As the neighbouring country is celebrating its 77th Independence Day on Monday, the youths of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) called to mark August 14 as a “Black Day” to show their discontent against the atrocities of the incumbent government. In fact, the Baloch people dubbed August 15 as a “Great Day”, news agency ANI reported. Notably, India and Pakistan bifurcated on August 14, 1947, after hundreds of years of British colonisation.
India had decided to accommodate all religions, thus promoting a secular state, while Pakistan had preferred to be called a “Muslim” country and thus named the “Islamic Republic”. Although Balochistan is an integral part of India, the Pakistan government has ordered to hoist of its national flag on all monuments, several political activists and youth groups called to mark the day as a “black chapter of their lives”.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan has been imposing stringent laws against Baloch people and even put them behind bars for writing posts that are critical of the government.
Recently, several political activists were arrested in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of PoK, on August 11 for sharing anti-Pakistan posts on social media. They were beaten at the local police station and forced to condemn their actions and repost pro-Pakistan statements on social media.
Balochistan asks Pak govt to not allow Chinese investment
Besides, Baloch people have been protesting against Chinese investments in their regions, despite the fact a large population is unemployed. They don’t want the government to let the Chinese government provide jobs and other developmental projects. Earlier on Sunday, a rebel group had attacked a convoy of Chinese engineers in Balochistan, resulting in the killing of two terrorists.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which claimed responsibility for the attack, announced the completion of the third phase of its “Operation Zir Pehazag”. The BLA’s statement also conveyed a clear message to China, emphasizing their view of Balochistan as an “occupied territory” and voicing their opposition to Beijing’s projects, like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the region.
“We have cautioned China repeatedly to reconsider its activities in Balochistan,” the statement read. BLA views such endeavours as acts of exploitation, stating that any foreign investments in the region should only proceed after Balochistan achieves independence.