In the last three months, the exiled Baloch leader from the powerful Marri tribe, who is accused by the Pakistani government of sponsoring the insurgency in troubled Balochistan, has held meetings with Baloch in Norway, Sweden and France.
Last week, Mr Marri was in Norway on the invitation of BSO-Azad where he spoke to a packed house to pay tributes to his brother Balach Marri on his 4th Martyrdom anniversary. “The response I have received has encouraged me a great deal and I am determined to not sit idly and do media work. To meet my own people in Europe has been refreshing and they have supported my campaign for freedom of Balochistan,” Hyrbyair told The News/Geo in an interview.
“We will first, very soon, launch the ‘Freedom Charter’ and once the consultation is complete then the provisional constitution of Balochistan will be written. The manifesto will provide a unity platform to varied Baloch opinions by asking them to agree on the one point of freedom, setting aside all differences,” Marri told this newsman, adding that the manifesto will be released end of December 2011 or early next year, setting before international community the case for Occupied Balochistan.
The basic draft of the charter, Hyrbyair revealed, has been shared with Political parties in Balochistan inviting their input but at the same time urging them to reject the current parliamentary framework, which, he believes, has failed the Baloch.
Speaking about his travel abroad, he said he has listened to the concerns of Baloch in many European cities and everyone agrees that Baloch Diaspora must unite to lead and show to others that they are united.
About Rehman Malik's recent comments being in contact with him, Mr Marri said no such contacts were made. The negotiation can only be about a free and democratic Baluchistan for which thousands Baloch have made the “ultimate sacrifices”.
Those who are doing propaganda, Marri said, in Pakistan and abroad against the Baloch freedom movement are “national criminals” doing the dirty work of Pakistani civil and military bureaucrats.
“We have warned the western countries several times of Pakistan’s support to religious extremists groups and attempts to Talibinise the secular Baluch society but they did not heed to our concerns. However, a recent documentary released by the BBC two confirmed all our apprehensions by revealing Pakistan’s links with Taliban,” he said.
The recent extensive reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about human rights abuses in Balochistan by Pakistani military are commendable but not enough. We need these International Human Rights Organisations to send fact finding missions in Balochistan to investigate the issue of enforced-disappearances and kill & dump of Baloch activists. “There is a big difference between issuing statement and being on the ground physically”.
World should know about the so called Pakistani claims about press freedom after it banned BBC World News TV channel. We told the world long ago that Pakistan has blocked all websites and newspapers that report about Pakistani atrocities against Baloch people and killed several Baloch journalists for objective reporting and telling the truth. Pakistan’s recent arm-twisting with BBC World News TV channel confirms our concerns about Pakistan’s unjustified crackdown against Baloch websites and newspapers.
The organisers of Bonn conference should have taken the Baloch into confidence as well because we too are stake holders in that region and can play an important role in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan doesn’t represent Baloch on such International Conferences and neither can guarantee the peace in the region excluding Baloch Nation. “We, the Baloch, believe that Pakistan is a breeding ground for extremists that are destroying the peace in Afghanistan and attacking International, NATO, forces there.”
By: Murtaza Ali Shah (The News International) & BalochWarna correspondent in London
http://www.balochwarna.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3386
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