Women have always played an important role in politics and national movements. Africa’s Winnie Mandela, Palestine’s Leila Khaled, or Samiram of Kurdish history—history has always kept alive the memory of women who struggled and sacrificed for their nations.
A struggler is like a candle: burning itself to illuminate the paths of freedom, prosperity, dignity, honor, and peace for its people. By sacrificing sleep, a struggler tries to organize the nation into a national movement against darkness, oppression, slavery, injustice, and tyranny. A brave, truthful, and revolutionary activist always sacrifices personal interests, life’s desires, and comforts for the sake of national interests.
On the land of Balochistan, oppression and injustice, human rights violations, deprivation from health and education, military operations, slavery on one’s own land, and the violation of honor have given birth to many revolutionary, political, ideological activists and rebels. In every era, they confronted occupying powers and rulers, choosing the path of resistance for their survival, sovereignty, and identity.
From the beginning of the world until today, no word truly fulfills the meaning of Lumma—mother— except for the one who gives birth. Even if the entire world stands against you, that one person for whom you are a piece of their heart will never separate you from their chest, nor will their love ever diminish. In the same way, Lumma Karima was a mother for the Baloch nation. She sacrificed her entire life for the Baloch people and never stepped back. She hated the mentality of slavery. She felt the oppression inflicted upon the Baloch and transformed her political, intellectual, and ideological beliefs into action by formally entering the political arena with national passion. Confronting countless hardships, she stood like a shield on the battlefield—enduring every blow herself, yet never breaking, remaining steadfast and never losing courage. Whether it was the cold nights of December or the scorching sun of June and July, nothing could stop her steps, nor could any incident weaken her struggle.
To spread awareness, consciousness, and thought in the Baloch national movement, a Girls’ Wing was formed in Tump in 2005 under BSO-AZAD, and Lumma Karima was selected as its head. From there, history was written. From there, this great journey began. Her leadership instilled love, service, selfless sacrifice, national awakening, national struggle, and revolutionary philosophy into the minds of the younger generation. Because of Karima’s great leadership, Baloch women, in large numbers, joined the national movement, fulfilling their national duty and rising for resistance.
During every turbulent period in Balochistan, when arrests, enforced disappearances, and various forms of oppression were used to silence the Baloch national movement and student organizations—even amid the disappearance of fellow activists and an atmosphere of fear—Karima Baloch continued her mission and accelerated the movement even further. Later, in 2012, when Banuk Karima was elected as Vice Chairperson of BSO-AZAD, the organization was soon banned. Yet Baloch students moved forward with even greater organization and passion, chanting slogans like “An unbowed BSO, an un-bought BSO.”
In 2013, the Secretary General of BSO-AZAD, Raza Jahangir was martyred. With the intention of ending the movement, the Chairman was subjected to enforced disappearance in March 2014—but this proved to be a grave miscalculation and ignorance of the Baloch ideology. In the 2015 Council Session, Banuk Karima Baloch was elected as the first female Chairperson of BSO-AZAD with honor. She conveyed a message to the world: no matter how harsh the circumstances, if there is a spirit of sacrifice and firm faith, even storms cannot change your resolve.
In the 2018 Council Session, she announced her departure from the organization. Through her abilities and strategies, she strengthened the Baloch movement. On December 20, 2020, reports emerged of her disappearance in Toronto, Canada, and on December 21, 2020, her lifeless body was found. She sacrificed herself for her cause, but never retreated from the national movement; she remained loyal to the Baloch nation until her last breath.
History is filled with such great personalities. Everyone has their own services; everyone made sacrifices; all endured suffering. Lumma Karima taught us that national identity, survival, culture, and rights are not fulfilled merely by slogans, joining an organization, or speaking at seminars. Rather, they require continuous struggle, sincerity, conscious awareness, and a spirit filled with sacrifice. Today, it is the result of those very services—selfless love, sacrificing personal life for national interests, and steadfastness—that the world knows you by the name of Lumma. They say separation is death, but for some people, even death is not separation. Such people may not be physically among us, but ideologically, intellectually, and academically they live forever among us and in history—and that is true life.
Today, you may not be present, but for every Baloch you are a shining lamp, an example of sacrifice, and everything that a leader is. Your thoughts, ideas, and emotions are reflected in every Baloch daughter. You stood firm on your words: “I am going alone, but I will return in millions.”
Today, there is a Banuk Karima in every home; every person’s thinking is connected to Karima’s thinking; every step taken today is a step once taken by Karima. From Tump to the Koh-e-Sulaiman, from Raskoh to the Bolan Pass, from Sistan to the rocks of Helmand, from the proud Chiltan to the streets of Lyari—Lumma still spreads her fragrance. Even if Karima is not here today, thousands like Karima continue on the same path for the nation and the land, following her philosophy. Everyone is sacrificing their self for the national struggle. This proves that Karima existed yesterday, exists today, and will always exist.
This sacred caravan, built on the foundations of sacrifice and the offering of lives, continues to carry the message of awareness, consciousness, and unity to every street and every settlement of Balochistan.
Death comes to everyone, but if it is for a sacred purpose, for a nation or a homeland, then that death itself becomes life.
Farewell Lumma.
