Japanese activist concerned as Pakistan wants to 'exterminate' Baloch people

Japanese activist Colonel Shun Fujiki has expressed concerns over the atrocities inflicted by Pakistan on people of Balochistan, saying Islamabad wants to "exterminate" the people in the region. Speaking at a side event at the occasion of 45th UN Human Rights Council Session, Fujiki said that though he is yet to gain a "full understanding" about the problems of Baloch people, he believes that "if Islamabad works in cooperation with the Baloch people than it will benefit Pakistan itself".

"What is happening in Balochistan is unimaginable. I have a Baloch friend living in Japan. They are all very nice and hardworking people. I am deeply concerned with what is happening in Balochistan," he said. The colonel was speaking at the 'Human Rights Situation in Pakistan... Balochistan is Bleeding'. The event was organised by Center for Gender Justice and Women Empowerment, Baloch Voice Association, Baloch Peoples Congress, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) Connect Lobbying Associates Brussels, African Culture Association.

"Though I do not have much knowledge about the Baloch issue, I am trying to help them as much possible. Pakistan wants to exterminate the Baloch people. However, if they work in cooperation with the Baloch people then it will be beneficial for Pakistan itself," he added. Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom is ongoing for the past several decades. Many Baloch believe that the region was independent before 1947 and was forcibly occupied by Pakistan.

Pakistan Army has launched several operations in Balochistan and has supported criminals, which locals call "death squads". A large number of political activists, intellectuals, women and children in Pakistan's Balochistan province are victims of enforced disappearances by the security agencies.

Many of them are languishing in detention centres whereas mutilated bodies of some of these abducted Baloch are found in isolated places.

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