In a nation brimming with diverse communities and layered histories, some identities quietly recede into obscurity. One such community is the Baloch of India—a people with a storied past rooted in royal courts, martial service, and now, a fight for cultural survival. While the Baloch are more commonly associated with Pakistan and Iran, India too is home to an estimated 15 to 20 lakh Baloch, many of whom have been here for centuries.
In this in-depth conversation, ForPol’s Mark Kinra speaks with Makrani Yusuf Baloch, a respected member and community leader, who currently resides in India and heads the Baloch Welfare Association. His voice carries both the pride of legacy and the urgency of a people fading from national consciousness.
Roots in the Royal Past
Yusuf Baloch hails from Nipanya, a modest village located near the border of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in the historically rich Malwa region. It is here, he says, that the story of the Indian Baloch truly begins—not with migration, but with invitation.
“Our forefathers were brought by Rajput kings,” Yusuf explains. “They served as guards, warriors, and administrators for the royal courts of Devgarh, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, and Banswara.”
This wasn’t token symbolism. The Baloch were trusted allies—given command over fortresses, responsible for security, and woven into the feudal fabric of these princely states. In Sukheda, for instance, Yusuf points to the Makrani Gate, a still-standing structure built in honor of one of his ancestors.
Yusuf’s family was closely tied to figures such as Shri Chandraveer Singh ji of Sukheda, and his recollections are peppered with names of kings and noblemen. These are not distant legends—they are part of living memory.
Lineage of Warriors: The Baloch Contributions to India’s Heritage
Throughout the interview, Yusuf highlights stories of heroism and honor from the Baloch community. Among them:
- Pinduk Muhammad Jamadar, who served in Devgarh and Dungarpur, was given the military command. He built the Pal Mosque in Dungarpur and is buried in Arnod, Rajasthan—where his grave remains a site of reverence.
- Naseer Mohammad Makrani of Sukheda on whose name Makrani Gate is made.
- Yaar Muhammad Jamadar, Yusuf’s maternal great-grandfather, served in Badi Sarwan and Amargarh, towns established under the aegis of Rajput kings with Baloch aid. He is remembered as a key figure in local defense and governance.
- Most notably, Yusuf recalls Qadarbakhsh Makrani, a legendary rebel from the Baloch community who resisted British rule in Gujarat. “He was a freedom fighter,” Yusuf says. “A warrior who opposed colonial injustice and oppression.” Today, Makrani lives on through Gujarati folklore, folk songs, and even films—though his grave now lies across the border in Karachi.
These stories represent more than nostalgia—they are testaments to a legacy buried under official silence.
A Community at the Margins
Despite centuries of service to Indian soil, the Baloch in India remain invisible in mainstream discourse.
“There are over 15 lakh Baloch in India today,” Yusuf notes. “But we are politically and culturally erased. There’s no representation, no recognition, and increasingly—no identity.”
He explains that many Baloch families have been forced to assimilate into other Muslim communities, adopting surnames like Khan or Sheikh. Their children grow up with no awareness of their heritage, and the Balochi language is vanishing, overshadowed by dominant regional tongues like Gujarati, Malwi, and Rajasthani.
“Language is the first casualty of cultural death,” Yusuf says. “Once it’s gone, everything else follows.”
The Baloch Welfare Association: Resisting Erasure
To push back against this slow disappearance, Yusuf founded the Baloch Welfare Association (India)—a grassroots initiative aimed at unifying and empowering Baloch families across the country.
“It’s not just about cultural pride,” he explains. “It’s about economic empowerment, education, political visibility, and preventing identity loss.”
The association advocates for:
- Scholarships and educational support for Baloch students.
- Documentation and awareness campaigns about Baloch heritage.
- Job opportunities, especially in security services where the Baloch have historic experience.
- Formal recognition within national reservation frameworks and census categories.
“We need the government’s support,” Yusuf insists. “Ten or twenty people alone can’t lift a community. We need policies. We need visibility.”
Bravery Isn’t New to the Baloch
Yusuf passionately reminds us that the Baloch people have always been brave and disciplined—a community fit for roles in law enforcement, defense, and public administration.
“If given the chance,” he says, “we could serve the nation again, just as we did in the time of forts and kings.”
But today, many live below the poverty line. Most Baloch youth face economic hardship, poor access to education, and no structured platform to speak for them.
“The fight now,” he says, “is not with a foreign empire—but with ignorance, apathy, and invisibility.”
India’s Forgotten Frontline
Makrani Yusuf’s story is not just about his ancestors—it’s a mirror held up to the nation.
It forces us to ask: How many communities like the Baloch are written out of our textbooks, our politics, our public imagination? How many have been reduced to footnotes in their own homeland?
In an age obsessed with reclaiming history, perhaps it is time India also reclaimed those who shaped its very foundations, brick by brick, sword by sword.
ForPol remains committed to amplifying such lost voices—because only through such truth-telling can we begin to repair the ruptures of remembrance.
