LONDON: The Republic of Balochistan has strongly condemned remarks attributed to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in his Independence Day speech, in which he said Pakistan “tolerates” its Hindu population.
In a statement dated August 16, the Republic of Balochistan described Zardari’s comments as “shameful” and accused Pakistan’s military establishment of scripting the remarks and using the president as a political proxy.
According to the statement, Zardari said that while Indians “believe in Akhand Bharat”, Pakistanis are Muslims and that the country “tolerates a 3 to 4 percent Hindu population”. He further claimed that Hindus in Pakistan are as free and secure as they would be elsewhere.
The Republic of Balochistan challenged this characterisation by pointing to Pakistan’s history of minority rights concerns and the treatment of political and ethnic communities.
The statement also invoked the 1971 Bangladesh conflict, alleging that the government led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Zardari’s father-in-law, failed to protect the political rights of Bengalis during the military crackdown. It further accused successive Pakistani governments of failing to distance themselves from military operations and alleged human rights violations in Balochistan.
The Republic of Balochistan also referred to the 1973 military operation in Balochistan during Bhutto’s tenure, alleging that thousands of Baloch were killed and many were forcibly disappeared. It claimed that security operations have continued in Balochistan under the present Pakistani government.
Questioning Zardari’s use of the word “tolerance”, the statement said minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Jains had faced religious pressure, coercion and restrictions since the Partition of the subcontinent.
It further alleged that incidents involving forced or coerced religious conversion, restrictions on economic opportunities and limitations on religious practices had remained part of Pakistan’s record concerning minority communities.
The Republic of Balochistan concluded that Pakistan had failed to ensure the “welfare, dignity and protection” of its minority communities, calling Zardari’s remarks a reflection of what it described as Pakistan’s “ugly history”.
The allegations and characterisations in the statement are those of the Republic of Balochistan.
