American-Baluch Council's letter to President Trump, supporting Baluchi-program by VOA
July 25, 2018
His Excellency President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Re: Baluchi Broadcasts to Iran by VOA
Dear Mr. President:
The American-Baluch Council has the honor to present its compliments to Your Excellency and your Administration and to express our full support for your wise and decisive policy to confront Iran. The US policy will be well served by launching Baluchi-language broadcasts to Iran. Such a VOA Baluchi-program will: definitely attract millions of Baluch viewers; improve the US image among Baluch by promoting American values such as democracy, rule of law, and human rights; counter the hateful propaganda of religious extremists in Baluchistan; counter the ongoing campaign by Iran and Pakistan (the main sources of Shiite and Sunni terrorism respectively) to Talibanize the Baluch population; and serve the overall US strategic interests in the region. In addition, VOA already broadcasts in all other languages spoken in Iran (Persian, Kurdish, Azari, Arabic). Therefore, a Baluchi program will also fill a very important gap in VOA coverage.
The importance of a VOA Baluchi program becomes more apparent when placed in the context of the US strategic interests. Baluchistan is already a focal point of geo-political rivalry between the US and China and between India and China in Asia. Under CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) China is investing $56 billion to connect Western China to Gwadar Port in Baluchistan via a network of roads, railways and pipeline. India is countering China by developing Chabahar Port in Iranian Baluchistan and connecting it to Central Asia. A VOA Baluchi program can play a crucial role in attracting the Baluch population to the US side in this New Great Game in Asia.
A Baluch-language program will definitely attract millions of new viewers to VOA. The total Baluch population is estimated to be around 30 million, including 6.5 million in Iranian Baluchistan.
Respectfully,
Dr. M. Hosseinbor
Chairman
American-Baluch Council
drbor@americanbaluchcouncil.org
www.americanbaluchcouncil.org
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