Yusuf Masti Khan a true revolutionary

Translation: Farooq Ahmed

Baloch remained a frozen society under affected tribal traditions. Yusuf Masti Khan's family belonged to the Chah Bahar region of Iranian Balochistan. He belonged to the Korkanj tribe. This family, belonging to the poor class, moved to Karachi a hundred and fifty years ago. Then in 1885, this family went to Australia. After working there, these people came back to Karachi. Akbar Masti Khan ran a coal mining business in the Indian state of Assam. Then went to Burma. A contract was awarded for the supply of stone for laying the railway line there. Thus this family became prosperous. Yusuf Masti Khan's grandfather died in Burma in 1921. Akbar Masti Khan was one of the few Baloch capitalists.

Yusuf Masti Khan was born on 16 July 1948. He studied till the eighth standard at the elite class School Barn Hall Abbottabad. He was called to Karachi due to economic conditions at home. Studied at Karachi Grammar School for some time. Matriculated from St. Patrick's School. Yusuf Masti Khan obtained a BA degree from National College Karachi in 1969. Yusuf Masti Khan started his career by working in an oil company. The company posted Yusuf in Quetta. It was the era of 1973. Pakistan's Peoples Party was the government. Balochistan was given the status of a province. The National Awami Party, a left-wing nationalist party, won a majority in the 1970 elections. NAP candidates defeated many tribal chiefs in the elections. Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, and Khair Bakhsh Marri were among the leaders of the National Party. Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo emerged as a shrewd politician. Akbar Masti Khan and Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo were social contacts. But Masti Khan had no interest in family politics. Renowned journalist Siddique Baloch was a nationalist Marxist Wadi. He was included in the circle of influence of Mir Ghous Baksh Bizenjo. BM Kutty was born in the coastal city of Kerala, India. He came to Pakistan in the early part of his youth and started working in the National Awami Party. When the People's Party chief and then President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the National Party reached an agreement on the preparation of the 1973 constitution and the establishment of governments in Balochistan, the government appointed Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo as the governor of Balochistan and Arbab Sikander Khan Khalil as the governor of the province. He was appointed as the Governor of the border. In Balochistan, Sardar Attaullah Mengal assumed the post of Chief Minister. Mufti Mehmood had become the Chief Minister at the border. Siddique Baloch was working in an English newspaper in Karachi. BM Kutty was employed in a private firm. Mir Bizenjo appointed BM Kutty as his Principal Secretary and Siddique Baloch as Press Secretary. Thus these two people moved to Quetta

Siddique Baloch and Yusuf Masti Khan started living in the same house. Siddique Baloch was called a professor because of his ideology. Thus, after listening to the lectures of Professor Siddique Baloch, he became interested in the movement of the oppressed nations and became active in the National Awami Party. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dismissed the NAP government after 9 months. Later, NAP was banned. Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo and other leaders were arrested and resigned from BM Kitti Governor House and moved to Yusuf Masti Khan's house. It was a great but chaotic era. There were regular arrests of political workers in Quetta. Officials of the police and other secret agencies used to climb the walls of houses at night to search for political workers. Siddique Baloch started political work. So arrested. Leaders of the banned National Awami Party, defectors of the People's Party Meraj Muhammad Khan and Ali Bakhsh Talpur went to London.

A special tribunal was established by establishing conspiracy cases against the youth who came to Pakistan for the resistance movement of Balochistan. The case was going on in Hyderabad Central Jail. Yusuf Masti had returned to Karachi. His senior colleagues were arrested. Yusuf himself was called to interrogation centers. But he persevered. Mir continued to work as a liaison with Bizenjo. The National Democratic Party nominated a National Assembly candidate from Lyari in the 1971 elections. Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo broke away from the NDP and formed the National Party.

Yusuf Masti Khan played an important role in organizing the NB. In the MRD movement against General Zia-ul-Haq, Mir Bizenjo stayed at Masti Khan Lodge in Karachi. Thus, this house remained the center of the movement.

The 90s began with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo died in 1989. An ideological crisis arose throughout the world. This crisis had clear effects on Pakistan. The nationalists of Balochistan considered only the struggle for national rights as the way to salvation. Lal Bakhsh Rand, Yusuf Masti Khan, Akhtar Hussain Advocate, Usman Baloch, etc. considered class struggle as important. They parted ways. Yusuf Masti Khan joined the circle of Lal Bakhsh Rand and the great intellectual Dr. Mur Hasan. Yusuf Masti Khan, Usman Baloch, and Akhtar Hussain, etc. established the Awami Workers Party along with Abid Hasan Manto, a well-known progressive writer, and lawyer, along with progressives from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Later more leftist groups joined. Yusuf Masti Khan got cancer. But he did not allow any decline in his political activities. Last year fishermen in Gwadar started a movement led by Maulana Hidayat Rehman to save their jobs. Yusuf Masti Khan went to Gwadar despite his illness but was arrested and locked up at the police station lock-up. Then they were expelled from Gwadar. Lal Bakhsh Rand, Yusuf Masti Khan, etc. took the left wing and Tried to gather the Nazis on one platform. Awami Workers Party was formed along with Mazdoor Kisan Party and other left groups. Yusuf formed the Save Sindh Committee for the Rights of Sindh along with Usman Baloch, Abdul Haliq, Junejo, Dr. Tipu Sultan, and Muqtada Mansoor. A comprehensive charter was drawn up. This committee had a unanimous opinion. That super municipality Karachi should be established and a lower-level local government system can develop the cities.

Usman Baloch, a close associate of Yusuf, says that Yusuf Masti Khan, who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth, became associated with the resistance movement to such an extent. That he withdrew from the family business. Baloch Marxist journalist Aziz Singhoor while paying tribute to Yusuf Masti Khan said that due to the death of Yusuf Masti Khan, Baloch and other nations lost their leader. President of the National Party Punjab, Ayub Malik, has paid homage to Yusuf.