By Sneha Agrawal
While Indians celebrated Raksha Bandhan with much fervour on Monday, Sameena Rakhshani, a 20-year-old Baloch woman living in the Capital who is waiting to reunite with her brothers and sisters back home in Afghanistan, spent the day in gloom.
Born as a refugee in Iran and having dealt with the atrocities there, Sameena went back to Afghanistan in the hope of a better future.
But finding unfortunate living conditions even there, she came to India along with her family, and now lives in West Delhi.
Like Sameena, several other Baloch women are waiting to go back to their land and unite with their families.
In a symbolic gesture, some of these women tied Rakhi (a sacred band) to Indian brothers at Baloch-Hind forum, seeking their support to raise voice for the freedom of Balochistan from the atrocities of Pakistan.
Mahkan, a 25-year-old student of Jamia Millia Islamia, who left Afghanistan two years ago, said that people have been forced to leave their own land and families.
‘People have lost their family members in front of their own eyes. Nothing can replace the warm memories of being with our own people. The Indian government has been very kind to us and allowed us to stay here. I hope India would raise the issue of Balochistan’s freedom even at the international platform,’ she said.
On Independence Day last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech had raised the issue of violence being committed by Pakistan on Balochis. Three days after the speech, a student leader from Balochistan took the occasion of Raksha Bandhan to express her gratitude to the Prime Minister.
In a video, Karima Baloch, the chairperson of Baloch Student Organisation, had asked Modi to be a brother to Baloch women who have lost their brothers in the atrocities inflicted by Pakistan army in the region.
Meena, another 23-year-old Baloch woman, told Mail Today that the treatment Pakistan is meting out to Baloch people is awful.
‘The (Pakistan) government is worse than the terrorists. They are killing their own people. The human rights violation of Baloch people has crossed all limits. They are not just feeling entrapped by Pakistan but also by Iran,’ she said.
In the Raksha Parv event organised by Hind-Baloch forum, Baloch women tied Rakhis to the Indian male members of the forum to express their gratitude to Modi for raising voice against the injustice.
Ever since PM Modi’s speech on August 15 mentioned Balochistan, several Baloch leaders have showered praise for his stance.
