Pakistani organizations to hold rally in New York in support of 'oppressed' Rohingya Muslims

NEW YORK: Three U.S-based Pakistani organizations will hold a demonstration in New York's Times Square on Saturday to protest against Myanmar's oppression of Rohingya Muslims who have been risking their lives by crossing the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to seek refuge in Malaysia, according to an announcement.

The organizations are: Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum (PUFF), Bronx Community Council, American Council of Minority Woman.

"We stand for the rights of Rohingyas," PUFF Secretary-General Comrade Shahid said in a statement released on Tuesday that urged all Muslims to join the rally. They (Rohingyas) deserve to be treated like we all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

"We call on the leaders of Myanmar and the world to take immediate action to halt the inhuman persecution of Burma's Muslim minority Rohingya people," he added.

Comrade Shahid stressed the right of Rohingyas to citizenship in their country of birth, saying they deserved equal rights and opportunities. "The Rohingyas deserve citizenship in the country where they were born and have lived for generations. They deserve equal rights and opportunities."

He strongly condemned the silence of the so-called champions of human rights -- United States and its western allies as well as the United Nations -- while Rohingyas were dying in boats on high seas without food or water, aand called on them to push the Myanmar government to resolve the crisis.

Comrade Shahid also called on the world leaders to intensify steps to end Israeli occupation of Palestine, Indian occupation of Kashmir and the illegal wars on Africa and Latin America.