Geneva: Sindhi Foundation holds poster campaign to highlight plight of Sindhis in Pakistan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Sindhi Foundation organized a day-long poster campaign in front of the United Nations office in Geneva to make people aware of the plight of Sindhis in Pakistan’s Sindh province.

The campaign was held during the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Besides slogans criticizing Pakistan and China for exploiting the resources of Sindh, the posters depicted the pictures of several Sindhi political activists, journalists and other intellectuals who were forcibly abducted, tortured and brutally killed by Pakistan’s secret agencies.

Speaking to ANI, Executive Director of Sindhi Foundation, Manawar Laghari said, “The message is very very clear. Pakistan is a hurdle and is really a curse on the earth. No one is happy. Neither the people living in Sindh, Balochistan or Pakhtunkhwa, Saraikis, Hazaras, Chitrals, Gilgit – all those oppressed people they want to get rid of this country”.

He added, “They want freedom from Pakistan and my message to the United Nations is this – we want referendum under the supervision of the United Nations not what the data Pakistan has, especially with the ISI, we don’t believe in that. Under the supervision of the UN referendum to get our independence. This is our very clear message”.

Laghari said that in these pictures – some of them have disappeared, some were brutally killed and tortured. Some of them are still in the torture cells of the ISI and there are some girls who are also forcefully converted.

He added, “One of my friends Professor Notan Lal who is in prison under the blasphemy laws and he is facing wrong allegations against him. This is Pakistan’s strategy to suppress the Sindhis”.

In a letter sent by the Sindhi Foundation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, it explained the case of Sindh and highlighted several ongoing issues.

It stated that Sindhi schools were closed in cities in Sindh and Urdu schools was opened. It also highlighted many issues like enforced disappearances of Sindhi political activists, forced conversion of Sindhi Hindu girls and agricultural land usurped by Pakistani army generals. (ANI)