Anti-Pakistan poster spotted outside Lord's stadium before WC final in London
15 July, 2019
A mini-truck with a digital poster displaying an anti-Pakistan slogan was spotted outside the Lord's cricket stadium here shortly before the World Cup final between New Zealand and England on Sunday.
The digital poster displayed the message "Help end enforced disappearances in Balochistan" written in bold letters against the yellow and black background, as part of a campaign organised by Baloch activists to highlight the dire human rights violation in Pakistan.
A similar anti-Pakistan slogan was spotted trailing behind an aeroplane flying over the Edgbaston stadium in Birmingham during the World Cup semi-final match between Australia and England on Thursday.
The plane had unfurled banners in the sky bearing slogans 'World Must Speak Up For Balochistan' written in big bold black and red letters.
Human rights activists from various Baloch organisations have been continuing their campaigns around the world to highlight the worsening human rights situation in Pakistan.
For long, Pakistan's establishment has been criticised over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by international bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue.
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, about 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered since 2014. Most of them are still unresolved.
Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.
Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple interviews about the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible.
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