Pak envoys get an earful from their expats in US

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is taking its case on Kashmir and India to the world, but its efforts in the US being made by PM Nawaz Sharif ’s envoys, are not quite going

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is taking its case on Kashmir and India to the world, but its efforts in the US being made by PM Nawaz Sharif ’s envoys, are not quite going as per the plan, running into pushback on troubles of its own making from home.

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At a think-tank event on Wednesday, the envoys, lawmakers Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shazra Mansab, faced allegations of human rights violations by Pakistan in Balochistan, Sindh and occupied areas of Kashmir, from expats from those areas.

“My friend Wahid Baloch, a scholar, disappeared on July 17 and my cousin disappeared for four days and nights recently,” said Ahmar Mas ti Khan, who described himself as an American from “Pakistan-occupied Balochistan”.

Citing figures of people believed to have been killed and missing in Balochistan over the years, Khan added, “You guys came and tested your nuclear weapons in Balochistan. Kashmir pales in comparison to what you are doing in Balochistan.”

Sufi Laghari, from the Sindh region of Pakistan, castigated the envoys about the disappearance of his brother, a doctor, for nine months now. And his nephew, he said, has had to relocate to Salt Lake City, Utah to escape harassment from Pakistan’s ISI. The lawmakers held meetings with state department officials but are not scheduled to meet anyone at the White House.