nation and who enlightened the city of deprived People (Gwadar) with the bright waves of education.
Martyr Zahid Askani Baloch was born on 2nd of January, 1978 in Paroom, attainment of Panjgoor area of Baluchistan. He received his early education in his hometown till graduation. For further education he moved to Quetta. He did his masters in English from “Baluchistan University”. After graduation, he moved to Gwadar at that time when people of Gwadar were totally kept ignorant. He served as a teacher there. He established the first English language centre in Gwadar “The Oasis’’. He promoted girls’ education as he had observed the vitality of education and especially of the girls for the Baloch community earlier. So, he established The Oasis school and promoted co-education at a time when the religious extremism was being promoted in Gwadar. He faced the threats by orthodox, but never gave up and succeeded in creating a real Baloch liberal society in Gwadar and nearby. He knew his fate in Pakistan, but he had set his mind to take the nation out of extremism and deprivation. His goal was to create an educated Baloch society where the Baloch would know their worth as a nation.
It was love and dedication of Sir Zahid Askani with his nation that never let him to live without serving the Baloch nation and the dedication and courage that made him lie down in Baloch land forever. He was martyred by State sponsored extremists on December 4, 2014 following several protests by Baloch students, especially girls within Makuran. He was the man of courage who never stopped despite being threatened by Pakistan. He set an example for the youths of nation that running away is a stone of death for a struggling nation. The hurdles are not stronger than the ideology and your ideology will crush thousands of hurdles. He taught the Baloch nation ‘’persistency’’.