Geneva: Prominent Baloch leader and the Chief of the Baloch Republican Party, Nawab Brahumdagh Bugti accompanied by Nawab Mehran Marri, addressed a side event about Balochistan held at the United Nations.
He began his address by shedding light to the early history of Balochistan saying “To understand the Balochistan problem and sufferings of Baloch people, we need to know the history of Balochistan. During the British era Balochistan was divided into 2 parts, British Balochistan and State Balochistan.
At the time of Indo/Pak partition British Balochistan was forcefully merged into Pakistan against their will and State Balochistan declared its independence. But after nine months Pakistan army forcefully and illegally occupied State Balochistan,” he said adding that the Baloch sufferings started that day and they continue until this very moment.
Mr. Bugti said “In this whole time period we tried so many times to work peacefully within Pakistani framework and get our basic rights including the right to self-determination. But each and every time we got the answer by military operation, torture, illegal detention etc. This is the 5th military operation going on which started in 2005 in Dera Bugti and Kohlu.”
The operation, He said, still continues and being intensified with every passing day. Bombardment of villages, burning of houses, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, mass graves and other war crimes & crimes against humanity were committed on a daily basis by the Pakistani state in Balochistan.
Further elaborating on the atrocities of Pakistan, Mr. Bugti said, More than 20 thousand Baloch civilians, including women and children, have been abducted by Pakistani forces during past one decade while more than 42 thousands have been killed. The victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are mostly political activists, students, teachers, lawyers, intellectuals, journalists and basically the educated class & the cream of the Baloch society.
“Pakistani forces have also been increasingly abducting women and children in past few years. Dozens of Baloch families have been abducted from Dera Bugti, Naseerabad, Turbat and other parts of Balochistan. Killings of the educated class and abduction of women reminds us of the horrors of war crimes in Bangladesh.
Bengali people were lucky to have been hundreds of miles away from Punjabi oppressive rulers and to have a neighboring peace loving country like India that came to their rescue and saved them from evil clutches of Pakistan army.
Unfortunately, the Baloch do not have such advantage. But this does not free India and other neighboring countries and the international community in speaking up for the Baloch genocide by Pakistani state” Mr. Bugti added.
For his Independence Day speech about Balochistan, Nawab Bugti expressed his gratitude toward Mr. Modi saying “We are very grateful to India and Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi for highlighting Pakistani atrocities against the Baloch and speaking up for the Baloch people but there is still a lot to be done.
Not only India but also other neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the entire international community has the duty to speak up against the Pakistani atrocities and human rights violations in Balochistan. It is their duty not only as a responsible neighbors and civilized countries but also as the victims of state sponsored terrorism that Pakistan has been using as a state policy to further its evil agenda in the region and all over the world.”
Urging the human rights organization of taking action against Pakistan atrocities in Balochistan he said “Without taking more time, i would thank you all once again and appeal to the United Nations and its member countries to come forward and speak up against the Pakistani war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Balochistan.”
He hoped for other countries to follow the steps taken by India on Balochistan, saying India has taken the first step and we hope other countries will also follow suit to defeat state terrorism and help the Baloch people achieve their basic human rights, including right to equality, justice and freedom.
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