Kristofer Lundberg, a socialist leader from Sweden, has lambasted Pakistan and China for escalation of gross human rights violations in Balochistan since inception of CPEC.
Speaking during an event, Mr. Lundberg said that since occupation of Balochistan, Pakistan has inflicted brutal and oppressive tactics on the people of Balochistan.
Mr. Lundberg, a leader of Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna Sweden, was speaking during a side-event in Geneva during 39th Council Session of UNHRC titled “Economic Development and Social Justice with reference to CPEC”, which was organised by Baloch Voice Association.
“The occupation, war, enforced disappearances and human right violations are all acts to enable Pakistan to exploit the region from its natural resources,” Mr. Lundberg said.
He said the conditions were already worse in Balochistan but Chinese funded multi-billion dollar project China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has further deepened the exploitation of the region.
‘Since the CPEC project started, Balochistan has been hit by its worst form of human rights violations,’ Mr. Lundberg said.
He said that while Balochistan has been robbed of its natural resources the populations has been left behind to live below the poverty line.
‘Balochistan’s resources have been used to develop other parts of Pakistan and China for years,’ the socialist leader said.
He said that the Chinese exploitation of Balochistan goes back to 1995, but CPEC is now worsening the exploitation and conflict in Balochistan.
He added: ‘In order to what they call “minimise problems”, Pakistan and China have launched a massive military operation in Balochistan. There is a huge presence of Chinese troops in Balochistan and Pakistan has formed a 30,000 strong special battalion to protect Chinese investment.’
‘CPEC is presented as a development project but will not benefit either Balochistan or the Baloch population. But only benefit the Han-Chinese and Punjabi elite,’ he said in his speech.
Mr. Lundberg said that in order to enable CPEC, the military corporation between the two countries has forced the Baloch away from Gwadar and surrounding areas.
He added that China is preparing a full military base in Balochistan while Gwadar port is already a semi military base for China today.
Mentioning the human rights violations in Balochistan, he said that Pakistani state is killing young and well-educated Baloch youth to instil terror in the population. ‘Teachers, lawyers and intellectuals have been abducted in thousands. Between 500,000 and a million have been forced to flee their ancestral lands, bombings are a daily routine,’ he said.