Washington, DC, USA | April 30, 2011

video of Dr. Wahid Baloch and Chief Guest Khan of Kalat Khan Suleiman Daud

It is time for the Obama administration to initiate a dialogue with the Baloch people and explore how we can help to secure a stable Middle East and south Asia. We have bases, a strategic 900 miles of warm water coastline, energy routes and oil and gas reserves. An independent Baloch has a lot to offer in return. A secular, independent and democratic Balochistan is in the interest of the larger cause of liberty, human rights and democracy.

Dear Friends, Distinguished guests.

Welcome to the first Balochistan International Conference organized by Baloch Society of North America.

We thank each and every one of you for coming to the conference and we hope that this conference will help you understand the Balochistan situation and suggest solutions to the problems that Balochistan is facing.

I specially thank Mr. T. Kumar, Director for Amnesty International USA, Andrew Eiva, David Dienstag, Sue Fraser, Michael Hughes, Dr. Jumma Marri, Tariq Sobra, Mehrab Sarjov, Reza Hosseinborr, Malik Siraj Akbar, Ibrahim Nasser, Najeeb Baloch, Ali Arjemandi, Humayoun Mubaraki and Jalal Khan Jalal Baloch for taking time out of their busy schedules to come and join us.

WELCOME to all of you.

I also thank our two special guests Ms. Wendy Johnson and Annie Nocenti for coming to the conference. Wendy Johnson and Annie Nocenti co-produced the documentary 'The Baluch' and Wendy runs the website called crisisbalochistan.com.

Thank you Wendy and Annie!

Dear Friends,

I'm sorry to let you know that the Chief Guest of this conference, His Highness Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Daud Khan Ahmaedzai, along with Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, Senator Sanaullah Baloch, Munir Mengal, Professor Badal Khan, Prof Naela Qadri and many other eminent Baloch scholars and analysts couldn't make it because our State Dept bowed to Pakistani pressure to not issue them a visa. But Khan of Kalat from London, Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal from Dubai and Munir Mengal from Paris have agreed to join you all and share their thoughts and answer your questions, if you have any, via Skype.

Dear Friends,

We are having this conference at a time when Baloch people are collecting the bullet riddled tortured bodies of their loved ones every day. Just before coming to the conference, I read in the newspaper that five more bullet riddled bodies of Baloch political activists were found in different parts of Balochistan. Despite so many the urgent action calls from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations such AHRC and HRCP, the United Nations, the Obama administration and the world community have not done anything to stop the Pakistani and Iranian killings of Baloch people in Balochistan. Their silence has been read as a green light by Islamabad and Tehran to continue their killing of Baloch with full impunity. South Asia expert Selig Harrison called it a slow motion genocide, but let me tell you this, this is not a slow motion genocide but a full-fledged genocide.

We see the UN, Obama administration and the European Union all rushing to help and save the lives of Libyan citizens from being slaughtered by dictator Gadhafi and his forces, but the same is happening in Pakistani and Iranian occupied Balochistan for the last 63 years and no one is doing anything about it. Is Baloch blood cheaper than the Libyan citizen's? May we ask our President Obama, the UN Security Council and our Secretary of State, Madam Hillary Clinton, why Baloch are considered less human and are treated differently than the Libyan and other citizens?

Baloch are going through the same helicopter gunship attacks, arrests, kidnapping, torture, extrajudicial killings by the Pakistani army and hangings by the Iranian revolutionary guards every day, but the UN and world community have closed their eyes to these crimes against the Baloch people. All we are asking from the US government, the UN and the international community is to fulfill their obligations towards Balochistan. International intervention is long overdue and must be carried out without any further delay. Silence is not an option. Silence over Pakistani and Iranian crimes and human right violations against defenseless Baloch citizen in Balochistan is equal to complicity.

It is time that the international community ask Pakistan and Iran to stop the killings of secular Baloch people in their own homeland, Balochistan.

Dear friends,

Balochistan was never a part of Pakistan. The Baloch didn't fight to create this country called Pakistan. It is unjust to ask and force the secular Balochs to live with extremists and terrorists. What would you say if I ask you, "Would you like to live with Mr. Bin Laden under the same roof"? I'm sure your answer would be a BIG NO. So why should the Baloch be forced to live with Pakistani extremists and Iranian Terrorist mullahs. We have nothing in common with these two Islamic extremist terrorist states. Baloch are not terrorist or extremist. They are not Taliban or Al-Qaida but are the victims of Pakistani and Iranian state terrorism. Baloch, like the Kurds of Iraq, are pro-American and they share many American values, including freedom, liberty and justice for all.

I ask the Obama administration and the world community to please listen to the cry of Baloch people. Please help people of Balochistan before it is too late. The Baloch identity and existence as a secular nation is at stake.

Today, the Baloch people are fighting for their survival, to protect and preserve their identity as a secular nation. They are looking towards the west and pro-independence and democratic nations to come to their rescue. A free secular independent democratic United Balochistan is the dream of every Baloch. We believe it is in the interest of the United State and the world community to support the Baloch. A free independent Balochistan is the answer to all the problems, including the growing threat of Islamic extremism and terrorism, that US and the world community is facing in this region.

A Free Balochistan not only helps to close Taliban and Al-Qaida sanctuaries and safe havens in Balochistan, but it will also help in the stability and security of Afghanistan. It will also keep China away from Gwadar and the Persian Gulf and put a check on Iran.

The US has tried everything by spending billions but with no positive outcome yet. The Taliban insurgency seems to be a non-ending story. Pakistan's use of the "War on terror" as a lucrative business has complicated the situation rather than to help win this war.

It is time for US to give the Baloch a chance and we can show you how we can produce the expected results in less time with less money spent.

It is time for the Obama administration to initiate a dialogue with the Baloch people and explore how we can help to secure a stable Middle East and south Asia. We have bases, a strategic 900 miles of warm water coastline, energy routes and oil and gas reserves. An independent Baloch has a lot to offer in return. A secular, independent and democratic Balochistan is in the interest of the larger cause of liberty, human rights and democracy.

Pakistan and Iran are up in arms to eliminate the Baloch people and radicalize them in an effort to turn their secular culture into an Islamic Jihadist culture, but Baloch are resisting this against all odds without any foreign help and support.

They are fighting bravely, rendering sacrifices to prevent their homeland from falling into the hands of extremists and terrorists.

They are fighting to restore their honor and dignity and their sovereignty over their land, coast and resources.

They are fighting this war not for themselves but for the rest of the world to make sure that the resourceful rich strategic Balochistan does not fall in the hands of Pakistani and Iranian extremists and Communist China.

They say, "a threat to liberty anywhere is a threat to liberty everywhere." Baloch are fighting for their liberty and they deserve to be helped in the interest of humanity. They have decided to fight this war to the end. They have nothing to lose but only their chains.

Thank you

At the close of the conference, Dr. Wahid Baloch read the conference resolution titled "The Washington Declaration of 2011."

The following are the resolutions read at the Balochistan International Conference in Washington, DC, organized by The Baloch Society of North America at Carnegie Center for International Peace, on April 30, 2011.

We the participants of the Balochistan International Conference 2011, organized by Baloch Society of North America, on April 30, 2011, in Washington DC, unanimously declare the following resolutions collectively called "The Washington DC Declaration of 2011."

1. This Conference considers Balochistan to be an illegally occupied land and strongly condemns the Pakistani and Iranian ongoing illegal occupation of Balochistan, the genocide of Baloch people and exploitation of Baloch resources, and asks the UN and International community to immediately intervene to END the Pakistani and Iranian illegal, immoral and unjust occupation of Balochistan.

2. This Conference asks all the Baloch leaders, students and Baloch nationalist political parties and activists, both inside occupied Balochistan and outside, to shun all their differences for the greater interest of Balochistan, and join hands with HH Khan of Kalat to liberate Balochistan from the Pakistani and Iranian illegal occupation.

3. This Conference condemns Pakistan using the "war on terror" as a "cash in business" and black mailing tool, and ask the US and other countries to stop giving more aid to Pakistan for this war as Pakistan is not and never been a truthful and trusted ally in the war on terror against its own created ideological friends, Taliban and Al-Qaida terrorists. The conference strongly condemns the bloodshed of innocent Pashtun people in the name of war on terror.

4. This Conference strongly condemns Pakistan and Iran for killing, torture, murder, arrests and the disappearances of Baloch political leaders, activists and students and asks the international community to take notice of Pakistan and Iran's gross human right violations in both Pakistani and Iranian occupied Balochistan.

5. This Conference strongly condemns Pakistani and Iranian state terrorism against Baloch people in Occupied Balochistan and asks the UN and US to help stop Pakistan and Iran from committing more war crimes in Balochistan.

6. This Conference strongly condemns Pakistani interference and terrorism in Indian Kashmir and Afghanistan, and its sending of suicide bombers into Afghanistan and India to kill innocent people, Afghan and NATO troops and demands the UN ensure all terrorist-producing madrassas and ISI training terror camps in Pakistan are closed.

7. This Conference strongly condemns the Mumbai terrorist attacks and demands the arrest of Mumbai terror Mastermind Hafiz Saeed and his gang members and to bring them to justice.

8. This Conference demands the arrest of 9/11 attack terrorists Bin laden, Aymen al Zawahiri and Mullah Omar who are still hiding in Pakistani sanctuaries provided to them by Pakistani military and its ISI. This meeting demands their arrest and extradition to the USA for trial and punishment for their murderous acts against humanity. This Conference considers Pakistan a terrorist state and asks the UN and the International Community to declare her as such.

9. This Conference strongly condemns the arrest and kidnapping of Baloch Diaspora Political leader and human right activist Ehsan Aarjumandi, a Norwegian citizen, who was kidnapped by the Pakistani ISI on August 7, 2009, in Pakistani occupied Balochistan. This Conference calls on the UN, human right organizations, the US and Norwegian governments to ensure his safety, security and immediate safe release. (A copy of this resolution is being sent to the UN, US State Department and the Norwegian embassy in Washington, DC).

10. This Conference strongly condemns the ongoing daily intimidation, harassment, killings, attack and burning of Hindus, Christian, Sikh and other minorities in Pakistan by Pakistani Panjabi Taliban and Islamic fanatics and extremists and asks the world community to take notice of these inhuman acts and ensure the safety and security of all minorities in Pakistan. This Conference condemns the government of Pakistan for failing to provide security and safety to the lives, places of worship and properties of the Pakistani religious minorities.

11. This Conference demands the US government and world community call Pakistan a terrorist state and suspend all military and economic aid until Pakistan complies with UN and international laws, respects, honors and safeguards human rights and stops its terror campaign against the Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun people and all religious minorities, including Hindu, Sikh and Christian in Pakistan, and scraps its nuclear weapons and hands over the world's most wanted terrorists Osama Bin laden, Aymen Alzwahiri, Mullah Omar, Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim and nuclear terrorist A.Q. Khan. There are confirmed report that all these terrorists are hiding in Pakistan with full knowledge and support of Pakistani military and ISI.

12. This Conference condemns the extra-judicial assassinations of Nawab Akbar Bugti, Balach Marri, Ghulam Mohd, Lala Munir and Sher Mohd Baloch Habib Jalib, and many other prominent Baloch leaders and political activists and asks the UN to conduct a full investigation into their killings and to bring the killers to justice. This Conference demands the immediate release of all Baloch "missing" persons kidnapped by Pakistan's ISI and its security forces.

13. This Conference calls for a peaceful balkanization of Pakistan on ethnic and linguistic and cultural lines to eliminate and eradicate Islamic extremism and terrorism once and for all. This Conference rejects the artificially drawn British boundaries of the Durand line and Goldsmith line and demands the redrawing of the map of the region based on ethnic, linguistic and cultural lines.

14. This meeting condemns the looting and plunder of Baloch resources by Pakistan, Iran and all other private companies, including Barrack Gold, who are involved in the exploration of Balochistan's rich mineral resources and ask all these companies to stop their robbing of Baloch wealth without the Baloch consent and to leave Balochistan peacefully until its freedom and sovereignty is restored. Once Balochistan is free, they can resume their work with Baloch consent and cooperation.

15. This conference condemn the killings of non-Baloch Punjabis and Pashtun in Balochistan and denounces all kinds of violence and terrorism in Balochistan by state agents and non-state actors.

16. This conference strongly condemns the Pakistani state's "kill and dump" policy of Baloch youths, students, political activists and journalists across the Balochistan, including Siddiqe Eido, a senior Baloch journalist and member of HRCP, and Yousuf Nazar Baloch, a student leader of Baloch student Organization, who's bullet riddled tortured bodies were discovered yesterday near Ormara, Balochistan. Both were earlier abducted by Pakistani agencies. Their family members had set up a hunger strike camp outside Pasni Press club for the last four months demanding their release. We strongly condemn all killings of Baloch and ask the UN and world community to investigate these crimes and human right violation in Occupied Balochistan.