The World Sindhi Congress (WSC) has strongly condemned the ongoing brutal operation against the indigenous rights movement of Sindhi people against the Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) and other land grabbing movements by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh provincial government in Pakistan.
According to a release by WSC, hundreds of Sindhi people have been arbitrarily arrested across the entire Sindh in the last few days. These include political leaders and workers, civil society activists, human rights defenders, intellectuals, writers, poets and displaced indigenous people.
"More than a dozen political parties and environmental justice groups recently joined hands together under the Sindhi Action Committee (SAC). SAC called for a peaceful protest on Jun 6th. Thousands of people protested the occupation of their lands," said the rights groups.
Those arrested include the central leaders of Jeay Sindh Quomi Mahaz, Indigenous Rights Alliance, Sindh United Party, and Porhiyat Mazhamat (Peasant Resistance).
"During these operations, thousands of houses across the entire Sindh were raided in the early morning hours - the houses raided and ransacked, occupants hustled, and the residents arbitrarily arrested. These appalling attacks have been in response to the democratic struggle of a united front of Sindhi political parties against Bahria Town and other illegal land grabbing schemes covering hundreds of thousands of acres of most valuable lands of Sindhi people by the Pakistan army, their proxies, and political cronies," the WSC claimed.
The Sindhi Congress requested all the political parties of Sindh, civil and human rights organizations of Sindh and Pakistan, and conscientious individuals to raise their voices against this 'fascist attack' on the people of the province.
"WSC pledges to raise these gross human rights violations with the International Community, including the UN, human rights organizations, and governments worldwide," it added.
Under a conspiracy from Karachi to Kashmore, Bahria Town, DHA City and other mega projects have been initiated on converting the Sindhi people to a minority in the name of Pakistan.
On June 7, a protest in BTK against land grabbing turned violent as fast food franchises, several vehicles, a showroom and two offices of estate agents were set ablaze and police resorted to teargas shelling and firing rubber bullets.
The violent incident happened on Sunday after a mob forced its way through the main gate during a protest by the SAC against a mega housing project. Thousands of people had arrived at the housing project from different parts of the province to stage a peaceful protest against 'land grabbing', 'forced eviction of locals' and 'demolition of villages' in the name of development, reported Dawn.
( With inputs from ANI )
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