As Imran Khan desperately tries to turn the global spotlight in Kashmir, he conveniently continues to turn a blind eye on the atrocities committed by his government in Balochistan.
However, the Baloch have decided enough is enough and have been carrying out protests in the US since the past few days, highlighting the human rights violations committed by the state of Pakistan in the region.
The protests have been escalating ever since Imran Khan arrived in the USA with the recent protest coinciding with his speech at the UNGA. The World Baloch Organisation has recently launched an awareness campaign in New York and it also said to have sponsored a plane which recently flew over the Statue of Liberty with the banner ‘UN must help end human rights abuses in Balochistan banner’.
“Pakistan is a virus not just for India, Afghanistan or Balochistan, but for the entire world & humanity. We aim to expose the real face of Pakistan before the world & let the world know that Pakistan is a blot on humanity” the Central Council Member of Free Balochistan Movement, Shams Baloch was quoted.
Trucks carrying digital ads with messages about atrocities against migrants in Karachi have been running across New York including the Times Square.
In a major embarrassment, former Karachi Mayor Wasay Jalil also slammed Pakistan as he alleged that the country commits atrocities against the Muslims who have migrated from India during the 1947 partition. He said: “We have lost more than 25,000 lives & there have been thousands of forced disappearances. We want to apprise the world of our situation caused by Pakistan”.
The Baloch are leaving no stone unturned to showcase the true face of Pakistan to the whole world as reports of disappearances and severe human rights abuses by the military in the region were presented before the UN in Geneva by the Baloch Human Rights Council.
The Pakistan Army is famous for its horrendous rape and pillage policy which is used to freely practice in erstwhile East Pakistan and have now adopted the same policy in Balochistan as reports have emerged that the military has been accused of raping two Baloch women last month.
Pakistan has always seen Balochistan as a resource-rich region and has always sought to exploit it one way or the other ever since it occupied it illegally during the partition of 1947.
The Baloch have been deprived of basic amenities and under the garb of China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Pakistan military is burning villages in a bid to uproot Baloch from their homes to make room for the settlement of Chinese colonies.
Balochistan continues to be neglected as its women and children are routinely abducted, harassed, and tortured by the Pakistani security forces. Over 57% of people in Balochistan fall under the poverty line and aren’t able to afford two square meals for their children which has led to five in ten children being malnourished in Balochistan. The literacy rate is also poor as out of every 100 children, 63 are not in school.
According to official government estimates, over 5,000 people have been reported missing in the last five years from the region with most of them are yet to be found till date. However, according to independent estimates, the number of people who have mysteriously disappeared is way over 20,000 as Pakistan continues to deprive the region of basic human rights, forcing the locals to flee from their homes to accommodate the Chinese.
Imran Khan cannot continue with his desperate attempts to internationalise the issue of Kashmir without inviting scrutiny over its actions in Balochistan. It seems that the Baloch have had enough of Pakistan and Imran Khan’s antics and have decided to humiliate the revanchist state on a global level.