'Pakistan an exploiter of human rights': Rights Activist Arif Aajikia

Dec 18, 2023

New Delhi [India], December 18 : Emphasising the ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan's Balochistan and Sindh, Arif Aajikia, a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) member and human rights activist from Karachi, Pakistan, said that Pakistan is an "exploiter of human rights, adding that the army's military rule is unofficial in these two regions.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Aajikia, a human rights activist from Pakistan who is now based in the UK, said that Pakistan is one of the biggest culprits in the human rights field.
"Pakistan is an exploiter of human rights and one of the biggest culprits in the human rights field. Sindh and Balochistan are particular areas of concern for human rights activists," he said.
He further highlighted that ethnic and religious minorities in Sindh and Balochistan are special targets of the Pakistan Army,
"Ethnic and religious minorities in Sindh and Balochistan are a special target of Pakistan Army and Punjabi Army, and there are thousands of missing persons in Balochistan. Extrajudicial killing, involuntary disappearance, inhuman behaviour and torture are common practises in Pakistan," he added.
Moreover, Aajikia said that there is no such law in Balochistan and Sindh.
"People get missed and the families are always looking for them but then cannot find them at all and there is no low prevailing in Balochistan and Sindh. Army's military rule is unofficially in Balochistan and Sindh," he told ANI.
He further underscored that the biggest challenge in Sindh is the exploitation of religious minorities.
"About 1,000 minority girls are kidnapped, raped, forcefully converted into Islam and then forcefully married to some older people. This is going on unnoticed and no international voices are raised in this issue of inhuman behaviour with minority girls in particular," he added.
Moreover, all civic facilities are being provided in Pakistan's Punjab at the cost of Sindh and Balochistan's resources, he said.
"In Sindh, there are no civic facilities because, according to the United Nations Human Rights Charter, civic facilities are basic human rights. All civic facilities are provided in Punjab at the cost of Sindh and Balochistan resources. Punjab has no natural resources but Sindh and Balochistan are the richest provinces of Pakistan," he stated.
Aajikia further told ANI, "I think that the Pakistan Army is exploiting Sindh and Balochistan's resources and human beings."
Further shedding light on Pakistan's move to isolate Afghanistan and its changed policy towards the Taliban, Aajikia highlighted that Pakistan created the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan.
"Taliban is a creation of Pakistan and the Taliban was created in 1993 by the Pakistan Army to take control of Afghanistan after 9/11 in 2001. America started a war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, and the very same Taliban was handed over to America against dollars, which was mentioned in Mussharaf's book 'In the Line of Duty' and the Taliban suddenly became freedom fighters and terrorists," he explained.
However, in 2021, the Taliban took over with the help of Pakistan-backed Afghanistan.
He said, "In 2021, the Taliban took over with the help of Pakistan back in Afghanistan and Imran declared them a victory in Madina vs. Mecca. He said that the Taliban has taken back their land and their freedom fighters because the Pakistan Army was expecting that the Taliban would continue following the dictation given by the Pakistan Army."
Since the Taliban has suffered for 20 years because of the betrayal of the Pakistan Army, they decided not to follow Pakistan's dictatorship.
"But after 2021, the Taliban were different forces and they had suffered for 20 years because of the betrayal of the Pakistan Army so they decided not to follow the dictations of Pakistan. So now Pakistan considers the Taliban as an enemy of Pakistan and Taliban is not ready to follow the dictation,' he emphasised.
Later, the Taliban noticed that when the whole world was playing a negative role at that time, only India was positive for Afghanistan, as it was training their civil service and police, making highways, hospitals, and schools, and that too without giving any loans.
"Taliban had seen one thing in 20 years in exile: that the entire world was playing a negative role in Afghanistan, but there was one country that played a very positive role in Afghanistan, and that was India because India was training their civil service, police, making highways, hospitals, and schools, and that too without giving any loans. It was a gift by the Indian government to Afghanistan so the Taliban saw that Pakistan has always taken benefits out of Afghans and these Afghans were the biggest victims of Pakistani terrorism but they were branded as terrorists globally," he added.
So, they saw all these things and they decided not to fall into the trap of Pakistan again and that's why now Pakistan thinks that the Taliban are traitors, Aajikia told ANI.