May 18, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The killing of prominent Brahvi-language poet, writer and academic, Professor Muhammad Khan, has sparked anger, concern and a demand for immediate investigation into the incident. The poet, better known by his pen name Ghamkwar Hayat, was shot dead in a targeted attack in Balochistan’s Nushki district on Saturday, May 16, after which there was widespread condemnation from rights groups, student organisations, political activists and literary circles on and beyond social media.
According to police, unidentified armed assailants opened fire on Professor ‘Ghamkhwar Hayat’. The incident took place in the morning, at around 11 30, near Killi Mengal area on Saturday while he was travelling to Quetta. The attackers fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
Police reached the site after receiving information about the incident and shifted the body to Teaching Hospital Nushki. After legal formalities were completed, the body was handed over to his family. Authorities said an investigation into the killing had been launched. The poet has left behind a wife and children.
Who was behind the killing?
The killing of yet another intellectual and academic has left Balochistan’s civil society furious.
Rights organisations and activists in the province alleged that the killing was carried out by armed groups they described as state-backed “death squads” – a claim not addressed by authorities, who instead state that it was a banned organisation behind the attack.
“The atmosphere here has been uneasy for some time, but ever since the killing it is even more tense,” says Habib Tahir, the council member of the Balochistan chapter of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “Everyone is grieving the killing. In Balochistan society at large has become very vulnerable, but in particular educated people and intellectuals. From doctors, to poets and academics, everyone is being targeted. Already the province has a low education rate, but after educated people targeted, this has worsened the situation.”
Tahir says that Hayat was a prominent social activist, quite mainstream, and was often seen at many public events.
“It is not like he was one of those poets of resistance who end up becoming a thorn in the side of the authorities – however he may have had political sympathies,” says Tahir. “For instance he was certainly under fire.”
Nushki situation: Life is hell for citizens
The killing is not a one off incident. Violence has been brewing in Nushki since a long time now.
A Nushki local, Yar Muhammad Badini, the editor of a Balochi magazine called Labzabk, reveals that the on-ground situation in the area has been deteriorating for a long time – in particular since two or three weeks.
“There has been a curfew everyday starting from February to now,” he said. “From 8 pm to 8 am, no one can step out,” he says. “Shops are closed and in fact citizens are facing a worse problem with banks. For the past two months, commercial banks have been closed – even National Bank of Pakistan is shut down. Pensioners and government employees cannot collect their salaries. Those that must withdraw money have to travel along distance to go to Kharan or Dalbandin in order to process their cheques or withdraw their salaries. Even then they often face issues concerning signature tally, etc and have to return home empty handed. Often they have to stay back, because of the curfew and they have no lodgings or any accommodation. Imagine if someone has a medical emergency. Life has become hell for people.”
Badini himself had a medical emergency some time ago and had to travel all the way to Quetta for treatment.
The issue of the closure of banks, was taken up in the Balochistan Assembly by National Party President and former Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch who expressed deep concern over the prolonged closure of branches of various private banks including the National Bank of Pakistan in Nushki.
“There were attacks on DC offices, on mines, all these should have also been closed down in that case,” he had stated in the assembly while addressing the Speaker. “Children have not been able to have exams. I request the government to intervene and ask the banks to reopen.”
He also noted that the security situation was getting worse and worse since January this year, when due to unrest, the buildings of the National Bank and other private banks were severely damaged, after which their restoration had not been possible. As a result of this disruption, the local public, especially government employees, pensioners and the business community, were facing severe difficulties. The issue was also taken up in the National Assembly, however till now no action has been taken.
Meanwhile HRCP’s Balochistan chapter President, Habib Tahir says that the recent spate of killings and abductions aimed at several educated people has left citizens more on edge.
Only recently the Vice Chancellor of a university was abducted from Turbat and there is still no trace of him.
In a recent statement Baloch National Movement chairperson Dr Naseem Baluch had said that the incident reminded him of the killing of intellectual Saba Dashtiyari.
Strongly condemning the killing of Professor Ghamkhwar Hayat, he said the incident was part of an ongoing pattern of systematic targeting of intellectuals in Balochistan, and added that this was simply ‘genocide and collective punishment’.
He drew a direct parallel to the assassination of renowned Baloch poet and intellectual Professor Saba Dashtyari 15 years ago, stating that both in killings reflected the same modus operandi of eliminating Baloch intellectual voices. He said the loss of Professor Ghamkhwar Hayat, was irreparable for the Baloch nation and for both the Balochi and Brahui languages.
But Habib Tahir says while the killing of Saba Dashtiyari and Prof Ghamkhwar Hayat were both prominent, many others have also been targeted.
On May 8, Mohammad Akram Jamaldini, a teacher from a boys school was killed in a targeted attack in Kili Jamaldini.
“These have been prominent incidents but there have been many incidents that have happened in silence, and no one has even known about them, and in each of them academics, educated people and intellectuals have been targeted,” he said. “Saba Dashtiyari was a renowned intellectual and we remember how he used to sit with students in a study circle. Many of those became politicians later. But today, the concept of study circles, of academics gathering has diminished greatly in not just the Baloch but also the Pushtun because of this crackdown and repression. We can see this when we observe that not many politicians are emerging from intellectual backgrounds. There is no atmosphere of such things anymore.”
He added that already the situation of education in the province was terrible, but such kind of targeted killings made it worse.
It is ‘death squads’ – groups that allegedly work with the patronage of the authorities – that are being blamed for this security situation.
“They are given power overnight and turned into sardars. They have no qualms in carrying out death sentences for targets, it is said,” said a human rights activist. “These groups are given a freehand in all kinds of corruption so they can carry out the government’s commands.”
Human rights organization Paank released a statement condemning the killing.
Squarely blaming death squads for the killing, the organization also demanded an immediate, transparent, and international investigation into the incident.
“Paank has been documenting and investigating such incidents and believes that the continued killings, enforced disappearances, and targeting of Baloch intellectuals, writers, students, journalists, and activists are part of a systematic campaign carried out through state-backed death squads operating. Professor Ghamkhwar Hayat’s killing follows a long pattern of violence that has robbed the Baloch nation of its scholars, poets, teachers, and voices of resistance.
For years, Baloch families and human rights defenders have documented cases involving extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearances across Balochistan, while perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. The assassination of intellectuals is an attack not only on individuals, but on the collective history, language, culture, and identity of the Baloch people.”
As a result, rights groups and activists demanded an “immediate, impartial and transparent investigation” into the killing and urged journalists, civil society organisations, human rights bodies and the international community to press for accountability.
The most prominent rights watchdog in the province, called the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) strongly condemned the killing, calling it a “profound loss” for a region where, it said, “education and critical thought are increasingly met with repression, and where those who promote knowledge, awareness, and intellectual engagement face persecution, enforced disappearances, and violence by the state and its proxies.” In a press release, the organisation said that Ghamkhwar Hayat had played a major role in promoting Brahui literature, language and intellectual engagement.
Highlighting attacks on academics and intellectuals, the HRCB statement said, “We are deeply alarmed by the growing pattern of violence and repression targeting professors, intellectuals, and members of academic institutions in Balochistan. Recently, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Sabir, Syed Manzoor Ahmed, Dr. Irshad Buledi, along with their driver Hatum, were reportedly subjected to enforced disappearance while traveling on an official visit.
We demand an immediate, impartial, and transparent investigation into the killing of Professor Ghamkhwar and urge international human rights organizations to take urgent notice of the worsening situation faced by academics, intellectuals, and human rights defenders in Balochistan.”
The Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC) also condemned the killing, calling it a “collective attack” on Baloch intellectuals. The group said teachers, poets, writers, students and journalists had long faced repression for spreading knowledge “through the pen and the book.”
According to the BSAC, Professor Hayat was punished for “thinking, writing, teaching, promoting his mother tongue and showing students the path of knowledge.” The organisation described him as a “saviour” of Brahui literature who had played an important role in preserving and developing the language.
Government claims
Meanwhile, officials from the Balochistan government also condemned the attack.
According to statements carried by local media, Balochistan Chief Minister’s aides Shahid Rind and Babar Yousafzai strongly condemned the killing of Professor Ghamkhwar Hayat, and the murder of a female constable, describing the targeting of innocent civilians as an act of brutality.
CM’s Advisor on Media and Political Affairs Shahid Rind termed the attack on the professor an assault on Balochistan’s “intellectual, literary and cultural values” and said that “enemies of knowledge and literature would be brought to justice.”
“Elements hostile to knowledge and the pen, will be brought to justice. Terrorists want to spread fear by attacking teachers, women, and children,” he said. “The government and security agencies are determined to eradicate terrorism.”
Police officials in Nushki said the case was being investigated and that efforts were underway to trace the attackers.
“The state and government has been sleeping so far on the killing of Professor Ghamkhwar Hayat,” says Saleem Shahid, senior journalist based in Quetta.
“Only Shahid Rind, the Aide of the Chief Minister on Media and political affairs has issued a compensation statement in which he expressed serious concern over the killing of the college professor.”
A dedicated intellectual
Ghamkhwar Hayat was born to local Nushki political activist, Abdul Majeed Sasoli. Hayat was serving as an assistant professor at Degree College Nushki and was regarded as one of the leading literary voices in Brahui and Balochi literature. He had authored more than 15 books and translated several important literary works and articles into Balochi. Much of his poetry was written in the Brahui language. He had been widely known in the literary world by his pen name more than his real name, because of his significant literary work and intellectual contributions.
After completing his higher education, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Brahui language in 2014. At the time of his killing, he was serving as an Assistant Professor at Degree College Noshki. Professor Ghamkhwar was a renowned Brahui-language poet, writer, and intellectual who had authored fifteen books and played a significant role in promoting literature, language, and critical thought. His contributions to intellectual and cultural life made him a respected voice within literary and academic circles.
Some time ago, his name had been placed on the Fourth Schedule, following which he was transferred to Sibi. However, he was later reassigned to Nushki. Editor of Labzabk, Yar Muhammad Badini, told Voicepk that his name had been put in the 4th Schedule but it was not an odd thing as this was fast becoming the norm.
“Many names are added to that list for reasons unknown and then later they are also taken off,” he said. “It is not that strange anymore.” He added that Hayat was an excellent translator and had translate his own travelogue. He had been a lecturer since 2014 and Assistant Professor at Degree College Noshki, and had dedicated his life to education, language, and the preservation of Baloch identity through poetry, translation, and scholarship.
In a statement the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that the killing was immensely disturbing and warned that attacks on teachers and academics carried consequences far beyond individual tragedies.
In its statement, HRCP said, “When teachers and academics are abducted or shot dead, the consequences extend far beyond individual tragedies.”
Other rights activists also condemned the incident, calling it “brutal state repression,” adding that Professor Hayat was not only a respected teacher and literary figure but also a voice of “knowledge, culture, and national consciousness.”
A prominent Baloch organization said that targeting of intellectuals, writers and scholars was aimed at “silencing every voice that keeps society politically and intellectually alive. Balochistan had for decades witnessed the systematic targeting of students, political activists, journalists, poets and academics.”
Activist Sammi Deen Baloch said she was “deeply disturbed” by recent attacks on Baloch intellectuals, adding that the killing came shortly after the reported abduction of the vice chancellor and pro-vice chancellor of the University of Gwadar. She warned that the continued targeting of scholars and academics would have serious consequences for society’s intellectual future.
Another activist Dr Sabiha Baloch, said the killing reflected what she described as hostility towards Baloch identity, language and consciousness. Referring to Brahui as a language previously identified by UNESCO as endangered, she said writers such as Ghamkhwar Hayat had struggled to preserve and promote it.
“The killing of a teacher or writer is not merely the elimination of an individual, but an attack on knowledge, consciousness and literature,” she said.
The Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) called the killing another “severe blow to Balochistan’s scholarly, literary and intellectual existence.” The organisation said Professor Hayat’s poetry represented “deprivation, hope, resistance and the pains of life,” while as a teacher he encouraged critical thinking and social responsibility among students.
The BSO stated that societies where writers, scholars and intellectuals become unsafe eventually suffer a decline in collective consciousness, describing people of knowledge as the “lamps of society.”