Pakistan don’t need Baloch, but their resources, says activist

May 08, 2019

Geneva (Switzerland), May 08 (ANI): Historically an independent nation, Balochistan has been subjected to a multi-dimensional plunder and barbarity of Pakistan. While Pakistan has been plundering the resource-rich province in the guise of development and national interest on one side, it’s been using brute force to stifle voices of dissent and resistance on the other. Prominent Baloch activist Karima Baloch is of the opinion that Pakistan has nothing to do with the interests of indigenous people and has been exploiting the region just for its immense strategic importance. On number of occasions, Balochs have staged protests and demonstrations on international platforms against the Pakistani administration. They have highlighted atrocities being committed on them by Pakistan. Pakistan has systematically been carrying out ethnic cleansing in the name of national security. Its forces abduct and kill innocent Balochs and subsequently label them as traitors and extremists. Balochs say that they will not be cowed by such devious moves. A large number of political activists, intellectuals and students have gone missing from Balochistan in the past few years. These people have been allegedly abducted by the Frontier Corps (FC) and other intelligence agencies including ISI, and are languishing in detention centres. The plights of Balochs have compounded since the launch of the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC project as the Pakistan Army has intensified its operations to ensure safe passage to China in Balochistan. Activists accuse that the CPEC project has only brought death and destruction for the local people instead of economic opportunities. They blame that those who have opposed it, have been subjected to torture and violent crackdowns by Pakistani army that has largely been operating at the commands of Beijing.