As a student and a zonal cadre of Baloch Student Organization (BSO) in Balicha and later vice president of Karachi Zone, I have been interacting with BSO senior leadership of that time Like Chairman Mansoor Baloch, Chairman Khair Jan Baloch, Chairman Mehrab Marri and Chairman Nadir Quddus Baloch but having a limited direct discussion with BNYM and BNM leadership although I have been regularly attending sessions and party gathering where party leadership has delivered speeches. My more frequent interaction with party leaders, including Shaheed-e-Balochistan, Waja Mola Bakhsh Dashti, Dr. Malik Sahab, Shaheed Chairman Yasin Baloch, Waja Abulhassan, Syed Molla Barkat, Jan Mohd Buledai, advocate Nazimuddin, Shaheed Dr. Naseem Jangihan and others, started with my professional life while working in Turbat in September-2000. Waja Dashti was elected District Nazim in 2001, Gen. Musharaf’s devolved local government system and Chairman Mansoor Baloch as Naib Nazim.  One year later in 2002, I joined Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) as its coordinator for the local governance strengthening project. This position has given me an opportunity of an intimate observation of Shaheed Waja Moula Bakhsh Dashti’s every aspect of daily life. We were almost together every day, in meetings, party office, public gatherings, donors/official visitors’ meetings and eating together mostly in his house; although few other people use to be with us but Waja Shaheed, Chairman Mansoor and myself remained constant in most of these gatherings. It was because, the SPO project of local government strengthening which I was coordinating, was organizing training sessions for elected local council members including CCBs, unions, Tehsils and District council. Secondly, the project also formed a coordinating body at the district level under name of “Kech Governance and Development Network”, to whom Shaheed Waja Moula Bakhsh Dashti was Chairman and I was its secretary. To my surprise, he was more active than I was in organizing this network and bringing in all stakeholders on this platform. The network developed as a vibrant actor for Kech’s development and improved good governance with a membership of DCO, DPO, all executive district officers, media, and NGOs’ representatives under his devoted and motivational leadership. I have to mention here Waja Mohammed Hayat, then the EDO Planning and Finance, has always been there to support us with legal and governmental procedural advices.

This is because of Shaheed Waja’s vision and understanding of the importance of such coordinated efforts to improve governance of the district, making himself and the district government accountable for its actions that SPO donors granted more funds to SPO to form similar networks in Gwadar, Panjgur and Lasbela districts. Which we have formed but have never been as strong as Kech Network was, of course because of missing interests of districts’ government in those districts.

USAID ISRA project was also attracted by his leadership and motivation that also selected Kech district as one of its intervention areas to support the education sector. ISRA project with all other educational support has constructed many new school buildings, trained teachers, and provided exposure visits to teachers to observe the educational system in the USA. SPO board of directors and local government delegations from other provinces of Pakistan have visited Kech district to learn how its district Nazim was coordinating stakeholders for improved governance.

That exemplary coordination of government and civil society continued to flourish throughout his tenure of District Nazimship. At the end of Shaheed Waja’s tenure, the network was such a pressure force that even those who did not want to be accountable were commended to be part of it. Mr. Abdul Rauf Rind, as district Nazim and Mehrab Baloch, Manager of SPO, tried to follow Waja Shaheed’s footprint working with the network but it was never the same, but it continues to exist and transformed to Kech Civil Society. That’s why I won’t be hesitant to name Shaheed Moula Bakhsh Dashti as a founder of today’s Kech Civil Society.

Waja Shaheed at the same time, was a realistic nationalist leader, always drawing the attention of the government and other stakeholders to urgent needs and problems of his people. He has never been diverted by any heroic slogan and idealistic political ideas, as he was well aware of the capacities of his nation. He was a socialist, I found all his discussions and actions always advocating for peoples’ actions and ownership realizing their problems and supportive to decentralized local ideas for local solutions. He was a devoted politician but has never used his position for his own advancement within the party, most of his efforts and work was for the collective interest of his political ideas and then political position for himself. He was a statesman, I have closely observed him on his District Nazim position where he was shaping his government and developing futuristic policies and institutionalization even under the pressure of some of his own party leaders and workers criticizing him for not governing the district as per common practices of the time. But he never opted for short-term gains on expenses for longer term interests of his people. He was a social scientist, he explained to us the impact of individual events on society in the future and for that reason, he was not only always concessions of his views and actions but also instructed his party workers and local leaders not to risk society interests in future for individual or group interests in the present. He talked to us about negative impacts of poverty on society and advocated for equal distribution of wealth in society to alleviate poverty.

He was an honorable and respected leader and very much conscious of his leadership role in nurturing his political ideas. Waja Shaheed was a living example of practically implementing his political and social ideas of “Present actions having future impacts”. I remember the day, when he came to my office in SPO with a couple of other local party leaders asking me to copy a few documents he was carrying, on asking about the documents, I came to know that he was trying to bail out Waja Mubarak Qazi who was arrested by forces and was in Turbat central prison. Like a young aggressive worker, I asked; Waja why you and our party leadership don’t realize that this state is going to target each of you one by one either kill or put you in prison one by one like Qazi, why don’t you resist it now? He smiled, and said, “we know but if we strongly resist now, the state will react even stronger and it is much stronger then Balochs are, we cannot put Baloch on fire”. Those were the day even though security forces haven’t openly adopted the killing and dumping policy, Shaheed Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was still alive and had some hopes from state authorities. Shaheed Chairman Ghulam Muhammed started shaping his own separate hardliner political ways and ideas. Shaheed Waja, has envisioned the state intentions and weakness of Balochs and was advocating for Baloch survival adapting a democratic parliamentary struggle for Baloch rights within the state’s existing government structures. One day in his efforts with other party leaders, especially Chairman Mansoor Baloch, to stop Shaheed Chairman Ghulam Muhammed from talking extreme political stance and while Shaheed Chairman disagreed with whatever reasoning they put forward; Shaheed Waja said, “Ghulam Muhammed, they will kill you and your people kill us, we all will be killed and there will be no one to depend on Balochs”. Although Balochs will be depended on until and unless a single reasonable Baloch is alive, but whatever Shaheed Moula Bakhsh Dashti has said has exactly happened in the same way.

Today on his 12th martyrdom anniversary, I remember the day of his martyrdom when I was crying alone in my bedroom in Yemen and all my memories with him were running in front of my eyes like a film on a big screen. He is no more with us physically today but his visionary leadership, his political ideas, his meek personality and his inspirational way of life will remain forever to help his fellow leadership to direct Baloch struggle in the right direction. You will always be missed, Shaheed-e-Balochistan, Waja Moula Bakhsh Dasthi. My reverential red salute to you Waja.