Baloch, Sindhi, Pashto groups gather in Houston to seek help from Modi

“Members of these groups landed in Houston, Texas from various parts of the US to hold the first-of-its-kind demonstration in America, wherein they will collectively urge the leaders of India and the United States to help them get freedom from Pakistan. ”

REPRESENTATIVES of Sindhi, Baloch and Pashto groups have gathered in Houston to hold a demonstration in front of the NRG stadium on Sunday to draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump for gaining freedom from Pakistan. Scores of members of the Balochi American, Sindhi American and Pashto American communities landed in Houston on Saturday from various parts of the US to hold the first-of-its-kind demonstration in America, wherein they will collectively urge the leaders of India and the United States to help them get freedom from Pakistan. Members of these groups alleged on Saturday that the Pakistani establishment was carrying out gross violation of human rights against their communities.

“We demand freedom from Pakistan. India and the US should help us in the same way as India had helped the people of Bangladesh in 1971,” Nabi Baksha Baloch, the US representative of the Baloch National Movement, told PTI. “We are here to request Prime Minister Modi and President Trump to support our cause. There has been gross violation of human rights against the Baloch people by the Pakistani Government,” he said. More than 100 Sindhi Americans arrived in Houston on Saturday. They are planning to gather outside the NRG stadium, where the ‘Howdy Modi’ event is scheduled to be held on Sunday, with the hope that their posters and banners of freedom will catch the attention of Modi and Trump.

“This is a historic rally by the leaders of the free world -- the largest and oldest democracies. We the people of Sindh want freedom from Pakistan. Just like India supported for the freedom of Bangladesh in 1971, we want a separate nation for the people of Sindh. Pakistan is a theocratic country,” Zafar Sahito, from the Jeay Sindh Mutahida Muhaz, said.

A 50-MEMBER delegation of Sikhs from across the US met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and thanked him for removing the names of over 300 community members from blacklist. The Indian Government last week removed from its blacklist names of 312 Sikh foreign nationals involved in anti-India activities after a review carried out by different security agencies on the Adverse List or blacklist. The community members met Modi on Saturday in Houston and presented him with a traditional Siropa (long scarf). They thanked him for removing from the blacklist names of Sikh Americans.

“We urged the prime minister to provide visa and passport services to the Sikh political asylees. This is important for the large Sikh community living in the US to visit India in a year when we are celebrating 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji,” Indiana-based Gurinder Singh Khalsa, who was part of delegation, said.

Modi later tweeted, “I had an excellent interaction with the Sikh Community in Houston. I am delighted to see their passion towards India’s development!” In his brief remarks to the Sikh delegation, Modi said that he has a surprise and good news for them in the next few days and urged them to wait for the news.