Is Balochistan off-key with the rest of Pakistan?
Artistic video highlights troubles of Pakistan’s poorest province.
The video above shows two men playing the popular patriotic Pakistani song “Ye Watan Tumhara Hai” (This country is yours) in front of a map of Pakistan. The first plays the song smoothly while standing in front of the Sindh and Punjab provinces. The second man, seated on the floor in front of Balochistan, plays the song completely out of tune.
The art piece by photographer Sajjad Gohar has been viewed nearly 1,800 times within 8 hours of being posted on Facebook. Gohar did not explain what the video means, but viewers interpreted the piece on their own. Some saw it as an expression of Balochistan’s “suffering”, while others saw it as an expression of the province’s neglect.
A separatist movement in Balochistan, the poorest province in the country, has been fighting for an end to what they see as “the exploitation of their resources by people from other parts of Pakistan.”