Baloch expats term Pakistani army as 'terrorist army', demand freedom

As the demand for Balochistan's freedom is gaining momentum both inside and outside Pakistan, exiled Baloch citizens recently staged a massive protest here to expose Islamabad's brutalities and state-sponsored terrorism in their province, and dubbed the Pakistani Army as "terrorist army".

Similar protests also took place in Quetta, London and Stockholm on November13 - the day on which the people of Balochistan pay tribute to martyrs of the Baloch freedom struggle every year.

Protesting Baloch expats alleged that tens of thousands of innocent Baloch citizens were mercilessly killed by the Pakistani army in fake encounters and brutal army operations adding that several innocent Baloch civilians have also been killed in terrorist attacks, and the recent attack on Sheikh Noorani Shrine is a latest in series of such killings.

World human rights bodies and activists have also repeatedly expressed their concerns over the genocide, and raised alarms over ongoing state-sponsored terrorism in Balochistan, but to no avail as brutalities continue unabated.

Most of the attacks in Balochistan bore sectarian mark and often is handiworks of Punjab-based terror outfits, which are thriving on funding by the Pakistani army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The protesting Baloch activists squarely blamed the Pakistani army and ISI for the attacks and unrest in their impoverished, neglected and beleaguered province.

"Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and poorest province, where anger against the Pakistan government and the army is growing louder and freedom movement is gaining ground. In a bid to crush the voice of dissent, the Pakistani army is using brute force and hundreds of pro-freedom Baloch activists are being picked up and assaulted by ISI, while some of them were killed, the others are missing yet," said one of the protesters.

Even as the Pakistan army is indifferent, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government hardly bothers about the growing rebellion and anger in Balochistan, they said.

Citing an example of the Sharif government's apathy, they said despite stiff resistances by locals against the Gwadar port project, the Pakistani Prime Minister launched the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in collaboration with China. The work on CPEC is progressing despite protests, they added.