Protest against Pakistan: In a resounding display of unity, the Baloch, Sindhi, and Pashtun communities in Canada orchestrated a powerful demonstration in Toronto on Saturday. The protest aimed to express solidarity with the thousands marching in Pakistan against egregious acts such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture inflicted by the military and security agencies.The joint protest, organised by the Baloch Human Rights Council of Canada, World Sindhi Council, and Pashtun Council Canada, vehemently condemned Islamabads apartheid policy, denouncing violence and repression targeted at the Baloch, Sindhi, and Pashtun populations.March for Justice in BalochistanLed by Dr Mahrang Baloch, thousands of Baloch activists, including women and children, undertook a march from Balochistan to Islamabad. This march was prompted by the unlawful arrest, illegal detention, torture, and custodial murder of 24-year-old Baloch youth, Balaach Mola Bakhsh, on November 23, 2023.Global Outcry and AllegationsInternational human rights organisations have raised allegations against Pakistani authorities, accusing them of arresting and causing the disappearance of Pashtun, Sindhi, and Baloch human rights activists. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan is implicated in the extrajudicial murder of Balaach and several activists held in illegal state custody.Toronto Rally Highlights DiscriminationSpeakers at the Toronto solidarity rally strongly condemned the discriminatory actions of Pakistani Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and the Islamabad police. Excessive force, baton charges, water cannons, and mass arrests during a peaceful sit-in outside the National Press Club in Islamabad were condemned.Challenging State ViolenceAddressing the gathering, speakers emphasised the repressive nature of the Pakistani state towards political dissent, particularly against the oppressed nations of Baloch, Sindhis, and Pashtuns. Women and families from diaspora communities actively participated in the rally, sending a robust message that state violence and injustices against women would not go unchallenged.Exposing Predatory State ActionsSpeakers shed light on the predatory nature of the Pakistani state and its military. Exploitation of natural resources, land-grabbing, militarisation, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, persecution of religious minorities, and state promotion of terror and extremism aimed at the genocide of Baloch, Sindhis, and Pashtuns were strongly condemned.In unison, the diaspora communities stood against injustice, demanding accountability, justice, and an end to the oppressive policies perpetrated by the Pakistani state.
