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Indigenous Sindhis victims to discriminatory policies of the government of Sindh
LONDON, OCTOBER 31, 2005 : World Sindhi Congress (WSC) expressed its great concern over the Sindh's ruling party MQM's systematic efforts to violate the rights of the indigenous peoples of Sindh. Since, last few years, MQM with its coalition partner Muslim League (a party sponsored by the Military) have adopted the policies of discrimination by favoring the Sindh's urban population of mainly Urdu speakers in terms of education, employment, development funds, and by gerrymandering to decrease indigenous Sindhis' representation in local, provincial and national assemblies. Recently, the Governor of Sindh (MQM) issued an ordinance preventing Urdu-speaking students at certain levels from being instructed or examined in the Sindhi language, violating the national constitution and provincial bills. MQM Government conspiringly without a due process issued the identity cards and citizenship certificates to the illegal immigrants settled in Karachi. Various centuries-old rural settlements of Sindhis surrounding the Karachi have been dismantled while the temporary housing (kachi abadi) consisting of Urdu speakers have been made permanent (paka) showing an outright effort of ethnic homogenization of Karachi. This and other gerrymandering policies of MQM are being followed resulting in more number of constituencies with majority Urdu speaking voters. On the employment front, efforts are in place to make Sindhi graduates ineligible for jobs in Karachi. The Sindhis are also discriminated in getting admissions in schools in Karachi. "MQM with General Musharaf sponsorship is engaged in a racist agenda against Sindhis," says Dr Lakhu Luhano, Secretary General of WSC. "MQM, while paying lip service to the unity in Sindh and to the promotion of Sindhi culture and language, in reality is clearly playing a divisive role between Muhajirs and indigenous Sindhis." "This is the Pakistani establishment's agenda-a colonial agenda, to divide and rule and it will only disenfranchise Sindh and Sindhis even further," says Dr Saghir Shaikh, chairperson of WSC. WSC emphasizes the need for dialogue between the Sindhi and Mohajir civil society leadership. A sincere and fair dialogue has to include the issues of employment, education, immigration, and development policies. "Sindh can not face any more conflict and the frustrations of the people are to its peak, a conflict resolution approach is needed," said Dr Luhano. According to international agencies' research the 51% of Sindh's overall population lives under the poverty line. Extrapolating the poverty rate for Sindh's rural population it can be estimated that 75% of indigenous Sindhis are living under the poverty line. WSC demands the immediate withdrawal of the Governor's ordinance banning Sindhi language courses to Grade 11 students in Karachi. It further demanded that all the policies discriminating against Sindh's indigenous people must be stopped. About the World Sindhi Congress (WSC): WSC is a UK, USA, and Canada based human rights advocacy organization. The main objective of WSC is to foster awareness within the international community about the persecution of Sindhis in Pakistan and about Sindhi people's struggles for their human rights, including the right to self-determination. WSC is a registered company in England and Wales, and California, USA, organized to carry out non-profit activities only. For more information, visit http://www.worldsindhicongress.org. |