Martyr Javid Jan

By Fareed Mengal

I am indebted to every martyr who gave their life for the sake of the homeland. I owe a debt to every drop of that sacred and pure blood spilled by the enemy from the bodies of our comrades on the path of our homeland. I must keep alive the deep and soul-stirring feeling of every wound, suffering, humiliation, and degradation that our ancestors, friends, companions, and loved ones endured at the hands of the imposed colonial rulers.

While I take pride in being among the principled, ideological and patriotic comrades and having avoided the deceitful and corrupt crowd, I am deeply saddened by my misfortune of losing each close companion one by one. The enemy has exiled them, imprisoned them, or killed them in accidents, and in some cases, thrown their mutilated bodies to test my faith and resolve.

To me, the greatest torment is having principles, laws, or ways of life imposed upon you against your will, and enduring that imposed life for years. People like me, enduring this agony, await the end of their breaths with the anticipation of relief. Among us, there are the type of people who, in an attempt to escape the existential crisis, sacrifice their breath, wealth and commissions. Then there is another group that lives life according to their own principles. Although their birth might be contrary to their wishes, they assert their own will over the imposed life and live it according to their own desires. They are not afraid of the government’s or rulers’ displeasure and the wealth of being destitute does not bother them. Instead of enduring life, they live it with pride and purpose, and they are known as figures like Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal, Shaheed Haji Abdul Rahman Dinarzai, Shaheed Hakim Ali Shahul, and Shaheed Javed Jan Lehri.

All martyrs have endured grief, pain, and suffering but the sorrows and anguish of Shaheed Javed are boundless. My mind still reels from the thoughts of him because his desires were numerous. When Shaheed Javed opened his eyes and learned to walk, he joined the Baloch Student Organization (BSO) and remained with them. He dedicated his life and death to the red flag with the torch and to the homeland of Balochistan.

Then, what happened? First, relatives declared their detachment and wrote tales of indifference and apathy. The enemy ambushed him, and he was made to disappear in dungeons for almost a year, subjected to inhumane punishments. When Shaheed Javed came out, he was a half-dead man, counting his breaths. Yet he did not bow before life; he continued to wish to live according to his own will and lived with dignity, honour, bravery, and resilience.

The pain and desires of Shaheed Javed are more intense because he endured all the problems faced by an ordinary “slave” Baloch that make life unbearable. He witnessed the murder of his uncle, the enforced disappearance of another uncle who is still missing, the martyrdom of Shaheed Hidayatullah Lehri at the hands of death squad members, and experienced his own disappearance and suffering. He saw the apathy and indifference of his own people, the abduction, killing, and mutilation of friends, the death of his beloved, poverty, the wandering of a lifetime, sleepless nights, and the hostility of neighbouring brothers.

He survived three murderous attacks and saw the face of the ascetic torn and bloodied, among all the torment and pain that anyone can imagine, and he endured even more that we cannot fathom. And then, after enduring such pain and torment and showing defiance to life, he was ultimately martyred by the cowardly death squad operatives on September 4th of last year.

Do you know what torment is? It is having any part of your body cut off and thrown away while still being conscious and enduring the pain. This is torment, and I would say that Shaheed Javed was like having a part of my body cut off and thrown away, and that torment remains constant. I still cannot face the ascetic, nor can I face the sisters for whom Javed was a lifelong desire. Perhaps there was a night when those sisters and his mother lived in peace during Javed’s life, for Shaheed Javed was always in the enemy’s sight.

These torments collectively paralyze the body, mind and soul, burning and destroying the spirit. I drag life forward with the thought that vengeance for these martyrs will be achieved, and that vengeance will be fulfilled through a complete revolution, the establishment of a Baloch society based on freedom, justice, and equality. The dream that every martyr, including Shaheed Javed, and every struggler has seen will be realised. Perhaps then the torment will lessen, and perhaps we will be free from pain and sorrow. Only then will our revenge and retribution be complete.

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Baloch Warna News and its team.