EP 11 – Iran As I knew it: The School, Gullu Baloch and Kashmir Issue

Gullu Baloch (R) with his brother – look at his confidence !!

By Col V K Bali

It took us three more days to be convinced by dad and Gullu that there were no more dead bodies hanging on the main crossing for us to be afraid of and that we could now walk to and from the School.

So next day we walked to the school and this was going to be the first day at the school. The main road crossing had no gallows this time and everything appeared peaceful. Gullu explained that it was good to have the robbers hanged so that they don’t rob people.

We entered our school compound through the main door with Gullu leading us very confidently like our guardian. We were called into the office of the Headmaster, Shri Asa Singh who looked angry at all times and was very economical in his conversation. He just told us to come in time, work hard, do our homework, avoid mischief and be good students…Otherwise… ( he didn’t have to elucidate further. With his body language and the two canes nearby his table were very convincing).

He called in a student asking him to take me to my class teacher, Mr Phula Singh. When I entered the class room, I saw Phula Singh engrossed in what he called ‘ Straightening ‘ the students….that really terrified me. He must be in mid 30s, short, some five feet plus, plump and did fast work with his hands. Busy with his student Straightening Process, his eyes fell on me….some mean eyes, a bit sadistic looking and a twisted smile on his lips. He asked me to take a seat and continued with the arithmetic lesson. After the class, the curious fifteen or so students started shyly to introducing themselves to me. There were more girls students than the boys and I made a good friend in Narender Singh ( Nallu..for short…always with a running nose ) and Manjit Kaur who was quite studious. She soon confided in me that after clearing 8th class she would go to India for higher education unlike her elder sisters who was married a few years after 8th class in Zahedan itself to a Sikh business man.

We also had two brothers as students from Pakistani Mission at Zahedan.


The third teacher was a very old Sikh gentleman who was called Mr White ( Chitsira in Punjabi…due to his flowing white beard and totally white hair ) I never heard him, just saw him around…he used to teach Gurmukhi – the Punjabi script which was not my subject and only sikh students attended it.

The school must have had about sixty students in total from all classes. However only 6th, 7th and 8th classes were conducted as a class and the rest of the students, about 30 or so used to be on one class room being taught in small groups by one teacher. That’s how 3 teachers including the Headmaster ran the entire school.

The school started quite early and the first thing was the morning prayer or Ardas ( as they call it in Punjabi) where we had to remember the Sikh gurus Shabad as follows-
Marey Deen ke het,
Soora so hi
Soora so hi
Tukde Tukde Kat marey
Marey Deen ke het
Soora so hi
Soora so hi……

( The Brave Ones were those who fought for their religion,

They fought even when the enemy cut them to pieces……there were long verses that I don’t remember now..
Just the opening header of Ardas is etched in my memory….it’s very motivating and referred to the persecution of Hindus and Sikh gurus by Muslim rulers like Aurangzeb ).The Pakistani students were obviously not asked to recite shabads due to their religion.

The real education was at home in the evening when Dad taught us math, English grammar and sanskrit with bits of history.
He also taught us Persian script so that we could read general public information and converse in it. Soon we could reasonably converse in Persian language.

Meanwhile Gullu Baloch had taken upon himself to be our friend, guide, protector, sort of teacher and was our guide for interaction with the locals.Gullu Baloch taught me to use sling shot expertly for hunting birds, and throwing his flying axe with a short handle.

I saw him killing a desert snake by throwing his spinning axe at the snake and beheading it from a distance.He was also good in fighting and could bring down his opponent with just a kick. He must be just about 5 years older than me but very wise for his age. He had all the soldier like qualities and skills, in fact he was like a soldier without uniform.

One day Gullu Baloch introduced me to a local Iranian boy from neighbourhood by the name of Ali.

Ali was putting on his skull cap as he was coming home from the nearby mosque…it was Friday…Jumma Roz,that is.

After our introductory conversation, Ali asked me if I had been to Kashmir in India. I told him that I had not been there so far( as I hardly had stayed in India till then ). Then Ali said that Kashmir should not belong to India but to Pakistan. He further informed me the mosque Maulvi Sahab had told this to everyone after the namaz.

I didn’t say anything coz Kashmir was hardly of any interest to me but still decided to check up with my dad later. Dad heard me patiently and told me to convey to Ali that Kashmir was part of India only and will always remain so.

Few days later while loitering around with Gullu Baloch in the evening near a nearby shop, I met Ali again. I told Ali that Kashmir was very much part of India and not Pakistan, as told by the Maulvi I’m Friday prayers. We nearly came to blows over this Kashmir Issue till Gullu Baloch put a stop to it. He told Ali that Kashmir was India and told him to inform his Maulvi accordingly.

Later Ali became a good friend after the Kashmir Issue was settled by Gullu Baloch.

Little did I know that ten years later in 1971 I would be fighting a war to save Kashmir for India as a young Indian Army officer. Also as things are moving, may be a new Republic of Balochistan will finally resolve the Kashmir issue !!!