The central spokesperson of the Baloch National Movement said that a car rally and a protest was held on the 14th of August to mark the founding day of Pakistan as Black Day.
On August 14, BNM, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) USA, Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement, Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities and Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan Institute organized an auto-caravan (car rally) in front of Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington DC, followed by a series of protests, to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day as Black Day.
The participants with banners, flags and placards joined the moving-protest and circled the 30 block radius to seek US support to sanction Pakistan’s government and military for using terrorism as foreign policy tool and instrument of statecraft. Participants condemned the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani military of colonial exploitation of indigenous communities in Sindh, Balochistan, Pashtunistan and Gilgit-Baltistan and unabated state-led genocide of religious communities like Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shias.
Participants said that “August 14 is not a day of Azadi (freedom) but the beginning of occupation of oppressed nations. It is the day when cultural genocide started in Sindh. It is the day when Islamic terrorism was imposed on Pashtuns and Afghans to destroy their cultural identity. It is the day when Hindu, Sikh, Shiite, Ahmadi, Christian and other minorities lost their right to religious freedom and life.
They said that, this protest is organized by the direct victims of Pakistan’s brutal domestic and foreign policy and we are here to seek support of international community against the barbarism. They reminded the world community that Osama Bin laden was sheltered by Pakistan Army, which has the blood of 9/11 victims on its hands.
Participants, in the series of events that spanned the entire day across different parts of Washington DC shared their indignation about the way Pakistan is openly funding those proxies which are on the list of UN-banned terrorist groups. This is violation of UN Charter and the international community should place ban on sales of weapons and military hardware to Islamabad and convince FATF to move Pakistan to its Black list.
The protesters further said, USA and its allies should impose trade and commerce restrictions on China and Pakistan for supporting terrorism and genocide. The United Nations should remove Pakistan from the Human Rights Council.
