Baloch, Sindhi leaders in London protest China-Pak corridor, rights violations

Baloch and Sindhi nationalist leaders jointly protested for the first time against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and rights violations outside the Chinese embassy in London on Sunday.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Balochistan" and "Kadam badhao Modiji hum tumhare saath hain" were among the slogans shouted during the protest at Portland Place opposite the embassy.

They also raised slogans such as "No to CPEC" and "Hai haq humara aazadi" and sought greater support from the world community, ANI news agency reported.

The protest came days after Modi said during an all-parties meeting earlier this month that Pakistan would have to answer for "atrocities" in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

He later said during his Independence Day speech that people in Balochistan and PoK had thanked him for raising the issue.

Modi's remarks have focussed attention on the movement by Baloch nationalist leaders to highlight issues such as rights violations and enforced disappearances.

Among the Baloch and Sindhi groups that called for stopping of activities related to the $46-billion CPEC and preventing gross rights violations were the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), Baloch National Movement (BNM), Baloch Republican Party (BRP), Baloch Human Rights Council-UK (BHRC-UK), Baloch Students' and Youth Association (BSYA), Baloch Students Organisation and Sindhi Baloch Forum (SBF).

The protest was attended by activists and nationalist leaders who shouted slogans against Pakistan's security agencies for allegedly committing human rights violations in the name of an economic pact with China.

Baloch activist Hakeem Wadela told ANI: "We are protesting outside the Chinese embassy against the CPEC. Pakistan wants to forcefully impose the CPEC on Balochistan. We are being shown as a minority community...whatever we are doing...it's for our basic rights."

The activists said thousands of people had been displaced to facilitate an array of projects under the CPEC without a proper plan for rehabilitating them or providing them compensation.

World Sindhi Congress chairperson Laku Luhana said the CPEC was not an economic project but a "matter of life and death" for the Baloch and Sindhis.

"It is a project of capture on our land and coastal lines. This is not an economic project. It is a matter of life and death for the Baloch and the Sindhis. We will never agree to this project," he said.