IN a place like Balochistan, a passion becomes the personification of a person in the face of non-existent job opportunities, no matter how long one tries to run away from it.

At the end of the day, it becomes an integral part of an individual’s life.

Mir Ali Sher, who hails from Quetta, is a good example. He does not remember what inspired him to take up sculpture. “There was an artist in me from day one,” he tells Dawn as to how he became an artist.

“Since my childhood, I had an unusual interest in art. That’s why I am an artist today.”

Sher Ali participated in a two-day sculpture competition at the Balochistan University of Infor­mation Technology, Engi­neering and Manage­ment Sciences two days ahead of the World Polio Day (Oct 24).

His group’s entry for the competition clinched the first prize.

“It is a team work. My team wanted to arouse empathy for people disabled by polio so that they can contribute their bit to society.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the poliovirus has not been wiped out. Twenty cases have been repor­ted from across the country this year. “We chose simple ideas to stress the importance of vaccinating children against polio,” he said.

Polio cases are being reported from Balochistan off and on. There are many people in the province who refuse to get their children vaccinated.

Against this backdrop, the provincial government’s polio emergency operation cell (EOC) orga­nised a sculpture contest. The cell financed their works as well.

“We got ideas from our seniors at the varsity department,” Mohammad Ijaz, a member of Mir Ali Sher’s team, told Dawn.

“We tried to emphasise that a disabled person is just like any other person. So we made two sculptures. One of them showed a disabled man playing football while the other showed a man’s leg tied to a rope.”

Like his class fellow Ali Sher, he laments that material used for making sculptures have become expensive and there is hardly any help from the government for reputed artists, let alone students like himself.

“Most of us are self-made,” he says with pride, requesting the government to pay heed to artists’ grievances.

“The government should pay special attention to young artists because many quit the profession due to modest means.”

Ishaque Lehri, a Quetta-based professional sculptor, has been working for Pakistan Television as a designer.

Like most other artists, he has a story of hardship faced for the sake of his passion.

He created a massive sculpture of philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi a few years ago.

He was a judge at a sculpture competition recently.

In an interview with Dawn, he says he liked the ideas the younger artists had come up with.

Nevertheless, he has a word of caution for them: `But’. “The students could have done much better. There is no room for “jogar” (improvisation) in art. It’s clear they were in a hurry to complete their works in time for the competition.”

Ishaque Lehri has further advice for budding artists: “Artificial elements kill creativity. But it will be unfair not to appreciate the depth of their concepts. The themes were good.”

Mr Lehri wants to see art it its pure form.

The younger artists lay emphasis on the word ‘people’. They argue that art should convey a message.

“I contended in my thesis that power flows from people,” Ishaque Lehri adds in his concluding remarks.

“And politicians derive their power from the people, too.”

I asked him: “What is the title of your thesis?”

“Chess & politics,” pat came the reply.

Anti-polio drive

A five-day anti-polio campaign was launched in Balochistan recently amid tight security. But a policeman and a levies man guarding polio workers were killed in Pishin and Chaman districts during the drive, causing jitters among vaccinators as well as the public at large.

In the past, banned outfits had claimed responsibility for such attacks.

As if this were not enough, the floods did not spare polio workers either.

Sajida is one of the 700 members of the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) who faced misery in Quetta during the floods.

A mother of five children, Sajida told Dawn that she lost everything — her house and other belongings. She is the breadwinner of her family. But her sufferings have failed to deter her from polio duty.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022