March 10th, 2006. Nader Baloch of Baloch Action Committee speaking at the Toronto rally. Photo by Dr. Wahid Baloch
Toronto Rally Against the Pakistani Military Operation in
Balochistan and building Mega Dams in Sindh.
March 10th 2006: A joint protest Rally was held at the Consulate General of Pakistan, 240 Duncan Mill
Road, North York, Ontario, Canada, by the World Sindhi Institute, the World Sindhi Congress, the Baloch
Society of North America, the Sindhi Association of North America, Friends of South Asia, Baloch Human
Rights International and Baloch Action Committee of Canada was to draw the attention of western public
and media to the gross human rights abuse and violations taking place in Sindh and Balochistan.
Children, men and women, young and old had left homes, schools and jobs for the day to show solidarity
and unity with the struggle against the military operations in Balochistan and building mega dams in Sindh.
The first speaker Mr Zulfiqar Khwaja, representative of WSI in Toronto said that Sindh joined the federation
of Pakistan on the basis 1940 resolution. Instead of the freedom and autonomy granted by this covenant we
received only broken promises, he said . Even now blatant lies are being presented as truth . Our people
who speak out against dams and demand basic human rights are arrested without reason or on false
charges like Samiullah Kalhoro and then tortured to death. Recently a sindhi American (Safdar Sarki) on a
visit to Karachi was picked up , beaten bloody and then carried away to an unknown destination . Nobody
knows where he is. The army shows bravery by terrorizing and raping innocent civilians , but when they are
on the battle field like in the1971 war they surrender like cowards.
Ibrahim Nasar, general secretary of Pushtun Cultural Center also spoke in favour of Pushtun rights and
against military government.
Niaz Salimi expressed solidarity with the Sindhis and Baloch on behalf of the Center for Thought, Dialogue
and Human Rights in Iran .
Mr Facado Ebba of the Oromo people (Ethiopia) himself a survivor of torture spoke out against human
rights violations and military rule. At this point the slogans raised were “no more torture”. Mr Atif Mehmood a
Punjabi student spoke in support of baloch and sindhi cause and said ordinary Punjabis were sympathetic
to the plight of the Baloch and Sindhis
Dr. Wahid Baloch of Baloch Society of North America condemned the 5th military operation being carried
out in Balochistan .We Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun are united against the military operation and building
military cantonments in Balochistan and mega dams in Sindh. he said.
Ms . Raheela Khwaja a young doctor from Sindh speaking to OMNI TV said all sindhis are against dams
and we want control over our own water resources. Since 60 years we are getting less and less water in
Sindh.
Nadir Baloch speaking on behalf of Baloch Action Committee of Canada said that the Baloch people are
very tired. They want peace. They don’t want bombardment and missiles, they want development ,
education and health as well as jobs. Gwader port belongs to baloch people not to non balochis . He
condemned the proposed Kalabagh dam . He raised the slogan of Baloch Sindhi unity and shouted long
live Baloch Sindhi struggle.
Humaira Rahman spoke against more dams on the Indus and said Sindh is getting desertified while
general Musharafs government carries out back room negotiations with International Finance Corporations
so that lands under army control can be irrigated by new reservoirs. Under international water law no dam
can be built without the permission of the lower riparian . Sindhis are totally united on this issue and we will
not allow the death of our land or our river to take place. Speaking about the erosion of women’s rights she
mentioned the case of Dr Shazia Khalid a young sindhi woman doctor raped by an army captain. “Dr Shazia’
s case is symbolic of the respect of pakistan’s military towards its female citizens”.
Zahir Baloch from the Baloch Society of Canada condemned the army operation in Balochistan. He said
that when the pakistan military kills an innocent civilian they label to come and observe for themselves
whether the persons were terrorists. Why are these areas so restricted to the press? I request the
international media to come and investigate for themselves . As we know and CBC aired this documentary ,
just to cover up the rape of an innocent woman the government went on an offensive against the Bugtis
when they protested the rape of a sindhi doctor by a member of the military.
Munawar Laghari said that it seems the Pakistan military hasn’t learnt lessons from the 1971 war in Bangla
Desh ; today’s rally has proved that the sindhi, baloch, seraiki, pushtun as well as the oppressed of the
Punjab are all united in their struggle against military dictatorship ; the time has come for the military to go
back to the barracks.
Baloch Society Of North America (BSO_NA) Baloch Society Of North America (BSO_NA) is Non-Profit Organization, working to unite and Organize all Baloch in North America, to expose the Occupation and Oppressive policies of Pakistani and Iranian Governments against Baloch people and our Baloch land (Balochistan), and to bring their Human Rights Violations in Balochistan into the world’s Notice.
