American Friends of Balochistan protest rally outside the White House in Washington D.C. Friday to mark the 12 anniversary of Pakistan testing of nuclear weapons in Occupied Balochistan.
Laurie Deamer’s speech on May 28 Washigton DC protest
Good afternoon.
A cursory literary analysis of the work of poet Mansur Baloch highlights his portrayal of a fisherman who through his constant crying is mistakenly thought to be mad, but the fact is that he weeps for a cause. He weeps because he thinks of Balochistan. He imagines that everything is weeping, including the deep impassable sea, which is filled with his tears of blood.
The poet’s graphic characterization of his grieving homeland is all too appropriate for the occasion we mark today. For today we join in him in mourning Balochistan’s losses resulting from the leadership of Pakistan’s nuclear test initiative at Chagai Hills, twelve years ago. We mourn the fundamental loss of Baloch liberty which undergirded the decision to test, and the loss of entitlement to basic human rights, already in short supply in the underdeveloped province.
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