BAHAWALPUR/QUETTA: Prominent Baloch politician and National Democratic Party (NDP) president Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch died in a road accident near Bahawalpur on Friday. He was 77.

Dr Hayee, who was travelling from Quetta to Lahore, received serious injuries and lost his life on his way to hospital.

The driver and another man travelling in the car were also injured when their car ran into a trailer while overtaking near Jalalpur Peerwala on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5).

Rescue 1122 shifted Dr Hayee and his companions to the District Headquarters Hospital in Lodhran.

According to the deputy medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Hayee was brought dead at the emergency ward. His body was later handed over to Mukhtar Baloch, a student of the Islamia University, Bahawalpur.

Dr Hayee’s companions — Abbas Ali, 35, and Sohail Atif, 31 — received minor injuries. Another man, Abdul Shakoor, was hospitalised.

Dr Hayee’s son Changez Baloch said his father had left Quetta on Thursday to attend a public meeting of Dr Qadir Magsi’s Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party in Hyderabad after which he intended to go to Lahore to attend a personal engagement.

Political journey

Dr Hayee was a veteran politician who served as a member of both the National Assembly and the Senate from Balochistan.

The veteran leader, born in 1945 in the Bagh area of Kachhi district, acquired his early education from his village school. After completing his FSc, he took admission in Karachi’s Dow Medical College. He later joined student politics and was among the pioneers of the Baloch Students Organisation in Karachi. Due to his active role in nationalist politics, he soon became the organisation’s chairman.

He played a vital role in the agitation against military dictator General Ayub Khan from the platform of the National Awami Party (NAP) and was arrested along with other leaders. In the 1970s, Dr Hayee became an MNA on NAP’s ticket after defeating many towering political leaders of Balochistan.

Along with Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and Jennifer Musa, Dr Hayee was among those MNAs from Balochistan who did not sign the 1973 Constitution document.

Dr Hayee was arrested many times for his hard political stance on the rights of Balochistan and its oppressed people.

He joined different parties during his political career, including Pakistan National Party of Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bezenjo and Balochistan National Movement. He later formed his own party, Balochistan National Youth Movement.

In 2018, Dr Hayee formed a new political party with the name of National Democratic Party.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2022