Human rights activists from Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on Monday slammed Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for making shameful comments about the Baloch community after a viral video showed a woman and a man being shot dead in Balochistan in an alleged case of ‘honour killing’ for marrying against the wishes of their families. The unidentified couple were shot dead on the orders of a local tribal council last month, the video which went viral on social media. Reacting to it, the Pakistani Defence Minister on Sunday instead blamed the Balochs, stating that “the ones responsible for this oppression are your own brothers”. Baloch activists have termed Khawaja Asif’s statement as a “matter of regret and shame”, stating that the current government minister, instead of acknowledging the Sharif government’s incompetence regarding the incident and holding their government accountable for such heinous events caused by state lawlessness, public distrust in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, and the unchecked proliferation of weapons, is instead trying to shift the burden of their failures onto others. “And look at the hypocrisy: if this same incident had occurred during the tenure of an opposing government, these very people would have been the first to point fingers at the government. But since they are in power today, no remorse or shame is visible. When you yourself claim that ‘Balochistan is under your control’, then how do such incidents happen in broad daylight? You are pushing people to lose faith in the state, compelling them to turn to armed groups,” said BYC’s Sammi Deen Baloch. (IANS)
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