Washington, Nov 15 (PTI) The US today said it has concerns about the human rights situation in Balochistan and that over freedom of press, but does not support a separatist Baloch movement.
"You know, more broadly, we do have concerns about the situation in Baluchistan. We’ve addressed those concerns with the government of Pakistan," State Department spokesperson, Mark Toner, told reporters at his daily news conference.
However, when asked about news reports in a section of the Pakistani press that the United States was supporting the separatist movement in Balochistan by granting asylum to a Baloch journalist, he said: "That''s not the case".
"We have broader concerns about the situation there and the freedom of the press in Pakistan, and when we do have those concerns, we raise them with the government of Pakistan," he said.
http://news.in.msn.com/international/ ... spx?cp-documentid=5596282
From the Pakistani Press: US move to grant asylum to Baloch journalist called ‘unusual’
WASHINGTON - In an ‘unusual decision’, the US has granted political asylum to a Pakistani journalist from Balochistan despite Pakistan being a democracy with a vibrant news media, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Siraj Ahmed Malik, who is on a fellowship at the University of Arizona, applied for asylum on August 19th following reports he received of kidnappings and killings of his fellow journalists and friends in Balochistan.
Two weeks ago, the Post said, Malik’s petition was granted, the newspaper said. ‘It was a highly unusual decision by US immigration officials, given Pakistan’s status: a strategic partner in Washington’s war against Islamic terrorism; a longtime recipient of US aid; and a democracy with an elected civilian government and vibrant national news media’, Pamela Constable, the veteran Post correspondent, wrote, without elaborating.
In his petition, Malik, 28, said that his work as a journalist and ethnic activist in Balochistan, where he had exposed military abuses, made him likely to be arrested, tortured, abducted and ‘ultimately killed by the government’ if he returned.
‘I never wanted to leave my country, but I don’t want to become a martyr, either’, said Malik, who now lives in Clarendon, Virginia, from where he checks with sources back home to update his online newspaper – ‘Baloch Truth’.
‘What’s going on in Balochistan is like the dirty war in Argentina’, he was quoted as saying by the Post.
‘I need to be telling the story, but I can’t afford to become the story’.
Malik acknowledges that as an advocate for the Baloch nationalist cause, his journalism is hardly neutral.
‘Balochistan needs a messenger to the world’, he said, itching to get back to his reporting. ‘Here in the US, I don’t have an office or money, but at least I can stay alive and get the message out’, he added.
At the State Department’s daily briefing Monday afternoon, when an Indianjournalist questioned about Malik’s case, the spokesman said that cases like these involved confidentiality. The United States, he said, was working with Pakistan to strengthen democratic institution, but Washington does have some concerns that were raised with Pakistan from time to time.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-ne ... journalist-called-unusual
"You know, more broadly, we do have concerns about the situation in Baluchistan. We’ve addressed those concerns with the government of Pakistan," State Department spokesperson, Mark Toner, told reporters at his daily news conference.
However, when asked about news reports in a section of the Pakistani press that the United States was supporting the separatist movement in Balochistan by granting asylum to a Baloch journalist, he said: "That''s not the case".
"We have broader concerns about the situation there and the freedom of the press in Pakistan, and when we do have those concerns, we raise them with the government of Pakistan," he said.
http://news.in.msn.com/international/ ... spx?cp-documentid=5596282
From the Pakistani Press: US move to grant asylum to Baloch journalist called ‘unusual’
WASHINGTON - In an ‘unusual decision’, the US has granted political asylum to a Pakistani journalist from Balochistan despite Pakistan being a democracy with a vibrant news media, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Siraj Ahmed Malik, who is on a fellowship at the University of Arizona, applied for asylum on August 19th following reports he received of kidnappings and killings of his fellow journalists and friends in Balochistan.
Two weeks ago, the Post said, Malik’s petition was granted, the newspaper said. ‘It was a highly unusual decision by US immigration officials, given Pakistan’s status: a strategic partner in Washington’s war against Islamic terrorism; a longtime recipient of US aid; and a democracy with an elected civilian government and vibrant national news media’, Pamela Constable, the veteran Post correspondent, wrote, without elaborating.
In his petition, Malik, 28, said that his work as a journalist and ethnic activist in Balochistan, where he had exposed military abuses, made him likely to be arrested, tortured, abducted and ‘ultimately killed by the government’ if he returned.
‘I never wanted to leave my country, but I don’t want to become a martyr, either’, said Malik, who now lives in Clarendon, Virginia, from where he checks with sources back home to update his online newspaper – ‘Baloch Truth’.
‘What’s going on in Balochistan is like the dirty war in Argentina’, he was quoted as saying by the Post.
‘I need to be telling the story, but I can’t afford to become the story’.
Malik acknowledges that as an advocate for the Baloch nationalist cause, his journalism is hardly neutral.
‘Balochistan needs a messenger to the world’, he said, itching to get back to his reporting. ‘Here in the US, I don’t have an office or money, but at least I can stay alive and get the message out’, he added.
At the State Department’s daily briefing Monday afternoon, when an Indianjournalist questioned about Malik’s case, the spokesman said that cases like these involved confidentiality. The United States, he said, was working with Pakistan to strengthen democratic institution, but Washington does have some concerns that were raised with Pakistan from time to time.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-ne ... journalist-called-unusual
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