Baloch, Sindhis and Afghans protest against Pak in Washington

PTI, Aug 15, 2021, 8:23 AM IST

Washington DC: Members of the Baloch, Sindhis and Afghan community living in the United States along with several Bangladeshi migrants and Gilgit Baltistan held a peaceful protest and a car rally against Pakistan’s human rights violations against them.

“All oppressed communities from Pakistan are protesting against the human rights violations against Pakistan. We demand the international community and the United States impose sanctions against Pakistan,” Nabi Baksha Baloch from the Baloch National Movement, US, said during the protest held on Saturday.

The protest in front of the Embassy of Pakistan, where they reached in a car rally, was organised by the “Expose-Pakistan Campaign Committee,” of which Baloch National Movement is part of along with Pashtun Tahafuz Movement – USA, Jiye Sindh Freedom Movement, Human Rights Congress for Bangladeshi Minorities and Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan.

“August 14 is not a day of Azadi (freedom) but the day Pakistan forcefully occupied Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. It is the day when cultural genocide and ethnic engineering started in Sindh. It is the day when Islamic terrorism was imposed on Pashtuns and Afghans to destroy their cultural identity,” the organisers said in a statement.

“It is the day when Hindu citizens lost their right to religious freedom and life,” it said, adding that the protest is organised by the direct victims of Pakistan’s brutal domestic and foreign policy.

Participants said that Pakistan is openly funding the Taliban which is on the list of UN-banned terrorist groups.

“This is a clear violation of UN Charter and the international community should place a ban on the sales of weapons and military hardware to Islamabad. Moreover, we demand that FATF should move Pakistan to the Blacklist,” they demanded.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a Paris based body to combat money laundering terror financing.

“Further, the USA and its allies should impose trade and commerce restrictions on China, Iran and Pakistan for supporting terrorism and genocide. The United Nations should remove Pakistan and Iran from the Human Rights Council,” they said.