Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain on Thursday met with United States (US) Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and self-exiled Baloch leader, the Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Dawood Jan, at the MQM's London Secretariat, according to a press release issued through the party's website.
The Khan of Kalat joined the latter half of the meeting, which included lunch and lasted over four hours.
Hussain briefed Rohrabacher on what he claimed were "unlawful arrests, torture, abductions, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings" of MQM workers and members of the mohajir community in Karachi and other parts of Sindh by security forces.
He also apprised Rohrabacher of alleged "arrests, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and acts of mistreatment" of Baloch people by security forces.
Congressman Rohrabacher pledged to raise these issues in the US Congress and at other appropriate forums, the press release said.
The Khan of Kalat and Hussain also agreed to "work together" for the rights of the mohajir community and Baloch people.
All three agreed to continue holding such meetings in the near future.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has a history of making anti-Pakistan moves in the US Congress, but has not always been successful in achieving his objectives.
Earlier in July, a US Congressional panel titled “Pakistan: Friend or foe?” — where Rohrabacher also spoke — had come close to challenging Pakistan's existence as a state.
Read more: Rohrabacher and Balochistan
The Khan of Kalat had left the country in 2007 on the recommendations of a 'grand Baloch Jirga' after developing serious differences with the state following the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
The Baloch Jirga had been convened in Kalat in September 2006 by the Khan. Tribal leaders and elders from Balochistan were invited to attend the jirga, held for the first time in 103 years, to discuss the situation in the province with special reference to the killing of Nawab Bugti.
The jirga had reportedly asked the Khan to leave the country, and “struggle for the rights of Balochistan and its people” from abroad.
The Khan has since then been provided political asylum by the British government and currently lives in London.
A Baloch delegation that visited the Khan in London in July 2015 to convince him to return to Pakistan failed in its mission, as he maintained that only the Grand Baloch Jirga which sent him abroad had the mandate to make a decision regarding his return.
Read more: Only 'Grand Baloch Jirga' has mandate to decide my return: Khan of Kalat
