In Search of Solutions: The Autobiography Of Mir Ghaus Buksh Bizenjo Edited by B.M. Kutty © 2009, Published by Pakistan Labour Trust and University of Karachi's (KU) Pakistan Study Centre About the Author Statesman, politician and former Governor of Baluchistan, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo was one of the very few leaders of 20th century Indian subcontinent who firmly adhered to the principles of human equality, social justice and peace throughout their political career. While being a firm believer in the right of self-determination of all nations subjected by the colonialist and imperialist forces he never succumbed to negativity of racism and national chauvinism. He was equally critical of all forms of exploitation and discrimination perpetrated upon the working classes and weaker sections of the society by the elites of nations struggling for emancipation from the colonial domination. The autobiography of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo has been compiled meticulously from his notes by B.M. Kutty who was fortunate to have spent a lot of time with Mir Bizenjo as his close associate. The book reveals many hidden aspects of Pakistan’s political history and shows how in difficult times when the country faced complex crises, Mir Bizenjo tried to find principled and pragmatic solutions without succumbing to unrealistic utopian prescriptions or extremist perceptions. The book, it is hoped, would contribute meaningfully to the existing political literature on Pakistan. ___ 2 ___ About the Editor The editor of this book, Mr. Biyyathil Mohyuddin (B.M.) Kutty, has been a political activist throughout his practical life. He is known in the political circles of Pakistan as someone who has excelled in the drafting of the manifestoes, constitutions and resolutions of various progressive political parties and alliances. Born on 15 July 1931, in Tirur, near Calicut, Kerala State, in India, he migrated to Pakistan in 1949. Apart from working in a few commercial organizations in his early years in Pakistan, Mr. Kutty was associated in the 1960s and 1970s with economic journals like Trade and Industry and Finance and Industry (later on, Pakistan Economist). Since 1989, he is associated with Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER). Mr. B.M. Kutty started his political life in the 1940s as an active member of Kerala Students Federation. Between 1950 and 1957, he was associated with the Azad Pakistan Party in Lahore and later with Pakistan Awami League in Karachi. From 1957 to 1975 he was actively involved in the politics of National Awami Party. After NAP was banned in 1975, he worked with the National Democratic Party till 1979 and from 1979 to 1997, with the Pakistan National Party. Since 1998, he is associated with National Workers Party as its Central Information Secretary. He also served as the Joint Secretary-General of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) for three years. Mr. B.M. Kutty is also an active member of the Peace movement. He has widely travelled in different continents. He has also written a number of articles in periodicals and newspapers, and has also authored a book Lenin and the Changing World – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. ___ 3 ___ Expression of Gratitude I am indebted to a number of my friends, who hold late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo in high esteem and had worked with him and drawn inspiration from his leadership, for prompting me to make this modest contribution to the political history of Pakistan - indirectly though - by translating and editing the randomly written notes of late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo. My long time friend and colleague Karamat Ali not only egged me on to undertake this task but doggedly pursued me till I finished it. I am obliged to him for minutely going through the manuscript and pointing out the inadvertent lapses on my part. There is a long list of friends with whom I have worked in political parties for long periods and to whom I am obliged for prodding me so often since Mir Sahib’s death in 1989 to compile and publish his memoirs. As they are too many, I will mention the names of only a few of them here: Dr. M.A. Mehboob, Yusuf Mustikhan, Baji Naseem Shameem Malik, Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Lal Bakhsh Rind, Akhtar Hussain, Zafar Malik, Shah Muhammad Shah, Dr. Abdul Hakim Lehri, Syed Zahid Gardezi, Hyder Abbas Gardezi, Usman Baluch and five friends who are no more - Shameem Ashraf Malik, Dr. Sher Afzal Malik, Aijaz Ali Jatoi, Lala Gul Muhmamad and Rasheed Baluch. Then, there are members of Mir Sahib’s family, who have also been actively associated with his politics and are still in the field – his sons Mir Bizen (former MNA), Mir Hasil Khan (former MNA and currently Senator) and their cousin and former Senator Mir Tahir Bizenjo, who encouraged me in my work and also provided me some precious old photographs. I also owe thanks to my younger daughter Shazia Mohyuddin and grand daughters Hafsa Jawaid and Mazia Jawaid for helping me out at the computer in doing a large part of the typing work and fixing of photographs etc., despite their tight university schedules and providing me the badly needed buck-up. I am also grateful to my colleagues at PILER – Dr. Aly Ercelan, Zulfiqar Shah, Sharafat Ali and Zeenat Hissam for the moral support they extended to me while I was working on this project. My thanks are also due to young Abbas Haider at PILER whose help was available for the asking whenever I had trouble with the computer settings. I should also express my gratitude to Alia Amirali, who made some very useful suggestions and helped in the preliminary formatting of the manuscript. And last but most important, I thank Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Director, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, for the final formatting and preparing of the manuscript for print and publication through the Centre. Thanks are also due to PILER and Pakistan Labour Trust for providing the financial support. B.M. Kutty ___ 4 ___ Editor’s Note My personal contact with late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo (I will call him Mir Sahib from here on) dates back to mid-nineteen fifties. I was a member of the working committee of Pakistan Awami League’s Karachi Chapter since 1955 and worked with late Mahmudul Huq Usmani who was the Secretary General of the Party. Though Awami League had its office at Pakistan Chowk, a short distance from the DJ Science College, Usmani Sahib’s residence at 352, Nazareth Road, Garden East, Karachi remained round- the-clock meeting point of all and sundry in the Party– from top leaders to ordinary workers. Activists of other parties also visited the place from time to time. Thanks to Usmani Sahib’s exceptional hospitality, his house was something like a family home for everyone who walked in. Almost every evening after office hours (I was employed with a Pak-German joint venture company) and on Sundays and holidays, I used to spend a good amount of time at Usmani Sahib’s house, assisting him in drafting his political statements and reports, taking notes of meetings and discussions and attending to other party-related work. On a few occasions Mir Sahib, who was in those days the General Secretary of Ustaman Gul (the successor of Kalat State National Party) also came to see Usmani Sahib, providing me the opportunity to know him better. In 1956, the regional nationalist parties of West Paksitan merged to form the Pakistan National Party. It also included Ustaman Gul. In 1957 the Awami League split due to inner party differences on foreign policy. Usmani Sahib, along with Maulana Bhashani and their supporters, quit the Awami League and merged with Pakistan National Party to form the National Awami Party (NAP). Usmani Sahib was elected Secretary General of the new Party. I continued to work with him in the new Party till I was transferred by my Company to Lahore in early nineteen fifty seven. I remained connected with NAP in Lahore. NAP had a couple of members in the West Pakistan Assembly. They raised the issue of dissolution of One Unit inside the Assembly while Mir Sahib and other NAP leaders carried on the agitation outside the Assembly at public forums. NAP leaders from all parts of West Pakistan very often visited Lahore to interact with Assembly members. Most such meetings used to take place at the MPA Lodge on Egerton Road or in the Nedou’s Hotel. Here I got the chance to get acquainted with G.M. Syed, Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi and other NAP leaders from Sindh. Mir Sahib also visited Lahore a couple of times. Then suddenly time stopped still for politics in Pakistan. Martial Law, abrogation of constitution, banning of political parties and curbs on the media and mass arrests of political leaders and workers. All of us were in jail for the next couple of years. I was arrested in April 1959 from Karachi, where I had arrived on some official company work and was detained in the Central jail for over a year before I was transferred to Lahore District jail on the orders of the West Pakistan High Court. During my internment in Lahore District jail, my co-prisoner was ‘Shahzada’ Agha Abdul Karim of Kalat. He had been temporarily shifted to Lahore from Haripur Jail where he was undergoing ten years’ imprisonment. He was a very interesting person and good company in jail. From him I got some new glimpses of Baluchistan and its leaders. Agha Sahib made only a passing mention of Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, which prompted me to want to find out why he spoke of such an important politician so casually.