Topic: Briefing on the Human Rights Situation in Sindh
Organized: World Federation of Youth
By: WORLD SINDHI CONGRESS
Date:  Thursday, 10 August 2000-08-09
Room XXIV at 13.00 hrs to 15.00 hrs

Honorable Chair, Distinguished Guests and my fellow Comrades, Good Afternoon!
 
 I would like to express my gratitude to World Federation of Youth and Interfaith International for providing me the opportunity to speak about the Human Rights Situations in Sindh.

 Let me first briefly introduce my organization and myself. I am representing the World Sindhi Congress, a non-profit organization based in the UK, USA, and Sindh. Our main objective is to create better understanding among the international community about the disadvantaged status of Sindhis in Pakistan and about Sindhi people's struggle for their human rights, including the right of self-determination. I consider today's occasion as an opportunity to reach out to the International community.

 Let me briefly go over the background so that audience can get a in a historical perspective of current violations of human rights in Sindh and other parts of Pakistan.

 Pakistan has been under military rules for 40 years out of its 52 years of existence. Today it is under the de-facto martial law. We believe that crisis and instability in Pakistan derive from the country's composition in the present form, in which one province, namely Punjab, has an overwhelming domination in all spheres of power.  Peoples of smaller provinces, especially Sindh and Baluchistan, are being denied their due political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

 Looking at the history of so-called freedom in the last 52 years, the Pakistani establishment has adamantly maintained its dominance intact. The insistence on status quo and the refusal to negotiate even a little on sharing the power have created the chaotic state named Pakistan.

 Pakistani State (that is, the government, military, and ruling elite) Is involved in all kinds of violence against its own people as well as other peoples across the borders. Today, Pakistan is a symbol of intolerance, human rights abuse, Islamic fundamentalism, and terrorism.

 Pakistani establishment has never shown any sign of willingness to negotiate in a peaceful manner.  It has always resorted to violence, be that against Bangladeshis in 1971, Baluchis in 1947 and 1973, or Sindhis in 1983, 1986 and the 1990's.  State violence continues against Ahemadis, Christians, Shiites, and Hindus everyday! I want to add, my friends, that our own organizational leaders have been victims of state aggression too. Our leader Saeen G. M. Syed was imprisoned for 36 long years and was denied adequate medical treatment-the condition ultimately resulting in his death.  Also, our Vice-Chairman late Yousuf Jakhrani was brutally murdered by the military in 1992.

 It is virtually impossible to go over the list of human rights violations occurring in Sindh today. The US Country Reports, UN Human Development Reports and UK Interior Ministry Reports are full of the incidents. I would like to briefly go over the different kinds of violations being inflicted on the People of Sindh.

Violations of Rights to Development

•  Unemployment rate is at its peak in Sindh. People are resorting to suicides and crime and drug addiction is at its rise.
• Today 70% of Pakistan budget goes into defense related expenses.
• To justify such huge defense expenses Pakistan engages in regional wars.
• We Sindhis find this engagement neither morally justifiable nor economically viable. On one hand Pakistan is spending billions in nuclear bombs and on other hand People of Sindh and Baluchistan are dying out of drought and famine.
• Construction of Kalabagh Dam - Please read Liberation's statement on Item 4.
• Unequal Allocation of Financial Resources For last ten years, an illegal and unconstitutional body (consisting of selective non-representative individuals) called the National Finance Commission is managing taxes as well as other financial resources in Pakistan.
• Despite the fact that Sindh remains the largest contributor to the country's federal income (70% of federal taxes and 50% of overall income is generated from Sindh), the province is currently bankrupt and unable to carry out its day to day operations-not to speak of any meaningful development.
• The unconstitutional government and its crony bureaucrats constantly manipulate population census figures and Sindh's budget requirements, and charge false federal expenses to the province to justify discrimination.

Violation of Rights of Culture and Language

• The majority of people speak the Sindhi language in Sindh, and Sindhi was the official language of the region even under the British rule.
• In the current undemocratic setup, however, the Sindhi language has been marginalized to such an extent that its survival is under threat.  The state-controlled media only provide less that 30 minutes a day of Sindhi broadcast.
• Sindhi schools are systematically shut down throughout the province, especially from urban areas of Sindh.  This is widening the gap between rural and urban people of Sindh.  The gap has been a central factor of many social conflicts in the province, resulting in deaths of tens of thousands of people.  Federal policies that increase the urban-rural divide are detrimental to Sindh.  Furthermore, Sindhi Sufi thoughts, which are more secular in character than the orthodox Islam, have been systematically threatened, as the State engages itself in pan-Islamic propaganda.  The suppression of Sindhi culture and the dominance of state-imposed social life created hopelessness among Sindhis.

• The current setup in Pakistan thrives on religious dogmatism and intolerance.
• There exist numerous laws and policies that diminish socio-political status of religious minorities and sects.
• There exists separate electorate for Non-Muslims.
• Blasphemy law is still intact and practiced. Government provides its patronage to "Madarsaa" Schools a hub for pan-Islamicist militancy.

• Significant numbers of women are subjected to violence, abuse, rape, trafficking, and other forms of degradation by their spouses and members of society at large.
• The government failed to take action in high profile "honor killing" cases, and such killings continue throughout the country. There are considerable discriminations against women, and traditional social and legal constraints have kept women in a subordinate position in the society.
• Violence against children, child prostitution, and trafficking in children remain major social problems. Female children still lag far behind boys in education, health care, and other social benefits. are some of the examples of these violation. Please read our statement of Item 5 presented yesterday.

• A government servant cannot be associated to any political party. Many political activists are in jails without any trials. Various Journalists and intellectuals are often harassed. It is virtually impossible to criticize the governmental policies.

•  Currently all assemblies are suspended. Virtual emergency is imposed.
• There is a de-facto martial law.

• Often media is censored.
• TV and Radio are state controlled. Even a few private channels are often subjected to confirm the governments.
• Political activists are often assaulted and arrested during the peaceful protest. Last April, the leaders of Jeay Sindhi Quomi Mahaz (Nationalist Movement in Sindh) were assaulted and arrested during a peaceful protest against the increased unemployment.
• Similarly two weeks ago, leaders of Pakistan Oppressed Nations' Movement were assaulted during the peaceful protest against the construction of Kalabagh Dam.

• The judiciary is not free.

• Trials take long time. For every 1000 person, 5 cases are pending. There is only once judge per 85,000 people, and on average every judge has 450 cases pending to be resolved. Such is the situation of judiciary and citizen's access to legal systems. Often people can be remanded in jails for inquiry and so on.

 We believe that current strong federal structure leaves no room for negotiating a fair sharing of power and resources. That is why Sindhis are now demanding the right of self-determination. The right of self-determination was promised to all provinces in the Pakistan Resolution of 1940, under which condition Sindh accepted to join the Federation of Pakistan. We also believe that the right of self-determination is Sindhis' inherent and inalienable right, as per the UN Charter and International Convent.

We request the international community to:

•  Stop their support of Pakistani Establishment.
• Stop their financial support to Pakistani Military.
• Stop their financial support to anti-people projects like Kalabagh Dam.
• Stop the violence against its own people as well as other peoples across its border.
• Convince Pakistan to return to democracy and grant all the Oppressed nations the right of self-determination.
• Abolish laws discriminating women and religious minorities.

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