A Free Balochistan activist on Thursday appealed to 'brother' Narendra Modi to become the voice of the Baloch struggle, days after the Prime Minister raised the Balochistan issue in his August 15 speech at the Red Fort.
Karima Baloch, the Chairperson of the Baloch Students Organisation, recorded a video message for PM Modi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan calling him her brother.
'APPEAL AS A SISTER'
"Countless brothers are missing... Sisters in Balochistan are still waiting for their brothers to return. There is a possibility that they will never return and their sisters will always lay in wait," she said. "We appeal to you that as our brother, you speak about the genocide and war crimes in Baloch on international forums and become the voice of the sisters of Baloch."
"We will fight this on our own, we just want you to become the voice of our struggle," she said. She finished the video with a brief message in Gujarati - PM Modi's native language.
The video was posted on YouTube by Canadian writer and broadcaster Tarek Fatah. You can watch it here:
32-year-old Karima Baloch is said to have escaped a Pakistani military attack in Balochistan's Tump town. She evaded arrest and stayed underground for nearly a year before reaching Canada in November last year. She has now applied for a refugee-status in the country.
Karima's message comes after PM Modi's Independence Day address this week, in which he thanked the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for "the way their citizens have heartily thanked me, the way they have acknowledged me and the goodwill they have shown towards me."
His statement elicited passionate reactions from Pakistan - while rights activists in Balochistan thanked PM Modi, many Islamabad leaders criticised him. Pakistan's Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto said, "Modi should first stand accountable to the international community for unending and perpetual atrocities against Kashmiris, Muslims and Dalits in Kashmir and in India."
THE BALOCH STRUGGLE
Balochistan, the poorest province of Pakistan, was captured by the Pakistan Army in 1948.
Since then, countless cases of military atrocities have been reported from the province. Officials posted in the region have been accused of ill treatment, torture, arbitrary arrests, executions and indiscriminate acts of violence.
Close to 4,000 people have reportedly gone missing in Baloch since 2006. The missing include students and political activists.
PM Modi's statement is strongest made by an Indian leader on the Baloch issue so far.