Baloch & Sindhi communities held a protest rally in London against Pakistani state operation in Lyari

Press Release

A protest rally against Pakistani state operation in Lyari was held in front of 10 Downing Street on Sunday May 6 2012. Protest was organised by Baloch Human Rights Council (UK) and World Sindhi Congress. A large number of the Baloch and Sindhis from all over UK attended the rally.

Speakers expressed their solidarity with the people of Lyari and condemned in strongest terms, the brutal and inhuman operation against the Baloch and Sindhi people in Karachi and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan. They termed the operation in Lyari as an extension of genocide acts by Pakistan which is  continuing in Balochistan for the last many years.  The speakers from Sindhi and Baloch Diaspora expressed their anger over shameless and murderous activities of the police headed by a known target killer Choudary Aslam. Speakers called upon the international community to take cognizance of the fact that 2 million people in Lyari were kept hostage for almost 8 days. Children were denied milk, residents were denied food, and medicines. Electricity and water supply of the area was cut off. Dozens of innocent people including women and children were killed mercilessly by the death squads of security agencies. Speakers stressed upon the UK government to take notice of the dirty role of MQM during the operation.

Waja Akber Barakzai, Mir Noordin Mengal, Dr. Lakhu Luhana, Abdulla Baloch, Suhaib Mengal, Hidayat Bhutto, Umer Raeesi, Mansoor Baluch, Rubina Greenwood, Alla Bakhsh Gabol, Samad Baloch and honourable Mir of UK, Mir Ghulam Hussain were among those who spoke on the occasion.

After the demonstration, on behalf of Baloch Human Rights Council (UK) and World Sindhi Congress, a petition was presented to the UK Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron. The petition was handed over by Waja Akber Barakzai, Mir Noordin Mengal and Dr Lakhu Luhana. In the petition, it was stressed that the British government should pressurize the Pakistani authorities to immediately stop the genocide acts against the Baloch and Sindhis.

Issued by:

Samad Baloch

General Secretary

For More pictures of the event please click on the link below,

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.364235060305213.89118.153593348036053&type=3
please click on the link below to view the video of the event;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YypDZOfDMJw&feature=youtu.be

Letter to the British Prime Minister

Right Honourable David Cameron

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

10 Downing Street

London

SW1A 2AA

Dear Mr.PrimeMinister

 Subject: Ethnic cleansing of the Baloch and Sindhis in Karachi, Pakistan

The Baloch Human Rights Council UK (BHRC) and World Sindhi Congress (WSC) is writing this letter  to bring to your kind attention the mass killing of Baloch and Sindhi population of Karachi, which is forcing the indigenous population of the city to flee. This is in order to make way for a demographic shift and the total domination of Indian origin immigrant over the capital city of Sindh.

Pakistani establishment and security forces are systematically massacring the Baloch and Sindhi people for the last many years and the Baloch areas in Karachi have been the killing fields for the Baloch and Sindhis. We have recently learned that hundreds of the Baloch youths, elders, women and children are brutally murdered by Pakistani security forces in Karachi under the façade of an operation against miscreants.

Within last few weeks, there has been a relentless crackdown against the beleaguered Baloch and Sindhi people living in Karachi by the federal and provincial security agencies, in collaboration with powerful mafia in the guise of a political party “the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)”. This party is the political front of Indian immigrants and controlled by a gang of extortionist and murderers and the chief of this party is unfortunately a British citizen living in London. 

As a result of this crackdown on the indigenous Baloch and Sindhi population, hundreds of innocent people have been killed, and thousands have been displaced from their homes. To date none of the personnel from security forces involved in this brutal violation of fundamental human rights of the Baloch and Sindhis in Karachi has been charged nor have any of the culprits been brought to justice. In fact, more brutal operations are being sanctioned by the Provincial and Central Governments of Pakistan with the backing of MQM. 

Mr. Prime Minister

 While the World spoke out forcefully about the repression in the Mildest East and North Africa, Pakistani State moves against innocent Baloch People pressing for their democratic and human rights change is largely unnoticed and unchallenged. In the light of what has been stated above, this is a tip of an iceberg in terms of massive human rights violations which resulted in massacre and forced flee of Baloch and Sindhi People.

Given the special UK ties with Pakistan, BHRC and WSC urges you to give greater priority and prominence to human rights violations issues within this relationship. The public criticisms and harsh sanctions by the UK government of the massacre of innocent Baloch People and harsh suppression of democratic and human rights of Baloch People by Pakistani State would force the Pakistani State to immediately stop their systematic human rights abuses.  BHRC and WSC appeals to you to take urgent action in order to save the life of thousands of innocent Baloch and Sindhis in Karachi.  

We request that your government set an example by using its enormous influence to put political, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the Pakistan government so that it would immediately stop mass killing, execution, torture, disappearance and ill-treatment of the Baloch and Sindhis all across Pakistan. We kindly request you, using the visit of the Pakistani Prime Minister, to help bring to an end such human sufferings of Baloch and Sindhi People.

Thanking you in anticipation,

 Yours Sincerely,

Baloch Human Rights Council (UK)

World Sindhi Congress

Date 6 May 2012