US Congress must recognize Balochistan’s right to self-determination, says Dr. Tara Chand

The Baloch American Congress (BAC) appealed to U.S. lawmakers to recognize the right to self-determination for the people of Balochistan.

“Balochistan was an independent state before the arrival of the British and was granted independence on August 11, 1947, separately from Pakistan and India. However, the Pakistan army invaded Balochistan on March 27, 1948, and annexed the state at the point of a gun,” Dr. Tara Chand, president of BAC, said in a statement Tuesday on the 74th anniversary of Balochistan’s independence from British rule.

Dr. Tara Chand requested Senate foreign relations committee leaders, Bob Menendez and James Risch, and House foreign affairs committee leaders, Gregory Meeks and Michael McCaul, to take the lead, without delay, in undoing historic wrong Pakistan perpetrated on the people of Balochistan by passing a resolution in the U.S. Congress to recognize the right to self-determination for Balochistan.

“For nearly three-quarters of a century, Baloch people have lived their lives as second-class citizens, brutalized by the Pakistan army. Tens of thousands have been killed in five uprisings against Pakistan’s colonial rule since then. Baloch people have not given up but continue with their David-and-Goliath struggle to this day,” the BAC president said.

He said ever since the forced annexation, Pakistan has ruthlessly exploited Balochistan’s natural resources and has given the Baloch people nothing in return other than tears and sorrow.

“Social development indexes for Balochistan are some of the worst in the world. Two out of three Balochs do not have access to potable water and three out of four Baloch kids are out of school,” he said.

He lamented that thousands of forcibly disappeared Baloch persons are languishing in the Pakistan army gestapo, just for demanding their right to self-determination, and new cases of enforced disappearances are being reported on almost a daily basis.