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Non-Baluchi Litrature در بلوچی زبانانی ادب => English Stuff => Topic started by: Thangi Baloch تنگی بلوچ on February 28, 2011, 08:23:29 AM
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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/February/theuae_February710.xml§ion=theuae (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/February/theuae_February710.xml§ion=theuae)
Balochs remember balladeer Kamalan
Nissar Hoath
28 February 2011, AJMAN — The Baloch expatriate community in the UAE last week remembered its legendry folklore balladeer Mulla Kamalan, who earned the Pride of Performance by the Khatami Government in Iran and citizenship in early 1960s from the Oman Government. Over 1,500 Baloch expatriates from Pakistan, Iran and neighbouring Gulf countries gathered in the emirate on Thursday to remember one of the most famous singers and scholars of Baloch history.
A large number of guests, including poets, scholars and singers from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Pakistan and Scandinavia attended the function to pay tributes. Three famous singers, Basham Baloch, Arif Baloch and Mohammed Alam, came from Pakistan to perform at the memorial show.
Kamalan was famous throughout Iranian and Pakistani Balochistan as well as in Afghanistan’s Baloch province of Nimorze and Turkmenistan’s southern Merve (Mary) region.
The first anniversary of the legendary singer was observed by the UAE-based Syed Labzanki Majlis (Syed Literary Council) with the support of Baloch Cultural Council. Mulla Kamalan was born in 1936 in Latidan, Dashtiyari District of Chabahar, and the port city of Iranian Balochistan across the Arabian Gulf. He died of natural death in the early hours of February 21, 2010.
The chief guest at the function was former Chief Minister of Balochistan and leader of Balochistan National Party (BNP) Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal. The keynote speech was delivered by Aziz Dad Yar who came from Sweden to pay tributes to Kamalan. The other guests included Siddique Baloch, Editor-in-Chief and owner of Balochistan Express Group of Newspapers, and Major (retired) Majeed from Oman, whose collections of poems was also launched at the show.
“We have lost a great institution in Mulla Kamalan’s death. Mulla’s type of singing that has been passed on to one generation to another has helped archive Baloch history,” said Mengal.
Kamalan’s type of singing was called shehr, narrating historical events accompanied by two instruments called chung (a two-string guitar) and suroze (like a violin), very similar to that of Gulf Arab folklore songs. Some of his famous shehrs include the history of the 30-year-old war of the Great Chakar and Gohram of Rind and Lashar Baloch tribes that goes into 1,200 verses.
Dad Yar shed light on the life of the legendry singer and his fame among 20 million Baloch around the world. Dr Abdul Aziz Kalmati, another scholar, spoke about his ballades of over 400 songs or narrations of historical facts, each taking an hour.
Siddique Baloch told Khaleej Times that Kamalan had earned his title of Mulla due to his sharp memory of narrating historical events. “Mulla in Balochi means a wise-man or a scholar a title that is earned by poets, singers teachers and so on,” he said. It has been wrongly interpreted to fundamental religious elements. Kamalan earned the title at the age of 15 when he first sang in the court of the most reputed notables in his hometown.”
Alam Sardarzai, who was close to the later singer, said: “Mulla Kamalan has never been to a school, but he was a great philosopher and historian. If we collect and document his folklore ballades of historical facts and print them out, we may need a huge library.”
nissar@khaleejtimes.com