Baloch Americans () are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

of Baloch descent. 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. Many Baloch Americans come from Pakistan, both from

Balochistan province Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khybe ...

and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

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.

Political activism

Baloch Americans are politically active in dealing with issues concerning the Baloch population in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. A congressional hearing of the United States (US) Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 8, 2012, chaired by Republican Congressman

Dana Rohrabacher Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher ( ; born June 21, 1947) is an American former politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2019. Representing for the last three terms of his House tenure ...

, highlighted the alleged human rights atrocities attributed to the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan. The hearing drew severe criticism from the Pakistani government which described it as interference into its domestic affairs. 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. In an op-ed published in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''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." Baloch Americans staged a demonstration outside the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

to protest a visit by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

in October 2013. 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". 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 The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Republic of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and a ...

was funding Baloch militants and that

paid 15 million dollar in last few year. Mastikhan also said that India was supporting terrorism in

. 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. 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.

Organizations

The Balochistan Institute in Washington D.C., founded by Malik Siraj Akbar in February 2016, is a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

focused on research and dialogue on Balochistan. The podcast ''DC Live'' tells the stories of the Baloch Americans.

Notable people

* Malik Siraj Akbar, journalist * Mahnoor Baloch, actress and model * Dr. Wahid Baloch, Washington advocate and President of the Baloch Council of North America * Noon Meem Danish, poet of African-Baloch descent * Chiragh Baloch, artist

References

{{Demographics of the United States Asian diaspora in the United States Baloch diaspora South Asian diaspora in the United States Pakistani diaspora in the United States Middle Eastern diaspora in the United States Iranian diaspora in the United States