Baloch Council of North America

The Baloch Council of North America (BCN) is a Baloch lobbying group that was founded in 2004 in Washington D.C. by Dr. Wahid Baloch.[1] Originally known as the Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA), Dr. Baloch disbanded and reconstituted his organization in 2014 with a newfound emphasis on human rights advocacy.[2]

The BCN is one of several politically active organizations with roots in the Baloch diaspora, working alongside the Baloch Human Rights Council in Canada, Baloch Unity in Russia, and the Baloch Voice Foundation in France.

Dr. Baloch graduated from Bolan Medical College in Quetta in 1990. In 1992, he immigrated to the United States.[3]

The BSO-NA lobbied the U.S. government and Israeli political activists to support the independence of Balochistan. In 2012, Dr. Baloch and representatives of American Friends of Balochistan and the Baloch Human Rights Council met with American Congressmen and allegedly had meetings with several CIA officials. Dr. Baloch had long claimed that the Pakistani state was committing acts of genocide against the Baloch people, and that the government's aim was to plunder the province's vast mineral resources.[4] In January 2014 he released a letter appealing to the United States and Israel for direct assistance in preventing an alleged "killing spree" of Baloch people by what he called the "Pakistani terrorist army".[3] Nationalists have accused the group of receiving aid from the U.S. and Indian governments.[5]

In May 2014, Dr. Baloch disbanded the BSO-NA, claiming that the war of independence for Balochistan was actually a "war of independence of Khans, Nawabs and Sardars". He reconstituted the group as the Baloch Council of North America (BCN), dedicated to working with all democratic and nationalist forces in Pakistan to secure Baloch rights through democratic, nonviolent means, within the federation of Pakistan.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome to BSO_NA". Bso-na.org. 30 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Anwar Iqbal (9 June 2014). "Overseas Baloch group to struggle for rights within federation". Dawn.
  3. 1 2 "Influential Baloch lobby group in US decides to end activism against Pakistan". Terminal X. 2014-07-15.
  4. ↑ "Voice of Baloch Nationalists in powerful US congress". Pakistan Christian Post. 8 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Mohammad Jamil (15 July 2014). "Patriots & separatists in Balochistan". Pakistan Observer.
  6. ↑ "Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA)". Bso-na.blogspot.com.

External links

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