At UNHRC, Baloch activist calls Pakistan a 'breeding ground of terrorists'

Agencies
September 12, 2019

Geneva, Sept 12: Pakistan has become a breeding ground of terrorists, alleged a Baloch activist, adding that the country has become a threat to the world and especially its neighbours due to its lawlessness and injustices towards the minorities.

"Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism. Pakistan is not only committing systematic genocide of Baloch people but also involved in the genocide of our Sindhi brothers, Pashtuns. It's also a threat for the world because it is a rogue state, there is no law, no justice," Samad Baloch, the secretary-general of Baloch Human Rights Council, said.

The Baloch Human Rights Council organised a briefing on 'The Humanitarian Crisis in Balochistan' at a special tent in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva. In the briefing, the activists stated that Pakistani army continues to carry out operations in Balochistan that has also lead to an increase in the number of enforced disappearances across the region.

Samad Baloch added that the aid provided to Pakistan by foreign countries and international organisations to combat terrorism in its soil is instead being used to build madrassas for funding illegal activities and train suicide bombers for carrying out terror activities in the region.

"The establishment sends their own sons and daughters to accomplish higher studies in western countries but brainwash our children to join the madrassas and spread jihad under false propaganda of seeking salvation," the activist said.

When asked regarding Islamabad's claims to have launched a crackdown on terror organisations in a bid to avoid black-listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Samad stressed, "Such is not the case. The entire media, politicians and military of Pakistan are lying to the world. The country is already on the deathbed and therefore global money lenders, including IMF and World Bank, are hesitant in providing loans to the cash-strapped nation."

Exposing Pakistan against its false narrative over Kashmir at the 42nd UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session here, the Baloch leader added that Pakistan is committing "systematic genocide" of the minorities.

"We have suffered a lot. Our socio-cultural, economic rights have been denied. Balochistan has been plundered, they have looted our resources. Balochistan is rich in minerals and natural resources, yet the people suffer," Baloch said.

Not only Samad, but many other activists have also called out Islamabad for committing human rights violation against the religious minorities.

The Baloch activists, gathered in Geneva, have been organising events outside the UN office with an aim to highlight the atrocities carried out by Pakistani agencies and seek international support on the matter.

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News Network
June 1,2020

Jun 1: The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday.

"In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy," said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy's coronavirus contagion.

"The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago," he told RAI television.

Italy has the third-highest death toll in the world from COVID-19, with 33,415 people dying since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21. It has the sixth-highest global tally of cases at 233,019.

However new infections and fatalities have fallen steadily in May and the country is unwinding some of the most rigid lockdown restrictions introduced anywhere on the continent.

Zangrillo said some experts were too alarmist about the prospect of a second wave of infections and politicians needed to take into account the new reality.

"We've got to get back to being a normal country," he said. "Someone has to take responsibility for terrorizing the country."

The government urged caution, saying it was far too soon to claim victory.

"Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared ... I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians," Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the health ministry, said in a statement.

"We should instead invite Italians to maintain the maximum caution, maintain physical distancing, avoid large groups, to frequently wash their hands and to wear masks."

A second doctor from northern Italy told the national ANSA news agency that he was also seeing the coronavirus weaken. "The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today," said Matteo Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases clinic at the San Martino hospital in the city of Genoa.

"It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different."

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News Network
March 7,2020

Mar 7: Two Malayalam news channels, Asianet News and Media One, which were banned by the information and broadcasting ministry for their coverage of the recent violence in Delhi on Friday evening, were allowed to resume telecasting on Saturday morning.

While Asianet News appeared to have begun operations around 7am on Saturday, Media One was screening content by 9.30am.

The ministry of information and broadcasting had imposed a 48-hour ban on Asianet News and Media One for their coverage of the Delhi violence for 48 hours from 7.30pm on Friday. Both Asianet News and Media One were barred under Rule 6(1 c) and Rule 6(1e) of the Cable Television Networks Act, 1994.

The ministry of information and broadcasting alleged Asianet News and Media One were "biased" and critical of the RSS and Delhi Police.

The ban on Asianet News and Media One triggered a torrent of criticism of the move. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked how "Malayalam channels inflame communal passions in Delhi?" and alleged some English news channels were continuing "their brazen distortions" with impunity.

In a statement issued on Friday after the ban, Media One termed the move "unfortunate and condemnable" and called it a "blatant attack against free and fair reporting". Media One called it "an order to stop free and fair journalism".

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News Network
May 23,2020

Karachi, May 23: Ninety-seven people were killed and two survived when a passenger plane crashed into homes in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, health officials said Saturday.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane had made multiple approaches to land at the city's airport when it came down in a residential area, damaging buildings and sparking a rescue operation that lasted into the night.

All passengers and crew had been accounted for and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said, adding that 19 had been identified.

A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of people killed on the ground.

The site remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The crash sent plumes of smoke were into the air as rescue workers and residents searched the debris for people and as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

An AFP reporter witnessed charred bodies being loaded into ambulances.

PIA said the plane lost contact with air traffic control just after 2:30 pm (0930 GMT) travelling from Lahore to Karachi.

The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.

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