Balochistan, Captive Nation

The Balochs deserve support for the same reason Tibetans and Kurds do.

by Josh Gelernter

Tibet’s desire for self-determination is one of the worthier causes-célèbres. On the other side of Asia, the Kurds are fighting Turkey and Iran for control of Kurdistan; since they’re also fighting ISIS “on behalf of the free world” — as a Kurdish diplomat put it — the Kurds’ cause is on its way to being as célèbre’d as Tibet’s. More power to them. Halfway between Tibet and Kurdistan, another people is fighting for self-determination. At the moment, it’s getting little attention and less help. The United States should support a free Balochistan.

Update: Briefing Human Rights Situation in the Province of Sindh

The briefing will include the following speakers:

Hon. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Hon. Congressman Brad Sherman, Hon. Congressman Adam Schiff, Mr. Hasan Mujtaba, Mr. T. Kumar and Mr. Munawar Laghari (Sufi).

Hon. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez:

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is proud to represent California’s 46th Congressional District.

As the second highest ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Rep. Sanchez is a recognized leader on military and national security issues. She currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, where she works to prepare our Armed Forces for a new generation of security challenges. Rep. Sanchez is also a member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, making sure our nation is appropriately prepared for any missile or nuclear attacks.

Kurdistan and Balochistan: Is National Self-Determination a Left/Right Issue?

Is the left becoming suspicious of the idea of self-determination for stateless ethnic groups, just as the right warms up to it?

by: Martin W. Lewis

I have been wondering for some time how the issue of self-determination for so-called stateless nations fits into the standard, one-dimensional political spectrum. Historically, those on the left have been more favorably disposed to “national liberation struggles” than those on the right, who have more often advocated stability and the maintenance of the geopolitical status quo. By the same token, most of the best-known groups of the late 20th century that sought the independence of their homelands staked out positions on the left, and often on the far left. Prominent examples here include the Kurdish separatists in Turkey, Catalan and Basque separatists in Spain, and Quebecois separatists in Canada. Even support for Scottish independence tilts left, and I suspect that most international advocates of a “Free Tibet” lean in the same direction.

Briefing: Human Rights Situation in the Province of Sindh

U. S Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

U.S Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

Currently, there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Sindh province of Pakistan.  The province has emerged as a terrorist safe haven for Islamic extremist seminaries.  The Sindhi people are a minority in the country of Pakistan refusing to support religious extremism and terrorism which has led to the targeting of the people of the Sindh province.

Sindhis are subjected to forced religious conversion, torture, abduction, and death. The extremist seminaries are located along both banks of the river Indus and highway connecting Peshawar and Afghanistan. The community of Sindhis are continually being persecuted and stripped of their rights and freedom.

Pakistan’s ‘Kill and Dump’ policy continues, dead body of Najeeb Baloch found

BALOCHISTAN: Mutilated dead body of Najeeb Baloch son of Karam Dad, found from Turbat.

According to details, Najeeb Baloch a residence of  Badai area of Zamuran, was abducted yesterday on 26 September 2015, from Kech by Frontier Corps (FC) and Pakistani state intelligence agencies in front of many people.

جبر، مزاحمت، مفاہمت

تحریر : ڈاکٹر محمد تقی
ترجمہ : لطیف بلیدی

کوئی یہ سوچے کہ مثال کے طور پر اگر بلوچ کے پاس اپنے فرانس جتنے علاقے کا صرف نصف، انکے گیس اور معدنیات کا ایک معمولی حصہ لیکن دگنی آبادی، بھی ہوتا تو تاریخ کی لہر کیا رخ اختیار کرگئی ہوتی

ستمبر کی 4 تاریخ عظیم اپاچی جنگجو گویاتھلے، جنہیں دوست اور دشمن جیرونیمو کے نام سے بہتر طور پر جانتے ہیں، کی امریکی جنرل نیلسن مائلز کے آگے اپنا ہتھیار ڈالنے کی سالگرہ کا دن ہے۔ 1886ء میں جیرونیمو، جنہوں نے امریکی نوآبادکاروں کیخلاف چیریکاہوا اپاچیوں کے ایک چھوٹے سے جتھے کی قیادت کی تھی، کی مشروط اطاعت والے معاہدے کو مسلح مزاحمت اور دیسی امریکیوں کی جنگوں کا اختتام سمجھا جاتا ہے۔ جیرونیمو، جنہیں شاید تاریخ میں دیسی امریکیوں کا سب سے زیادہ خوفناک اور زبردست مزاحمتی رہنماء سمجھا جاتا ہے، کو آخرکار شکست دینے کیلئے 5000 سے زائد امریکی فوجی اور، زیادہ اہمیت کی حامل، 60 اپاچی اسکاوٹس شریک کار استعمال ہوئے۔ جیرونیمو کو دیگر چیزوں کے علاوہ دو سال کے اندر رہا کرکے ایک تخصیصی جگہ پر رہنے کی اجازت کا وعدہ کیا گیا تھا جس سے وہ تیزی سے مکر گئے۔ انہیں، بشمول خواتین اور بچوں کے، دیگر سینکڑوں چیریکاہوا کے ہمراہ فلوریڈا روانہ کرکے قید کردیا گیا۔ جیرونیمو نے اپنا بیشتر وقت فورٹ پکنز پینساکولا کے اصلاحی قید خانے میں گزارا جبکہ ان کی بیوی کو سینٹ آگسٹین کے فورٹ میریئن میں قید کیا گیا۔

Why is the World Silent Over Massacre of Children in Baluchistan

The tragic incident of the Syrian boy Alan Kurdi has raised several eye brows and heart around the world. All hail to the little kid, that saved several other lives of children around the world. However, in another part of the world, the rights of children continue to be violated brazenly with the army indulging in deliberate killings. How many of those who shared the tragic picture of Alan Kurdi know about the fate of a 10 year old child Chakhar Baluch. In January 2014, the tortured and bullet-riddled body of a 10-year-old was been found in Turbat district of Baluchistan. He was missing from one week, according to the local police. The story of Chokhar Baluch is indeed as tragic and horrifying as that of Alan Kurdi. However, the sordid plight of such children and crimes committed on them by the Pakistani army does not arouse enough international condemnation.

PAKISTAN: Where are the 8,363 Balochis arrested in the last nine months?

 

The Interior Ministry of Baluchistan has recently stated that it has arrested 8363 Baloch over the span of 9 months. Whereas, the Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr. Malik Baloch has said that those arrested will be dealt in accordance with the law.

No further details pertaining to the arrested have been revealed.

The provincial interior minister told reporters at a press conference that 1,800 targeted operations were conducted in the Province between December 2014 and September 2015. The Minister attributed the rise in targeted operations to implementation of the National Action Plan.

Sept 24: Martyr of Freedom – Advocate Ali Sher Kurd

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Balochistan Rights Workers Challenge Government Claim Over ‘Death Squads’

“If they have made any arrests, they should be brought to the public’s notice,” he told RFE/RL’s Gandhara website. “They [the death squads] still exist; maybe they have been weakened, but they still exist.”

By Abdul Hai Kakar & Abubakar Siddique

The most senior elected official in a restive Pakistani province suffering from a simmering separatist insurgency has claimed that government-sponsored militias, locally called ‘death squads’ for their kidnapping and killing of nationalist activists, are no longer active.

But rights campaigners in Balochistan say gangs mostly made up of criminals or strongmen still engage in kidnappings and extrajudicial killings with impunity. Most victims of such violence are Baluch separatists, some of whom are part of decade-old insurgency in the region.