Separatist activists of Sindh province in Pakistan have urged the Indian government to take cognizance of the “enforced disappearances” of its political activists and help those seeking asylum in India who want to make “Sindhudesh” an independent nation. Recently a report released by Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) titled “Report on the enforced disappearances of Sindhi political activists 2017” has claimed that at least 20 Sindhi political activists have been allegedly abducted by the Pakistan army and ISI between 2014 and 2017, terming them “enforced disappearances”.
The JSMM had emerged as the second largest separatist political outfit of Sindh before it was banned and termed a terrorist organisation by the Pakistan government in 2013.
Among the 20 activists who have gone missing, most are farmers, labourers or student activists and come from low income groups. According to the report, the youngest among the disappeared is a 19-year-old student activist Allah Wadhayo Mahar, who was allegedly abducted by the ISI from District Malir, Karachi, and has gone missing since 8 September 2014. The oldest person in the list is a 55-year-old Khadim Arijo, a senior JSMM member, whom the report claims was abducted by Pakistani Rangers from Hyderabad, Sindh, and has been untraceable since 17 April 2017.
Among other names on the list of “disappeared people” are Suhbat Khoso, Aijaz Tunio, Hidayat Lohar, Bux Ali Mugheri, Hosh Muhammad Qambrani, Agha Shah Zaman, Liaquat Chana, Fayaz Dahiri, Farman Hingoro, Altash Talpur, Hyder Khoso, Sunny Kakepoto, Azeez Mudasir Kakepoto, Nadeem Siyal, Mujeeb Cholyani, Zahid Adeeb Buriro, Suhail Raza Bhatti and Naveed Mirani.
Explaining the reason behind the disappearances of political activists, Shafi Muhammad Burfat, chairman of JSMM, who is living in exile in Germany, said, “The JSMM totally denounces the electoral parliamentary system, parliamentary politics and the Constitution of Pakistan because the division of electoral seats allotted to different confederating units i.e. states that joined Pakistan in 1947 at the time of independence, is totally unjust. Punjab solely holds 3/4th of Parliamentary seats i.e. 148 seats out of the 258 National Assembly constituencies.”
Burfat added, “The concurrent and federal lists give privileges to Punjabi dominant federation of Pakistan and undermine any of the provincial resolutions and bills passed by the Provincial Assemblies with complete consensus. These people who have disappeared have been protesting against this system and Pakistan government’s neglect of Sindh’s identity. The JSMM actively talks about creating a separate ‘Sindhudesh’ based on the ethnic identity of Sindhi people who are different from Punjabis who run Pakistan.”
Among the 20 activists who have gone missing, most are farmers, labourers or student activists and come from low income groups. The youngest among the disappeared is a 19-year-old student activist who was allegedly abducted by the ISI from Karachi.
Though Shafi Muhammad Burfat has a Muslim name, he emphasises that he is not a follower of Islam. “I believe in the philosophy of Lord Shiva and Shakti, which is the Sindhi historic ideology, developed by the people of the Indus civilisation. Other world religions like Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism etc., all are chapters of the universal philosophy of Lord Shiva and Shakti given by the Indus valley civilisation,” said Burfat.
In an earlier statement, the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), a human rights education and advocacy organisation in Sindh, had said, “The WSC believes that the enforced abductions of Sindhi political activists is an attempt of Pakistan’s security establishment to silence the Sindhi people’s struggle for their historical, democratic and human rights. WSC strongly condemns these gross human rights violations perpetrated by Pakistani state and demands the release of all abducted political activists. WSC also condemns the role of the Sindh government for failing to protect its people.”
Several protests and rallies have been organised by JSMM and WSC in Sindh, Karachi, Geneva and in parts of UK and Europe to raise the issue of forced disappearances of Sindhi political activists in United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and in other leading human rights associations of the world. While the UNHRC’s report on human rights violation in Pakistan does take into account these cases of Sindh’s forced disappearances, there has been no exclusive proceedings in this regard.
Burfat concluded, “Sindhis and Indians have a lot more cultural and religious similarities than Balochs and Pakhtuns. If the Indian government allows us asylum on their land, we can fight to seek independence from Pakistan.”