Zarina Baloch () (29 December 1931 – 25 October 2005) was a Sindhi

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

singer, vocalist and composer from the

Sindh province Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind or Scinde) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest provin ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. She was also an actress, Radio and TV artist, writer, teacher for over 30 years, political activist and social worker. She is notable for her revolutionary songs and resistance against the military dictatorship of

General Zia Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

Early life and family

She was born on 29 December 1931 in Allahdad Chand Village,

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Sindh, Pakistan her mother, Gulroz Jalalani, died in 1940 when Zarina was six years old. She studied with Mohammad Juman, who was also a Sindhi singer. At the early age of 15 years, her family arranged her marriage with a remote relative. She had two children: Akhter Baloch also known as Zina (born in 1952), and Aslam Parvez (born in 1957). However, Baloch and her husband disagreed on the subject of her

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

and the pair were separated in 1958. Baloch joined Radio Hyderabad in 1960 and received her first Music Award in 1961. Then Zarina married Sindhi politician

Rasool Bux Palijo Rasool Bux Palijo ( Sindhi, ; 21 February 1930 – 7 June 2018) was a Pakistani leftist, Marxist leader, scholar and writer. He was a leading human-rights lawyer and the leader and founder of Awami Tahreek, a progressive and leftist party. ...

, their marriage took place in

on 22 September 1964 and they had a son,

Ayaz Latif Palijo Ayaz Latif Palijo ( Sindhi, ; born 15 November 1968) is a politician, lawyer, activist, writer and teacher. Palijo is the current president of Qomi Awami Tahreek (Peoples National Movement), central convener and founder of the Sindh Progressiv ...

. In 1967, she became a teacher at the Model School

Sindh University The University of Sindh (; ; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro in the Sindh province. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certified by ISO in 2 ...

. She retired in 1997 and died in 2005 of

Brain Cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

Liaquat National Hospital The Liaquat National Hospital is located at Stadium Road, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. History Soon after Independence the Red Cross Fete Committee, which was chaired by Syed Wajid Ali, raised about PKR 800,000 through meena bazaars organized un ...

Imprisonment and political activism

In 1979, Zarina was arrested and imprisoned in

Sukkur Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

jails for leading the protests against President General Zia ul Haq's

Martial Law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

. Because of her struggle against the

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the class who own the means of production in a given society and apply ...

es and against

gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

and martial laws of

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

and

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

, she earned the title of ''JeeJee'' (mother) of the

Sindhi people Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan Ethnicity, ethnic group originating from and native to Sindh, a region of Pakistan, who share a common Sindhi culture, History of Sindh, history, #History, ancestry, and Sindhi language, langua ...

.In loving memory: Jiji Zarina Baloch remembered
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 26 October 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2018 She was one of the leading founders of

Sindhiani Tahreek Sindhiani Tahreek (, "Sindhi women's movement") (also known as The Sindhiyani Tehreek) is a women-led political organization formed by rural women in Sindh, the southern province of Pakistan. History Sindhiyani Tehreek was launched in 1980 by ...

Women's Action Forum Women's Action Forum (WAF) is a women's rights organization in Pakistan. History Women's Action Forum (WAF) was established in Karachi in September, 1981Sindhi,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Seraiki, Balochi,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Arabic and Gujrati.

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

in 1994 *

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Chaudhry Faiz Ahmad Faiz (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984) was a Pakistani poet and author of Punjabi and Urdu literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time, and his works and ideas r ...

Award *

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I ...

(PTV) Award *

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sayyid Shah Hussain Jafari al-Marwandi , (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (), was a Sufi saint and poet who is revered in South Asia. In Taqaiyah, his maternal grandfather changed his name to Usman al-Marwandi o ...

Award *

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic and poet from Pakistan, widely considered to be the ...

Award

Art and literary contributions

She wrote many songs and poetry which became popular among the nationalists in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. She was the author of several stories and poems, and her Book "Tunhinjee Gola Tunhinjoon Galhion" was published in 1992.

Famous songs

* Mor Tho Tilley Rana * Sabhka Moomal Sabbko Raarno * Tunhnjii Yaarii * Sindhri tey sir ker na dendo * Kaang Lanvain * Guzrii Vaii Barsaat * Bbii Khabar Na Aahai Par * Kiin Karyaan Maan * Jjariyan Bhar Jaaiyoon * Saavak Rat main Saanvara * Paee Yaad Aaya * Gehraa Gehraa Nairn

References