GENEVA: Sindhi, Baloch, Pashtun, Kashmiri, Gilgit-Baltistani and Saraiki are subjugated nations under Pakistani occupation, says Suhail Abro
Sohail Ahmed Abro, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM), told the Balochistan Conference in Geneva that Balochistan was a free and sovereign state for centuries before being occupied by the Pakistani military on March 27, 1948 the same fate, he said, that befell Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and other parts of the subcontinent.
He was addressing the 12th Balochistan International Conference, organized by the Baloch National Movement (BNM). Abro has previously represented Sindh at United Nations Human Rights Council programs in Geneva.
Abro said Balochistan is “a land of grief,” despite possessing uranium, minerals, the Saindak project, the Reko Diq project, the Dadhar project, the Dalbandin project, coal mines, gas reserves and an extensive coastline. Pakistani imperialism, he said, is not concerned with the people of Balochistan but with its minerals and land.
He said more than 30,000 Baloch people are victims of enforced disappearance, and that genocide against them is ongoing. Over the years, he said, more than 8,000 Baloch people have been killed, and the Pakistan Air Force recently carried out bombing in Sorab.
He said Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns, Kashmiris, Gilgit-Baltistanis and Saraikis are all subjugated nations under the occupation of Punjab and Pakistan.
Since they share a common adversary, he proposed international coordination, joint strategy, shared struggle and mutual cooperation among all subjugated nations, “so that we may achieve, in due time, the goals of Sindhudesh, a free Balochistan, a free Jammu and Kashmir, a free Pakhtunistan, a free Gilgit-Baltistan and Saraikistan.”
On this occasion, he called on the United Nations to organize and hold referendums on the right to self-determination and independence in Balochistan, as well as in Sindh, Pakhtunkhwa, Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Saraiki Wasaib, “so that we may emerge as sovereign states and become members of the United Nations.”
He closed his speech with a quote from Sain G.M. Syed: “Freedom is our right, freedom is possible, and one day we will achieve freedom.”
