WASHINGTON, August 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Jura and Balochistan House jointly sponsored an event at
Capitol Hill, Washington DC on
July 22, 2015, to highlight the
issue of minority rights in Pakistan.
The event was hosted by US Congressman Chris Smith of New
Jersey, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Sub-Committee of the US Congress. Among the
prominent speakers were Canadian MP and Jura
Chairman Russ
Hiebert, Italian Member of the European
Parliament Elisabetta
Gardini, Executive Director of Balochistan
House, Tarek Fatah, and Baloch leader and
activist Mehran
Baluch.
In his remarks, Canadian MP Russ Hiebert
highlighted the injustice and oppression faced by the people
of Baluchistan at the hands of their own Government. He
also spoke at length on the methods used by the Pak army to
torture and breakdown activists and leaders of the minority groups,
in an effort to ensure their subjugation.
Italian MEP Elisabetta Gardini highlighted
the extrajudicial disappearances and killings of Baloch people
by the Pakistani authorities, and the growth of terror
organizations within Pakistan. She
added that international terrorists like Mullah Omar,
Hafiz Saaed, and Zakiur Rehman
Lakhvi carry out their nefarious activities from
Pakistani soil, and under State patronage. Executive Director of
Balochistan House, Tarek Fatah highlighted the critical threat that
Pakistan poses to the United States and Western nations, by
providing a safe haven for terrorist organisations, and by allowing
the Chinese military to gain control of the strategic
Gwadar Port close to the essential Persian Gulf petroleum
shipping lanes. In his address, Baloch leader and
activist Mehran Baluch stated that Pakistan is committing serious human rights
violations in Balochistan, and
through its policies, is changing the character of the secular
Baloch into religious extremists. He added that
the Pakistan State had unleashed its proxy groups like
Lashkar e Jhangvi and Jamat ul Dawa, who are building Madarsas
throughout Baluchistan, preaching hatred, targeting women's
education, throwing acid on girls and killing religious minorities
like Shias, Zikris, Ahmadis and Hazaras.
Congressman Chris Smith, in his
capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Sub-committee of
the US Congress, announced the holding of a meeting of the
Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee shortly, to hear expert
witnesses who would testify on "Ethnic and Religious Minority
Rights in Pakistan".
SOURCE Baluchistan House