Baloch activists to protest in Germany on Tuesday

Following their agitation against rights abuses and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Baloch activists will on Tuesday stage protests in three German cities to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

"On August 30 Baloch activists will protest in Dusseldorf, Berlin and Munich against the massacre of Baloch people by Pakistan as well as the CPEC," Faiz Muhammad Marri of the London-based Free Balochistasn Movement told IANS.

The protests will be held by the Baloch National Movement (BNM) that is active in a number of countries.

The International Day of the Disappeared is marked against imprisonment or disapperance of people due to situations like war or conflict.

Earlier, protests were held against the CPEC outside the Chinese embassy in London on Sunday evening when slogans like "No to CPEC" were raised.

According to Farzana Majeed, general secretary of the International Voice for Baloch Missing People group, over 20,000 Balochis have gone missing and thousands killed since 2000.

"Over 20,000 people are missing and around 3,000 mutilated bodies had been found as a result of the kill and dump policy of Pakistan Army and ISI. Thousands more are dead," Majeed told IANS on the phone from Washington.

The Baloch activists are opposing what they term is China's economic aggression in Balochistan and termed this an exploitation of the region's resources.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pointed reference during his August 15 Independence Day speech to the "humanitarian crisis" in Balochistan, the number of anti-Pakistan and anti-CPEC protests has increased.

Several protests with Indian flags and Modi's image alongside that of Akbar Bugti, a prominent Baloch who died in a bomb explsion a decade ago, were reportedly organised in different parts of Balochistan, including capital Quetta and Dera Bugti, one of the region's most restive areas.

More anti-Pakistan and CPEC protests were held across Balochistan on August 26 to commemorate Akbar Bugti's 10th death anniversary.

Hayrbyair Marri, a leader of the Free Balochistan Movement, had earlier praised Modi's support to Balochistan and said he had made a courageous decision to talk about human rights violations in Balochistan.

"His decision shows that India is a modern, democratic and responsible country and it values human rights and wants to play a significant role to counter religious terrorism in the region," Marri had said.

He had also suggested that in an independent Balochistan, the names of roads that had been named after Pakistani leaders be renamed after Baloch martyrs and international friends of Balochistan.

"There are four names that I suggest Balochistan's roads should be named after. These friends of Balochistan are: American Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, Indian leader Narendra Modi and Afghan leader Amrullah Saleh," he said.

--IANS

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