Dozens of expatriate Pakistanis protested outside their embassy in Washington on Monday accusing President Pervez Musharrafs military-led government of gross human rights violations in the troubled Baluchistan province.

The protest comes a day after 21 more people were killed in the latest round of violence in the region and the expatriates led by leaders of the World Sindhi Institute braved the winter chill for hours as they shouted slogans and demanded Islamabad stop the carnage.

Baluchistan is thinly populated but mineral rich, and its people want to benefit more from the exploitation of those resources but the government faces trouble both from tribal militant and the secessionist Baluch Liberation Army, which accuses it of ignoring their rights.

The rebels have waged a low-level insurgency for decades, but the violence has escalated over the past year, posing another challenge to Musharrafs authority over his turbulent nation and the military has since waged anb intensive crackdown.

The offensive has also coincided with the announcement of plans to privatise two gas distribution firms in Baluchistan, which is home to Pakistans main gas fields.

But the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has rejected government claims that it was not using regular armed forces in a crackdown in the southwestern province launched in December after rocket attacks by tribal militants battling for greater autonomy and control of lucrative natural gas fields.

The group said it had received evidence that action by armed forces had led to deaths and injuries among civilians and that populations had also been subjected to indiscriminate bombing.

Humaira Rahman, director of the World Sindhi Institute, said they had for long been complaining about the abuses adding they have reports, the military is now even resorting to the use of chemical weapons.

We are protesting against the fifth military operation of the government, of the military government in Pakistan against Baluchistan. A lot of innocent people including women and children have been killed. The military is coming down very harsh on the Baluch population. The Baluch people are simply asking for their fundamental human rights and control of their resources, Rahman said.

I think there should be an independent investigation, to substantiate or prove that hasnt existed. We cannot say until there is an independent investigation. The local leaders, Navar Bukti, and several others have said that there is strong evidence of chemical weapons being used. However, it needs to be substantiated and there needs to be an independent inquiry, she added.

Pakistans government had denied the allegations and the HRCP as well last month said that interviews with local people had not provided evidence to prove a claim by Baluch opposition politicians that the military had used poison gas.

Rahman said the governments oppression was not limited to Baluchistan but trickled down to several regions including Sindh and many ethnic minorities were being targeted.
Sindh borders the volatile Baluchistan, which located adjacent to Afghanistan, is awash with smuggled weapons and drugs allowing for the massive military presence.

The military here, activists say, has been allowed an almost iron hand rule and little is done to question its unbridled power trip.

Rahman also raised concern that revenue from the regions rich natural resources is not being channeled back into the province and activists have accused Islamabad of taking over its precious water resources to benefit foreign multinational at the cost of its own people.

Were here not only to protest the oppression of Baluchis, but also to protest the oppression of Sindhis and Pashtuns, all indigenous peoples of Pakistan, Siraqis and poor people in Punjab as well as everywhere else. The military governments right from 1947 til now, for 59 years, the military government in conjunction with the civilian bureaucracy has looted the country, impoverished the people and enriched themselves. They carry out an agenda that is not really for progress or development of the country, it is for self-service. We are here to protest the dams on the river Indus because any further dams on the river Indus will deprive the Sindh of water and will kill the economy of the province and it amounts to eco-terrorism, Rahman said.

The agenda for the dams, unfortunately, is not an agenda thats made in Islamabad, unfortunately. Germany is the largest shareholder of the World Bank. It has 46 percent shares in the World Bank. The agenda for the dams is being pushed, promoted and created in World Bank headquarters because it will benefit German consultants and German contractors. It will not benefit the people of Pakistan, she added.

The World Sindhi Institute has urged world leaders like the US and UK, both wielding considerable influence on Pakistan, a key ally in their war against terrorism, to link any aid to the impoverished nation with adherence to political and social righteousness. (ANI)

Sindhis of Sindh, in southeastern Pakistan.