KHUZDAR/QUETTA: Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, chief of the National Party, was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Naal, his hometown in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district, on Friday evening.

Mr Bizenjo had died at a hospital in Karachi the previous day. He was 62.

Thousands of people from different walks of life, including provincial ministers, MPAs, MNAs, senators and workers of the National Party as well as other political parties attended the funeral prayers.

He was buried near the grave of his father, Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo.

A large number of his party’s leaders and workers brought Mr Bizenjo’s body at the head of a procession first to Khuzdar from Karachi and finally to Naal at around 5pm.

Mir Jan Muhammad Buledi, Secretary General of the National Party, former senator Tahir Bizenjo and party workers received Hasil Bizenjo’s body at Hub, the industrial centre of Balochistan.

The political leaders who were present at the last rites of the Senator included Dr Malik Baloch, President of the National Party and a former chief minister of Balochistan, Senators Dr Ashok Kumar and Mohammad Akram Dashti, Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo, Senator Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini, Balochistan National Party’s Vice President Wali Kakar, MPAs Sana Baloch, Akbar Mengal and Qadir Nayal, Dr Ishaq Baloch, Haji Saleh Baloch, Haji Ahmad Nawaz, Babu Rahim Mengal, Mir Hamal Kalmati, Lal Jan Baloch, Dr Abdul Qadoos Baloch, PML-N leader retired General Abdul Qadir Baloch, Jamal Shah Kakar, Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasani, Balochistan National Party-Awami leader Mir Israrullah Zehri, provincial minister Zahoor Buledi , Lala Rashid, Agha Shakeel Durrani and Mir Asim Kurd.

The National Party has declared 10 days of mourning over the death of Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo. The party flag will fly at half mast on its offices.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) condoled the death of Senator Bizenjo.

In a statement on Friday, PFUJ president Shahzada Zulfiqar and secretary general Nasir Zaidi said: “Senator Bizenjo was a strong voice not only for the people of Balochistan but also democratic norms. We are devastated at the news of his demise as he raised his voice for rights of the oppressed.”

According to our reporter in Karachi, the Karachi Union of Journalists expressed sadness on Mr Bizenjo’s death and paid tributes to his relentless struggle against anti-democratic forces.

The 62-year senator always stood by the ideals of democracy no matter whatever the odds stacked against him, the KUJ said in its message. “He defied all attempts by dictatorial and tyrant regimes to suppress democratic rights and stifle dissent.”

The KUJ recalled that Mir Hasil Bizenjo learnt his political ropes after joining the Balochistan Student Organisation (BSO) and was the standard-bearer in every pro-democracy movement in the country since the martial law regime of Gen Ziaul Haq.

He was an active member of the National Students Movement and other left-wing student unions at Karachi University, motivating the youth to raise their voice against tyranny through his inspirational leadership, the KUJ said.

“During the mid-1980s he led the National Students Movement for restoration of student unions in universities across the country.”

He served a number of jail terms, but yielded no inch on his commitment to democracy, human rights and secular values, observed the Karachi Union of Journalists.

The KUJ recalled that for the sake of democracy, Mr Bizenjo stood by former prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when retired Gen Pervez Musharraf overthrew his elected government in 1999. “Even most of the PML-N leaders had ditched Mr Sharif in those testing times.”

The KUJ said Mr Bizenjo’s contribution to the struggle for democracy and secularism was an example for others. Even though he was the son of a political heavyweight, Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, Hasil Bizenjo never thought of cashing in on his inheritance and set out to make his own mark on the country’s political scene.

“He founded his own political party to carry on the legacy of his legendary father and left an indelible mark on the country’s political history,” the KUJ said in its tribute.

Kalbe Ali in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020