Pakistan must quit Balochistan; I
can co-exist with a pig, but not a Punjabi, says Mehran
Baluch
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- GENEVA, June 16, 2010: The youngest
son of Balochistan independence leader Nawab Khair
Bakhsh Marri has said the Baloch people have a
simple demand independence and called upon the
Pakistani occupation forces to give a firm timetable
for pullout from Balochistan
Mehran Baluch, who has been Baloch
people's representative at the U.N. Human Rights Council for
10 years now, also urged the Western world for direct talks
with Baloch leaders as he said Islamabad does not represent
popular Baloch aspirations.
He said he dearly misses his slain
brother Balach Marri almost every day. Balach Marri was
killed by Pakistan military on November 20, 2007 in
Lashkargah.
Following is the full text of
Mehran Baluch's speech:
As I stand before you, I feel
pride Pakistan's establishment has miserably failed to crush
the Baloch people's resolve for independence in spite of
barbaric atrocities and Nazi-style brutalities in
Balochistan in five military operations.
Today we as a people and nation
have a simple demand; independence of Balochistan.
Balochistan's history of struggle against the
British colonial rule did not stop with the departure of the
British from Balochistan. It is an irony that though
Balochistan gained independence separately from India and
Pakistan on August 11, 1947, we were deprived of our
short-lived freedom on March 27, 1948 at gun-point.
Balochistan landed in double
jeopardy since then as military of the state of Pakistan,
which in itself is not a very legitimate organization,
became masters of my land, Balochistan. I mean an imperial
power let us go, but we became a neo-colony of a client
state. Many believe we were better off under London more
than 60 years ago than we are now under Islamabad.
In the West there is talk about the David and
Goliath struggle. The heroic struggle of my Baloch people
reminds me of just that.
My salutes to the fallen heroes including
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Waja Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala
Munir Baloch, Sher Mohammad Baloch. My salutes to Hameed
Baloch who was hanged on June 11, 1981 in a Pakistani
gestapo, the infamous Muchch Jail. Exactly on the same day,
29 years later the same spirit of freedom sees two more
Baloch youths Abdus Sattar Baloch and Bebarg Baloch martyred
in Khuzdar on Friday, June 11, 2010. The two martyrs were
not even born when Hameed Baloch was sent to the gallows but
have followed his footsteps to eternal glory
I feel good we have not only talked the talk,
but we have walked the walk. Not a day goes by when I do not
remember my beloved brother Balach Marri, who too followed
the path of the martyrs and blazed the trail for me and tens
of thousands of Baloch men and women that if they want to
see a better future for themselves and their coming
generations, there is no way out but the difficult road of
struggle, tears and blood. Herein lies the national
salvation of the Baloch people.
I am fully aware the struggle for
independence of Balochistan is not a bed of roses. It never
was; it never will be. We are confronted with the world's
fourth largest military, one armed with nuclear weapons,. It
has a budget of $5billion per year. Still, Pakistan is small
fry; even far more powerful armies could not silence the
calls for freedom.
I do not think there is any other
independence struggle today that is as potent and as
promising as the heroic struggle of the Baloch people
against an alien occupation force. Almost with empty hands,
the Baloch sarmachars or freedom fighters have given the
jihadist military generals sleepless nights in the military
headquarters in Rawalpindi. In spite of multiple challenges,
the Baloch have successfully convinced the Punjabi
colonizers that Balochistan is the land of the Baloch, so it
belongs to the Baloch. I am delighted the colonizers are
leaving Balochistan in the tens of thousands. That is a
victory of the Baloch people.
I have two simple demands to make
today here in Geneva. First, Islamabad's military generals
must realize Balochistan is not theirs to keep and they must
give a firm timetable for the pullout of Pakistani troops,
paramilitary forces, military intelligence and infamous
Inter-Services Intelligence sleuths from my homeland.
My second demand is to Western leaders to
talk directly with Baloch leadership if they want peace in
the region, including Afghanistan. This course of action is
in their best interests as well as the lives of tens of
thousands of their young men and women are at stake in
Afghanistan. Just to let you know, Afghanistan was also my
home.
Pakistan's military establishment had used
some Pashtun tribes, including the Mehsuds and Afridis, to
occupy parts of Kashmir. They are using the same ploy today
in Afghanistan to defeat the international resolve to end
terrorism in Afghanistan. Interestingly the chickens have
come home to roost in Islamabad and you see Pakistan in the
headlines almost every other day. As they say, you reap what
you sow.
Let me reiterate the words of Nawab Khair
Bakhsh Marri, who happens to be my father. I can co-exist
with a pig, but not a Punjabi. I say this because the
Pakistani occupation of Balochistan is an ugly form of
Punjabi racism that we are resolved to defeat.Yesterday it
was Chamalang, today it is Mekran. The struggle will
continue.