Daily Times

Marisht is the collection of short stories penned by former Balochistan chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.

He has been active in street politics since the hay days of the erstwhile Baloch Students Organization. During this long political journey that runs over four decades Dr Malik has witnessed a number of conspiracy theories, rise and fall of many political organizations and political engineering which left drastic impact Baloch national struggle. Thus his oeuvre is shaped by his political struggle and ideology and it is difficult to separate Dr Malik’s fiction from his politics. In other words, he wrote these short stories more of a politician and less of a fiction writer. Political undercurrent is the hallmark of the short stories appeared in this slim volume that runs around one hundred pages.

Hypocrisy and dichotomy of political leaders is the recurrent theme of most of his short stories. In short stories like “Pootari”(Babbling), “Mard Gon Wata Drog Bandit” (The Man Lies to Himself), “Ey Rajay Dawa Hamesh inth” (This is What the Nation Deserves) the author takes dig at politicians who first ensnare the poor and ignorant masses with their catchy and alluring slogans, exploit them to reach to the corridors of power and then cast them to sands of oblivion. He also employs the tool of satire in these short stories.

In recent years, political space for genuine politicians has substantially shrunk and new faces emerged from nowhere and replaced seasoned politicians. This all happened because in the words of the author, such faces are patronised and supported by the “angels” – a term he employs for the forces who have often been accused to have engineered the elections.

In a number of story stories such as “Bogosh Nawab” (Call Me Nawab), “Shapok ay Nomasag” (Smuggler’s Grandson) “Loch” (Dubious Man) and “Wari a Zir a Ogaran (I will Cast the Poverty to the Sea) Dr. Malik has dwelt upon how wealthy nonpolitical figures reach to the corridors of power without any substantial struggle and groundwork.

In recent years, political space for genuine politicians has substantially shrunk and new faces emerged from nowhere and replaced seasoned politicians. This all happened because in the words of the author, such faces are patronised and supported by the ‘angels’ — a term he employs for the forces who have often been accused to have engineered the elections

In other words, the author vents his political spleen through these short stories.

In “Mazanin Haar” (The Huge Flood) the author in a subtle way portrays the arrival of the long awaited revolution. In this short story landlords turned the course of flood to the populace to protect their croplands. As a result, the surging water washes off the huts and shacks of the poor masses. But the floodwater kept surging on and at last it also washes away the tall buildings and bungalows of landlords and in a jiffy renders them homeless like poor peasants. In one hand the flood can be seen in the context of nature’s revenge, in the other it has a metaphoric or a bit symbolic touch. The flood harbingers the day that has been promised. In Faiz’s words it is the day that arrives to topple the thrones and toss up the crowns.

“Lala” (Big Brother) and “Ghaddar” (The Traitor) are two short stories written on the backdrop of the latest insurgency in Balochistan. These short stories highlight the structural loopholes of the militant organizations and follies of their cadres. However, the plots of these stories are weaved around the news reports, press releases and public opinions that have kept pouring in since past few years or so.

In “Dil Resh” (The Obnoxious Fellow) the author delineates that awakening is stirred by one or two individuals in a society. You need not to gather a crowd to challenge the status quo. Even a single man can bring about transformation in a society.

There are a few short stories that hardly touch upon the political undertone that is the hallmark of the shortest stories framed in this collection.

“Hani” is one such story. It is the tale of an orphaned girl, Hani brought up by her grandparents. She rose to become a civil servant but soon resigned from that world of luxury and power and chose to pursue a career in journalism. She is a girl who wants to maintain her individual freedom and chose to live a life of her own choice.

“Ars Shalant Man Dedagan” (Tears well up in the Eyes) unfolds the agony of a girl who studies medicines and becomes a doctor but her parents force her to marry a man whom they chose without asking their daughter’s consent. She is asked to submit to her parent’s well as the custom of the tribe. Surprisingly, the well learned girl without showing any sign of resistance silently walks down the aisle. Countless girls are forced to marry the men picked up by their elders without thinking the consequences of such marriages. Such marriages bring ruin in the life of the women. Even if they continue to live with the men of their parent’s choice, they have to strangulate all her longings, wishes and happiness. In such a case she would only become a tool to fulfill her man’s carnal desires and breed children. If the marriage proves a failure and ends up in divorce it further stigmatizes the rest of her life. In either way it is the woman who suffers.

“Mehlab” is the tale of a girl named Mehlab whose life underwent a transformation and she became a misandrist. She despises the marriage just because she thinks it is a way to submit to male dominancy. She draws pleasure at hurting the men in a strange fashion. She wears exquisite costumes and enchanting perfumes to attract men’s attention. When men try to court her she blatantly spurns them.

One may see a void in her personality which can be squarely bracketed with a psychological disorder.

“Rekani Dek” (Mounds of Sands) is the tale of a young shepherd who faces force up displacement from his ancestral land after the government sent his men for the exploration of underground minerals. People refuse to leave the area as they have their forefather buried in the graveyard of that place. Saeed was very worried to witness the exploitation of his ancestral land. But he never leaves. At the end of the short story he is seen playing his flute and chanting:

Kohang’s impregnable fort

Nobody’s patrimony

we’ve vanquished

with our swords.

This short story could have been more compact and subtle had the author excluded some sentences which have rendered the narrative redundant.

Marisht is published by the Balochi Academy of Science & Research, Quetta in 2019.

The writer can be reached at fazalbaloch144@gmail.com