| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 185 (number of people of the United States whose mother tongue is the Baloch. Census Bureau- 2009-2013) [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Washington D.C., New York City, Texas, North Carolina, California | |
| Languages | |
| American English · Balochi · Brahui · Saraiki · Sindhi · Persian | |
| Religion | |
| Islam |
Baloch Americans are Americans of Baloch descent. [2] [3]
A 2015 eight-part documentary by VSH News, the first Balochi language news channel, called Balochs in America, shows that Baloch Americans live in different parts of the United States, including Washington D.C., New York, Texas, North Carolina and Washington. [4] Many Baloch Americans come from Pakistan, both from Balochistan province and Karachi city and elsewhere in Pakistan. Others come from the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan. Many Baloch Americans work at nonprofits, information technology companies and in the public sector.
Baloch Americans are politically active in dealing with issues concerning the Baloch population in Iran and Pakistan. A congressional hearing of the United States (US) Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 8, 2012, chaired by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, highlighted the alleged human rights atrocities attributed to the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan. [5] The hearing drew severe criticism from the Pakistani government which described it as interference into its domestic affairs. [6]
Soon after the hearing on Balochistan, Rohrabacher introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives on February 18, 2012, calling upon Pakistan to recognise the Baloch right to self-determination. House Representatives Louie Gohmert and Steve King co-sponsored the motion that highlighted Balochistan's troubled past with Pakistan. [7] In an op-ed published in The Washington Post , Why I support Baluchistan, Rohrabacher said, "I make no apology for submitting a resolution championing the oppressed people of Baluchistan in their dealings with a Pakistani government that has betrayed our trust." [8]
Baloch Americans staged a demonstration outside the White House to protest a visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in October 2013. [9]
On October 22, 2015, a Baloch activist named Ahmar Mastikhan heckled Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his speech at the U.S. Institute for Peace. The protester chanted "free free Balochistan". [10] Later on, Ahmar MastiKhan claimed that he heckled Nawaz Sharif at the order of Indian intelligence who paid him money to do so. He further claimed that Research and Analysis Wing was funding Baloch militants and that Research and Analysis Wing paid 15 million dollar in last few year. Mastikhan also said that India was supporting terrorism in Pakistan. [11] [12] [13]
Baloch activists from the Baloch National Movement (BNM) protested outside the White House on February 13, 2016 to condemn the killing of BNM Secretary General Dr. Manan Baloch. [14]
On September 14, 2016, Baloch activists protested outside the United Nations Headquarters to condemn what they described to be Pakistan's "illegal occupation" of Balochistan. [15]
The Balochistan Institute in Washington D.C., founded by Malik Siraj Akbar in February 2016, is a think tank focused on research and dialogue on Balochistan. [16] The podcast DC Live tells the stories of the Baloch Americans. [17]
| Lists of Americans |
|---|
| By US state |
| By ethnicity or nationality |
The Baloch or Baluch are a nomadic, pastoral, ethnic group which speaks Western Iranic Baloch language and is native to the Balochistan region of South and Western Asia, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There are also Baloch diaspora communities in neighbouring regions, including in Central Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan, having served a total of more than 9 years across three tenures. Each term has ended in his ousting.
Nawab Nauroz (Nowroz) Khan (1868?–1965), also known by Balochs as Babu Nowroz, was the head of the Zarakzai (Zehri), a subject to the Khan of Kalat in Balochistan, Pakistan. After his unsuccessful insurgency against the government of that time he was imprisoned in Kohlu jail where he died in 1965.
The history of Balochistan refers to the history of the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Vague allusions to the region were found in Greek historical records of around 650 BCE. Prehistoric Balochistan dates to the Paleolithic.
The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch nationalists and Islamist militants against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran, and the Balochistan region of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources like natural gas, oil, coal, copper, sulphur, fluoride and gold, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan. Armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.
The Baloch Students Organization is a student organisation that campaigns for the students of Pakistan's Balochistan Province. It was founded as a student movement on 26 November 1967 in Karachi and remains the largest ethnic Baloch student body in the country. It got divided due to ideological differences. BSO Pajjar and BSO Mohiuddin are affiliated with the parliamentary framework of Pakistan. Dr Allah Nazar, founder of pro independence wing, in 2002 while he was studying in college, created a breakaway faction — BSO–Azad — that advocated struggle for an independent Balochistan based on pre-colonial Baloch country. The Pakistani government banned the BSO Azad on 15 March 2013, as a terrorist organisation.
National Party is a social-democratic, centre-left political party in Pakistan. It is one of the largest parties active in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan, along with the Balochistan National Party. It traces its legacy from the Kalat State National Party of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Mir Gul Khan Nasir and Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd, and is currently headed by Abdul Malik Baloch.
Talal Akbar Bugti was a Pakistani politician and a Baloch tribal leader of the Bugti tribe in Balochistan. He served as the President of the Jamhoori Watan Party from 2006 until his death in 2015.
Abdul Hai Baloch, also known as Abdul Hayee Baloch, was a Pakistani social and political activist from Balochistan.
Liaquat Ali Jatoi is a Pakistani politician who was Chief Minister of Sindh during 1997–1998.
There are or have been a number of separatist movements in Pakistan based on ethnic and regional nationalism, that have agitated for independence, and sometimes fighting the Pakistan state at various times during its history. As in many other countries, tension arises from the perception of minority/less powerful ethnic groups that other ethnicities dominate the politics and economics of the country to the detriment of those with less power and money. The government of Pakistan has attempted to subdue these separatist movements, which have included those in Bangladesh, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) in Balochistan; the "Sindhudesh" movement in Sindh province; "Balawaristan" in Gilgit-Baltistan; Jinnahpur and Muhajir Sooba movement for muhajir immigrants from India.
Abdul Malik Baloch is a politician and served as the 21st Chief Minister of Balochistan, Pakistan from 7 June 2013 to 23 December 2015. He was born in Turbat District, Makran and he is a member of the Hooth tribe.
Munir Ahmed Shakir was an online journalist for the Online News Network and was also a TV correspondent for Sabzbaat, also known as Sabzbagh, a Baluch television station.
Human rights abuses in the province ofBalochistan refers to the human rights violations that are occurring in the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The situation has drawn concern from the international community, The human rights situation in Balochistan is credited to the long-running conflict between Baloch nationalists and Pakistani security forces.
Javed Naseer Rind, also transliterated as Javed Nasir Rind, Javid Naseer Rind or Jawaid Naseer Rind, was an Urdu-language editor and columnist for the Daily Tawar and an active member of the Baloch National Movement. He was abducted 10 September 2011 and his corpse was discovered 5 November 2011 in Balochistan, Pakistan. He had been fired by the Baloch National Movement for reporting on the UK trial of Hyrbyair Marri and Faiz Baluch on charges of terrorism. Baloch Liberation Front, a terrorist group operating in Balochistan, took responsibility for killing him.
Malik Siraj Akbar is an ethnic Baloch journalist based in the United States. He is the editor-in-chief of the Baluch Hal, the first online English language newspaper of Pakistan's Balochistan Province, Enkaar, a liberal Urdu language news magazine, and a contributing writer for The Huffington Post. He lives in exile in the United States.
Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri is a Pakistani politician who had been the Chief Minister of Balochistan from 24 December 2015 to 9 December 2017. He belongs to Channal Zarakzai family and is also the Sardar of the Zehri tribe and chief of Jhalawan. Zehri was the central president of the Pakistan Muslim League's Balochistan branch and a confidant of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif He left the PML-N on 7 November 2020.
Mir Sarfraz Bugti is a Pakistani politician belonging to Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Sarfraz Bugti had served as Home and Tribal Affairs Minister of Balochistan. Currently, Bugti is serving as a senator of Pakistan.
On 13 July 2018, ahead of Pakistan's general election, two bombings took place at election rallies in Bannu and Mastung.
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