London:
Sindhi and Baloch activists gathered outside Downing Street in London and staged a protest against Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s visit to the UK.
According to media sources in Pakistan, during Qureshi’s UK visit from September 26-29, he will seek financial aid for the government of Pakistan and its proxies in Afghanistan.
The protest organized by the Sindhi Baloch Forum (SBF) highlighted the suffering of people in Sindh and Balochistan. They expressed grave concern over the increasing number of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in both regions, particularly the recent trend of “fake encounters” by the “Counter-Terrorism Department” (CTD) of Pakistani Police in Balochistan targeting the victims of enforced disappearance.
They were chanting slogans and hold placards that read “Pakistan is Committing Genocidal Acts in Balochistan”, “Pakistan is Responsible for Enforced Disappearances and Extrajudicial Killing of Baloch and Sindhi People”, and “No Aid to Pakistan Committing Human Rights Atrocities in Balochistan and Sindh”.
They called on Boris Johnson’s administration to hold the Pakistani leader accountable over rights violations being committed by its security forces in Sindh and Balochistan for the last many years. “Hundreds of Hindu Sindhi girls are being converted to Islam by force”, said the protesters.
Following the protest, the SBF members including Dr. Lakhu Luhana, Samad Baloch, Niaz Baloch, Hakeem Baloch, Mir Ghulam Hussain, and Qambar Malik submitted a petition detailing the various human rights violations in Balochistan and Sindh.
