2/6: Major Rally in D.C.Call Attention to Atrocities In Balochistan

[Guest guest]

(see below), has organized the demonstration to call the world's attention to an

ongoing military operation in Balochistan province and to protest undemocratic

moves by Pakistan's government. Since December 18, the Pakistan security forces

have been carrying out attacks in the Kohlu and Dera Bugti districts of

Balochistan using helicopter gun ships and fighter jets. These attacks have

caused many civilian deaths, innocent women and children among them. The

Pakistan government first denied the attacks, then called it "a law and order

operation." But the army's brutal tactics will not resolve conflict between the

Baloch people and the central government. At the same time, the government of

Gen. Parvez Musharraf is aggressively pushing to construct mega dams on the

Indus River, despite massive opposition from the Pakistani people, including

those in Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, and even Punjab. In the face of

demonstrations, rallies and public statements of opposition

during the last weeks and months, Musharraf and his cabinet use the rhetoric of

consensus but continue on this destructive path where the economic and

democratic rights of the smaller provinces are violated. The Washington, D.C.,

event is the first of six rallies to take place in successive weeks throughout

the U.S. and Canada. A seventh rally will take place in London. See

http://www.worldsindhi.org for dates and locations of other rallies. SPEAKERS

INCLUDE: Rasul Bux Palijo - president, Sindhi Awami Tahreek; Dr. Malek Towghi -

president, Baloch International Human Rights; Dr. Wahid Baloch - president

BSO-NA; Saleem Samad - journalist ; Iqbal Tareen - Sindhi human rights

activist; Humaira Rahman - director, WSI Canada Supporting organizations:

Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA), Baloch International Human Rights,

Pashtun Institute for Peace and Democracy, World

Sindhi Congress, Sindhi Association of North America, Friends of South

Asia.------------------See also these articles:BALOCHISTAN: SECOND WAR OF

INDEPENDENCEby B.Raman, Camp Bangalore. Apparently in reprisal for what has

been projected as firing of rockets by unidentified elements at a helicopter

carrying Maj. ...http://www.saag.org/papers17/paper1651.html- "Unrest in

Balochistan" http://www.saag.org/papers9/paper804.html and "The Blast in

Gwadar" at

http://www.saag.org/papers10/paper993.htmlhttp://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1087.html