Sindh Guardian Vol 7 Issue 1

Sindhi American Political Action Committee

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1

SINDH GUARDIAN

SAPAC

Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Guddu of Sindh @guddupakistani

PREVIEW

CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

STATE OF HEALTH AND EDUCATION

SINDHI HERITAGE AND LANGUAGE

ABOUT THIS ISSUE Volume 7 Issue 1 of the Sindh Guardian was a collaborative effort in early Spring 2020 by the Sindhi American Political Action Committee team. The issues that we write about are not an object of a distant past, but ongoing. Few people know of Sindh or its persecuted indegenous communities and it is our duty to spread awareness.

Authors and Contributors Ayia Ghazy Ayia Ghazy is a senior at University of North Florida studying Political Science with a minor in Criminal Justice. Her interest in politics first came about because of experiencing first-hand the contempt of the Egyptian people towards the police force and the government, after years of violations and discrimination. After graduation she plans on getting her Master’s degree in either International Relations or Criminal Justice.

Billy Hackett Billy is an undergraduate senior at the University of Florida pursuing two Bachelor's of Arts in Political Science and International Studies with a regional focus in Latin America. He is intrigued by the intersectionality of geopolitical issues that derive from a common power structure and is passionate about empowering margianalized people, whether domestic or abroad.

Christine Sifre Christine is a senior at Framingham State University in Massachusetts studying political science. While living aboard she developed an aspiration to work in human rights and women's rights focusing on international conflict resolutions. She is excited to look into a graduate program that involves conflict resolutions and making the world just a little bit kinder each day.

The views in this publication belong to individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of SAPAC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Human Rights Abuses 04 Tortured: The Families Left Behind 06 Forced Conversions in Sindh 10 Blasphemy Case of Notan Lal 13 Law Enforcement in Sindh

Eduction and Health 17 System of Education in Sindh 20 Sindh Basic Education Program 22 Rabies Outbreak in Sindh

Heritage and Language 25 Sindhi Heritage & Culture 29 Victorious: Preserving the Sindhi language 31 Letters to the Editor 33 Congressional Sindh Caucus 34 References

continued

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

TORTURED: THE FAMILIES Dayo’s sister reached out to the LEFT BEHIND Sindhi American Political Action winner” for his family, who continues to grieve his disappearance.

Enforced Disappearances Written by Billy Hackett

Imagine that you are at work on a day like any other when a group of armed strangers– a number in military uniforms, others in civilian clothing– suddenly take you away from everything that you know.

Imagine being a mother whose son just suddenly disappears, worried that first night when their son does not return home but changed forever when a night turns into months, or even years.

For thousands of people in Sindh, with that number increasing each day, this is not a mental exercise in relative privilege– this is reality.

Who takes them? Where do they go?

Who can be trusted? Will they ever return?

Insaf Ali Dayo, a 30-year-old Sindhi from Lakarna, Sindh, was forcibly disappeared on May 29, 2017– almost three years ago. The abduction was carried out at the victim’s tailor shop by three uniformed policemen and three others in civilian clothing, who beat and blindfolded Dayo before forcing him into their white vehicle at approximately 11 AM. This unmarried man was the only “breadSindh Guardian | 4

a number of surgeries. They wonder if he has clean water and food to eat, the lack of which could put his life in danger.

Do you know why your brother was Committee a number of weeks ago, targeted? a move she describes as the family’s “We don’t know why Insaf Ali was taken, neither was it revealed by the last hope to reunite with Insaf Ali abducting people.”

Dayo. The following question and answer session between myself and The family had no idea if Insaf Ali Dayo’s sister was conducted over Dayo had any connection to politics, WhatsApp, with a number of voice and could not see a clear reason as messages loosely interpreted by to why he was targeted. His sister Fatima Gul, SAPAC’s Executive learned only after his abduction that Director. years before, when this 30-year-old What was your reaction when you man was in 9th or 10th grade, he had been engaged in some way with a found out that your brother had Sindhi nationalist political party. disappeared?

Perhaps he had engaged with the “We were shocked to know about party in an official capacity or had this incident.” just been spending time with people It was a young boy who worked for in the party, but that– when Dayo was a child– seems to be the only Insaf Ali Dayo and ran from the scene of the abduction to deliver the connection to political activity that would make him a target. news to his family: “Some people

came and took Insaf away.” This was tragic news, to say the least, in the midst of Rammadan. Dayo’s sister immediately went to see if there was anything that she could do, but because the scene was clear by the time that she arrived she settled for asking everyone in the area what they had seen.

How has this affected your life or that of your family?

“His forced disappearance has ruined our family and snatched all our happiness.”

Their mother, an elderly woman who lives with diabetes and hypertension (high blood-pressure), has not fared well since the Insaf Ali Dayo was not in the best abduction. Her condition is very health at the time of his abduction, serious now, having suffered a heart and that remains their largest attack with three blocked vessels as concern for him. He had kidney well as pulmo tuberculosis. Dayo’s issues and had been recovering from sister, for her part, has been experiencing

depression since her brother was taken, and a younger sister has many kidney stones. His younger brother has not been doing well, either. Insaf Ali Dayo was the only source of income for the entire family, so even without factoring in the costs of increased medical attention they are suffering financially from his disappearance.

"In all of our lives we have never been in a situation like this... this is the most painful time in our lives. I cannot explain how this has affected all of our lives, of my siblings, and of my mother..."

How have you organized to get your brother released?

Have you heard anything from law enforcement or the government?

“Police officials have been denying their involvement in [the] disappearance of Insaf Ali…” After hearing that Insaf Ali Dayo had been forcibly disappeared, they began to organize. They arranged protests at the Lakarna press club on a daily basis and recorded their protests. They sent appeals and complaints to public officials. They met with local police officials who denied involvement with the incident, asking for their help to recover Dayo. The police say that there was no record of Dayo having ever committed any crime that warranted his abduction. They even filed a petition in High Court Lakarna through a senior advocate. They mobilize alongside other people who have had family members abducted. It has been almost three years, and they have heard nothing back despite these efforts.

How has Sindh changed since these abductions began?

“We don’t know about any changes in Sindh. We do not belong to politics.”

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This proclamation was followed by experiences of how the social fabric of daily life has changed in Sindh. “A lot” of young boys, from 17 to 25, are being abducted. There is a feeling of despair in the face of this inescapable reality, and while countless families are affected by these disappearances either directly or through association there is no one to help them.

Sindhi families are in a painful place, where they do not know if their loved ones are OK, or if they will ever return; it is like torture, except not the physical torture that many of these young victims endure.

SAPAC continues to tell the story of Insaf Ali Dayo in meetings with Members of Congress, asking that they highlight this case.

Special thanks to the sister of Insaf Ali Dayo (below) for sharing her personal story. May her bravery and that of her family set her brother free.

move to other cities in Pakistan or even leave Pakistan and move to India (2). Furthermore, state institutions do not provide minorities any protection or access to justice. In other words, Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said that Religious Persecution police officers usually turn a blind Written by Ayia Ghazy eye to the reports of abductions and forced conversions. Therefore, they The Issue of Forced Religious exempt perpetrators from being Conversions in Sindh punished or being held accountable Evidence presented by many for their actions. In addition, police academics, journalists and Nonofficers will either falsify governmental organizations show information or refuse to record First that kidnappings and forced Information Reports. As a result, religious conversions are the most they are turning down a family’s serious issues that Sindhi Hindu only chance to take their case any and Christian girls and women face. further (1). Furthermore, Pakistan’s In the majority of the forced higher and lower courts have never conversion cases, minor girls are succeeded in following the abducted then they are subjected to procedures in the cases of forced physical and emotional abuse. This conversions and forced marriages. usually involves threatening them of To clarify, the judiciary is often violence against their family and being threatened and intimidated loved ones (1). Despite the fact that, by religious extremists and most of in 1947 when Pakistan was created the time, police officers’ personal as a Muslim state, the founder of the beliefs influence them to believe the country Mohammed Ali Jinnah, claims that abducted girls and stated that all religious minorities women have converted to Islam must have the freedom to live in willingly. They ignore the age of Pakistan and practice their faith. these girls, and they do not Nowadays, Pakistan is an Islamic investigate the circumstances under Nationalist state, where the state which conversions took place. strongly believes in its interests that Converted girls and women are it excludes the interests of others, in usually left in the custody of their this case Sindh province. In kidnappers during the whole trial addition, religious groups are an process where they are subjected to intimidating force and religious more threats, to force them to deny minorities have almost no voice in that they were abducted and raped the society. Hindus are also being and to claim that they willingly forced to leave their villages and converted (1).

FORCED

CONVERSIONS

IN SINDH

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Multiple religious institutions, seminaries and local mosques do not succeed in investigating the age of the bride and the nature of the conversion and most of the time they just take the words of the kidnapper. Other institutions like Minhaj-ul-Quran, offer rewards for successful conversions to encourage the practice of converting individuals of minority communities. They as well claim that this practice is equivalent to Haj-e-Akbari, or a Muslim’s greatest religious duty (1).

Protest against Forced Conversion Hindu and Christian Today, Muslim Tomorrow Hindus constitute about 2 percent of Pakistan’s population which is approximately 200 million people. It is estimated that each year about 1000 girls and women from religious minorities are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and then forced to get married to their kidnappers.

The majority of the time the kidnappers are triple the girls’ age, have already been married before and have children. In addition, the majority of the reported cases of religious forced conversions are from the Sindh province, as it is the

home of 90 percent of Pakistan’s Hindu population (5).

To exemplify, 16-year-old Ravita Meghwar was a Sindhi Hindu girl who lived in a village. Now, she is a married to a Muslim, and her new name is Gulnaz Shah. Her family believes that her abductors drugged them and then kidnapped their daughter. She then was forcibly converted to Islam and was forced to say that it was her will to run away in order to get married (2). Meghwar’s case would have gone unreported if it was a decade or two ago. However, the cases that involve Sindhi Hindu girls converting to Islam have continuously emerged in Pakistan’s southeastern Sindh province courts. What unsettled the Sindhi Hindu population is the forcible nature of the conversions, the identical pattern of these cases and the targeting of minor girls. However, Hindus in the Sindh province were able to retain a degree of social influence and they became successful merchants, despite the fact that Pakistan is a Muslim-majority state.

On the other hand, lower-income Hindus face social discrimination and most of the time are cut off the Hindu community, by the powerful and rich landowners. Ravita Meghwar’s brother-in-law, Lajpat Meghwar, believes that because her family participated in a larger political dispute over the use of a well, she was targeted. He said that “The person who kidnapped Ravita has no connection to the family, except they had a dispute. He has never come to our house” (2).

To illustrate, on the Holi day, two sisters, in Daharki, a city in Ghotki district of Sindh, Reena Meghwar (15) and Raveena Meghwar (13), disappeared from their house.

Shaman, the sisters’ brother, searched for the girls to no avail. Then Shaman, his father and other members of the community decided to go to the police station to register a complaint. At the station, they were assured that those who were responsible for the girls’ disappearance would be caught by March 20th.

However, as the day passed, and nothing seemed to have happened, the community organized a protest the next day to pressure the Station House Officer to file a First Information Report (FIR). They filed a FIR against six men, for kidnapping the sisters. On the same day, a video surfaced on social media, where the two girls were reading aloud the Kalima. Both of them said “We have converted to Islam.” From this video, it seems that the sisters were abducted from their house and forcibly taken to Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab and no one knows who kidnapped them. In Punjab, they got married to Barakat Ali and Safdar Ali, they were both already married and had children. The sisters’ wedding was on the 22nd of March at a religious organization, an office of the Sunni Tehreek, after they were converted to Islam.

What caused a debate was that the girls claimed that they were above 18, while their brother insisted that they were both minors. Although all of these events were Ravita Meghwar Humas Younas a lot for the Meghwar family to digest, the two sisters filed a petition in Islamabad High court on March 25th, Another recent incident occurred on the 20th of March seeking their family’s protection. The court ruled that 2019, when Sindhi Hindus were celebrating the day of the government should protect the sisters until this Holi. However, that day was the beginning of a nightmare matter was resolved. However, the court decided that the to the Meghwar family. two girls were not forcibly converted, and they were allowed to go back to their husbands (5).

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On October 10th, 2019, Huma Youns went missing from her home, where three men waited till her family left the house then they abducted her. Huma was taken to Dera Gazi Khan, which is about 600 kilometer away from her home city in Karachi. Her abjuration was recorded the same day she was kidnapped. To illustrate, Huma Youns is a 14-year-old christian girl from Zia Colony, Karachi, was kidnaped, forcibly converted to Islam, and forced to get married to a Muslim man. Her family is trying everything they can to safely get their daughter back. Therefore, they have filed an appeal to the Court of Justice in Sindh province. Her father, Younus Masih, works as an electrician. Her mother, Nagina, laments that police refused to accept their initial complaint, and filed the case only on October 12th, 2019, after refusing several times. A few days later the family received Huma’s conversion papers and marriage certificate to a Muslim man called Abdul Jabar. For Huma’s mother, she believes that the papers are fake because the date of her conversion is the same day she was kidnapped. “It is impossible,” the mother insists (3). The court hearing was scheduled on November 11th, 2019, and the parents were expecting Huma to appear before the court, but she failed to show up. Her parents became even more concerned about their daughter, saying “we don’t even know if she’s still alive” (3). Another hearing was scheduled on February 3rd, 2020, which only lasted for five minutes. The family’s attorney, Tabassum Yousaf said “ The court, in just a few words citing the sharia, has justified the violation of the girl’s body since she has already had her first period” (4). Yousaf added that the family was prohibited from seeing Huma because police said her life would be at risk if she was brought to the courtroom. He continued saying that the family challenged Huma’s marriage and forced conversion under the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013, which declares marrying a person under 18 years old an offence punishable by up to three years in prison. The family has filed an appeal to the Court of Justice in Sindh Province, and Yousaf said a hearing is scheduled for March 4th. Accordingly, the Police will have more Sindh Guardian | 8

time for medical tests to determine Huma’s age.

Unfortunately, the High Court ruling in Pakistan validated the marriage of 14-year-old Huma Youns (4).

The Failure of the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill There have been multiple attempts by the Sindhi government to pass bills that could protect minorities from forced conversions and will make these acts punishable by the law, however, because of the oppositions and the backlash from conservative Muslim groups, the legislation failed and never saw the light. To illustrate, in February 2013, the Sindhi government set up a committee of three members to consider laws to end forced religious conversions and forced marriages. The developed bill considered the majority of the issues the involve forced conversions and marriage as it aimed to order certain institutions to be responsible for stopping such incidents and setting legal guidelines for behaviors in such cases. This would allow the victims to have access to justice and will protect the integrity of the court’s process (1). In November 2016, the Sindh Provincial Assembly unanimously passed the bill. Unfortunately, the bill did not become a law as in January 2017, the Governor at that time, Mr. Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, returned the bill. Although Mr. Siddiqui died soon after, the bill was still blocked by parties and the Islamist groups. On December 5th, 2016, a group of Islamist met with the chief minister’ special assistant on religious affairs, Dr. Abdul Qayyum Soomro, and described the bill against the basis of Islam. Other religious parties started a campaign against the Sindh assembly bill to pressure and threaten the Sindh government to withdraw it. The Jamaatl-Islami (JI) contended that there is no such thing as setting an age limit on people converting to Islam.

Since all these disputes, the Pakistani Hindu Council decided that the Supreme Court should take action against the issue of forced conversions and forced marriages. Other bills have appeared but there have been very little legislative movement in the case. In addition, the religious parties have not shown any sign of withdrawing their opposition to the bills (1).

Protesting Forced Conversion Demanding to End Forced Conversions A resolution was unanimously passed by Pakistan’s Sindh Assembly, demanding to end the practice of abductions and forced conversions of Sindhi Hindu girls. They are also demanding that those involved in such activities should be punished and held accountable. This resolution moved on the 16th of July 2019 by Nand Kumar Goklani, Grand Democratic Alliance lawmaker, months after the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan released its report in April 2019. Kumar said about 40 Hindu girls, mostly minors, from many areas have been forced to convert to Islam in just a few months. He said “This assembly has passed a law against child marriages.

The minor girls of our community go missing and later appear in a seminary where they tie the knot with a Muslim boy” (6). He continued saying that all of this is done under pressure and threats of violence. Kumer had moved a bill earlier against forced conversions but it was dissented by the governor. Therefore, he indirectly started to criticize the treasury bench for not doing anything to end the practice of abductions and forced conversions. He asked the treasury “This is our motherland. Since the creation of Pakistan, we the minorities have always remained loyal to Pakistan just like our Muslim brothers. Where should we go if our girls are converted?”

(6). He told the treasury that this problem has forced many Sindhi Hindus to leave Pakistan, “but we want to live and die here. Please give us protection and don’t force us to leave this country” (6). Another member Mangla Sharma, who supports the resolution, said that “We respect all religions, but the question arises why Hindu boys are not converted to Islam,” so she was questioning why the Hindu girls are the only ones being abducted. She continued saying “Despite different pressures on us, we will not leave this land and have decided to fight these elements who work against us” (6).

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BLASPHEMY CASE OF NOTAN LAL Blasphemy Laws Written by Christine Sifre One would think laws that involve blasphemy would be a thing of the past in today’s world, but extreme blasphemy laws are taken very seriously in Pakistan. These perceived religious offenses were codified in 1860 when present-day Pakistan was subject to British rule, and these laws established that it would be a crime to disturb a religious assembly, trespass on burial grounds, insult religious beliefs, or intentionally destroy or defile a place or an object of worship. These offenses held a maximum punishment of 1-10 years in jail with or without a fine and were even expanded in 1927. When Pakistan and India split in 1947, these laws were retained by Pakistan and later expanded between 1980 and 1986 by General Zia ul Haq’s military government to include more egregious forms of punishments; his mission was to “Islamicise” and legally separate the Ahmani community that was declared non-Muslim in 1973 from the majority Muslim Pakistani community. The law was expanded in 1980 to designate any derogatory remarks against Islamic personages

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an offense, carrying a maximum punishment of 3 years. Then in 1982, another clause was added that would carry a life imprisonment sentence for “willful” desecration of the Quran, the holy book of Islam.

Finally, in 1986 a separate clause was inserted to punish any person accused of blasphemous speech against the Prophet Muhammad and the penalty recommended was “death or imprisonment for life,” in that order (7).

The implementation of these laws has meant those who have been accused of blasphemous acts have received unfair trials with very little evidence, if any, before being given the harsh punishment of death or life imprisonment. At least 75 people have been killed since 1990 in connection with allegations of this “crime” and at least 40 people are serving life sentences or are on death row according to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. One such case reported occurred in May 2019, in the Sindh town of Mirpur Khas, where a Sindhi Hindu veterinarian, Ramesh Kumar Malhi, was accused of wrapping medicine in paper with Islamic verses printed on it– riots broke out in response (5). He was taken into “protective custody” and six people were charged with rioting; “protective custody” essentially means that that person is now in jail and can never return to their lives or homes because of that accusation.

Notan Lal The Sindh province, a peaceful region that has always been defined by religious tolerance, has for the first time become increasingly fertile grounds for these accusations of blasphemy to be made. The rise of these accusations and their increasing frequency are tied to the influx of migrants from northern Pakistan who have settled in the Sindh province; the indigenous foundations in religious harmony become muted as Sindhis are outnumbered by this predominantly Sunni Muslim immigrant community.

Another recent case happened on September 16, 2019, a 15-year old student at a public school in the town of Ghotki in Sindh province, accused his principal, Notan Lal, a Sindhi Hindu, of blasphemy because he criticized him for not memorizing a homework assignment. Notan Lal and his wife have been pillars of

Atheir community as the owners and principal of a Sindh Public School for over 25 years. However, Abdul Aziz Khan has said that his son Muhammad Ibtisam alleges that the principal insulted the prophet during a lesson on his life and travel between two holy cities.

Under Pakistani Penal code 295-C: Use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet merits death as only available sentence following a federal Shariat Court ruling in 1991 (4). Without any proof that anything blasphemous was said, the extremist decimated the school in which the alleged incident happened and even ransacked a local Hindu temple.

Sindhi Hindu leader Mukhi Kika Ram added that several Hindu-owned businesses and homes were badly damaged in the riots. Senior police official Farrukh Lanjar told Al Jazeera “Mr. Lal has been taken into police protective custody and we are inquiring about his role in the incident,” and “the student has also been questioned” (2). In response to the protest, many in the Sindhi Muslim community staged a counter-protest protecting their Hindu neighbors by doing a sit-in at the Hindu temple to prevent any further damage. Despite the overwhelming support that the Sindhi Muslims presented, the Lal family can never return to their home and lives in Ghotki because once someone is accused of blasphemy they won’t be forgiven even if that person has been proven innocent.

The other problem is that no lawyer wants to take this case because, in the past, lawyers like a certain Saeed Khan have been killed for any help they provide to the accused, with their bodies made into “examples” to scare citizens that try to help people like Notan Lal. The most recent update on Notan Lal’s case is that the session judge in Ghotki has moved the case to an antiterrorism court and no judge is even taking his case, which is devastating because the 6 months he has been in prison has caused his health to decline significantly.

Sindhi American human rights activist Fatima Gul testified before the US Committee on Foreign Affairs sub-committee Asia, Pacific, and Non-Proliferation,

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Add a little bit of body t

Damage of a Hindu temple

Sindhi Muslims protect Hindu temple

House of Representatives on October 22, 2019, asking the committee to help encourage the release of Notan Lal for a crime that he didn’t commit (6). The student has also come out on social media stating that he exaggerated because he was angry having been criticized by his principal; he is now asking for Notan Lal to forgive him, while Notan Lal remains in custody and may never return to his home or occupation.

In mid-December, the U.S. State Department announced that it was re-designating Pakistan a “country of particular concern” for “having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom” (3). The US designation is based on an evaluation carried out by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent body funded by Washington. USCIRF said that Pakistan had failed to adequately protect its minorities and failed to ensure religious freedom for all, including members of the majority. Also, a large number of USCIRF members have a House Resolution, H.RES.-640 which specifically calls to condemn such blasphemy against Christians in places like Pakistan (1).

“Pakistan has rejected the U.S. government’s move to designate the country “of particular concern” on religious freedom. Pakistani Foreign Minister said the label was “unilateral and arbitrary,” and “the result of a biased evaluation process” (3). The Foreign Office also stated that it was a “selective targeting” of countries.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is a defender of these extreme blasphemy laws. When Asia Bibi was exonerated by the Pakistani Supreme Court, after being charged with blasphemy and being in prison for nine years, Prime Minister Khan said that there would be no appeals to the court’s decision and she would not be put on “exit control list,” but then an hour later a government tweet went out recanting what the Prime Minister had said– only to be recanted again! Asia Bibi knew she must leave at that point before the government blocked her from leaving again; she has since fled to Canada, but she is recognizable and not entirely safe from those who may want to harm her.

Duplicitous employment of Pakistan’s extreme blasphemy laws, to conclude, often lead to false convictions that then spark violent, extremist protests.

The riots damage minority homes and businesses make it extremely expensive to repair and, in addition, the heart that goes along with such hate of one’s neighbors can be devastating. These hypocritical extremists expect people to respect the customs of Islam, the Holy Prophet and other Islamic relics, yet they seem to destroy Hindu, Christian, and other religious artifacts in the name of their god as they riot through the streets crying blasphemy. People like Notan Lal, Asia Bibi, and countless Sindhis of all backgrounds whether Hindu, Christians, or even Muslim must constantly watch what they say and do what they can to not anger anyone as it could cost them their lives. This is not a sustainable way to live in a community where so many different people of different faiths commune with each other. With this much hate and misunderstanding, the Sindh province has a long road ahead of them to bridge this gap in community life.

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U.S. TAKES STEP AGAINST "BLASPHEMY" House Resolution H.R. 512, co-sponsored

by Congressional Sindh Caucus member Jaime Raskin (D-MD-08), passed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, 2020.

Later that day, Rep. Raskin published the following: “As oppressive regimes across the globe use arbitrary religious offenses such as ‘blasphemy’ and ‘heresy’ to imprison, torture, and kill religious, it is critical that the United States defends freedom of religion and liberty of conscience everywhere. This Resolution is a small but important step in protecting the individual freedoms to choose your religion or no religion at all and to worship and think freely around the world. We will continue working together to combat the persecution of religious minorities and dissenters..."

Now that it has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee, it will be voted on by the entire U.S. House of Representatives. A Resolution is not law, but represents the sentiments of the House.

THE RULE OF LAW IN SINDH

progress to restructure or reform the system, that has been inherited from the colonial times in 1947 (6).

Therefore, reforming the police has become a priority in Pakistan in order to strengthen the rule of law. This urge to restructure the system originated The "Justice" System from the overwhelming and clear proof that a responsible, efficient, just and Written by Ayia Ghazy The Emergence of the Rule of Law ethical law enforcement and policing system are key factors for the and Policing in Pakistan It is known all over the world that promotion of human security and for social and economic development. any state’s law enforcement and police system have a crucial role in Among the problems that affect the Pakistani police system are the defending the land against outdated criminal justice system, the insurgencies and the threats of random choice of police by the state’s terrorism. However, the mechanisms of law enforcement, executive authority, poor incentive systems, corruption, inadequate especially policing in Pakistan, accountability and serving underhave always been recognized as resourcing of law (6). the most ineffective and corrupt system. The system itself has led to Police brutality and Fake “Encounter the failure of law and order in Pakistan, which is as well backed Killings” In Pakistan, the police are the most by multiple historical, sociocomplained against, the least trusted political and cultural factors (1).

Furthermore, the crisis of law and and the most feared institution, order in Pakistan has only gotten because of corruption and inefficient accountability. There are multiple worse over time, where recently, the police have become unable to reported cases of torturing detainees, illegal killings of suspects and effectively deal with its harassment of individuals and families responsibilities, especially combating crimes and protecting who try to file cases, mainly if it is citizens. Over the years there have against one of the security forces, along been attempts to restructure the with other human rights violations. In addition, most of the time, the police police system in Pakistan, however, these attempts have been would refuse to register individuals’ complaints, they would ask for bribes ineffective and are always criticized. Accordingly, ever since and victims face biased investigations (5). More importantly, some police the independence of Pakistan, there has not been any significant officers admitted to Human Rights

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Watch that they fake “encounter killings,” where the police fake an encounter to kill individuals who are already in custody. This is due to pressure from the higher authority or because the police cannot gather evidence to prove the convictions. It also occurs when the officers justify killing criminal suspects either to prevent criminals from escaping justice due to lack of witnesses and evidence or as an act of self-defense.

Not only the police are abusive but also, they are never held accountable for these actions, as the victims’ families could be accused of false charges or harassed if they filed complaints (5).

Protesting Against Police Brutality On April 7th, 2017, the Chairman of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), 54-year-old Bashir Khan Qureshi, mysteriously passed away in Sakrand, Sindh. Qureshi was at a party and after he had dinner with his co-workers, he suddenly lost consciousness. He complained of chest pain followed by a cough.

Qureshi was shifted to a local hospital, where he took his last breath at around 2:45 am. Party

workers contended that Qureshi was not a heart patient, and there had never been any indication of heart problems in the past. Rumors started spreading saying that he was poisoned by phosphorus. “We do not believe that cardiac arrest was the cause of Bashir Khan Qureshi’s death. We are certain he was eliminated by those who could not stomach the nationalist leader’s popularity, which was amply demonstrated during a rally in Karachi on March 23, 2012,” said the acting chairman of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Dr Niaz Kalani. Dr. Qayum Rajpar, who is one of the members of the post-mortem medical board, revealed that Qureshi was poisoned to death (2).

In September 2014, 21-year-old Allah Wadhayo Mahar was picked by security agency personnel from a private school in Bhittaiabad, Gulistan-e-jauhar, Karashi where he worked as a watchmen. On December 1st, 2014, he was found with bullet wounds along with, Fahim Bhutto and Karim Memom, two of his friends whose bodies were mutilated. His parents were informed, and he was taken to the Karachi Civil Hospital. Once he regained consciousness, he told the police he wanted to be transferred from this hospital or he would be killed. On that same day, he was taken from the hospital by about two dozen armed men, some were in police uniform, in front of his protesting and crying parents. Later in Abdad, Karachi, his body was found (4).

In 2015, Pakistan’s nongovernmental Human Rights Commission announced that about 4,803 people were murdered in “encounters killings” from the year 2016 to 2019. A senior officer said that “In general, they [the police] only kill habitual offenders and criminals who have committed heinous crimes such as rape, armed dacoity, multiple murders, kidnapping, etc” (5). Furthermore, according to media reports in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission, seven women and about 2,108 men were murdered because of police false encounters all across Pakistan.

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After all these encounters and killings, no police officer was killed or even injured which raises the question of whether these suspects were actually armed. The Human Rights Watch was told by multiple police officers that many of these abuses can be explained and even justified.

They mentioned the inadequate resources and training, the deficiency of funds, poor working conditions, organizational failure and the absence of collaboration with other police forces. The officers said that all of these issues mentioned above were intensified by the pressure inflicted on them by senior police officials and by local politicians. Others claim that they only kill “hardened” suspect criminals and they believe that these acts are justifiable due to the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system (5).

Top, left to right: Irshad Ranjhani, Allah Wadhayo Mahar.

Bottom, left to right: Amir Khuhawar, Bashir Khan Qureshi, Sahib Khan Ghoto Torture and Police Abuse in Custody Imprisoned suspects are virtually always tortured and abused by the police, which is a widespread problem in Pakistan. Such acts involve crushing and stretching the detainees’ legs with metal rods and beating them with leather strips or by hand, extended hours of sleep deprivation, sexual abuse and torturing them mentally by forcing them to watch other detainees being tortured. As

a result, detainees either die in custody or suffer from lasting mental stress, physical pain and disability. The Pakistani police use torture to force suspects to confess, to get information from them or due to the pressure imposed on them from landowners or local politicians (5). On April 24th, 2013, 22-year-old Amir Khuhawar and 19-year-old Sajjad Murkhand were abducted by the security agency from Larkana, Sindh, when they were preparing for a public meeting. The bodies of the two activists, bearing marks of severe torture, were found on Chokhandi link road near Khairpur Nathan Shah. Police took the bodies to a local hospital for an autopsy. A police official said that their bodies were found by local people and motorists. He said that their hands were tied behind their back with rope (7). Another incident was on February 14th, 2014, where 40-year-old Sahib Khan Ghoto, was traveling, in public transportation, to his hometown Ghotki from Sukkur with his brothers, Israr Ahmed Ghoto and Naveed Ahmed Ghoto. Sahib was a human rights activist and the district leader of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM). On their way home, some intelligence agency personnel stopped their vehicle near Navy Park, Rohri. After looking at Sahib’s identity, they forcibly took him to an unknown place, leaving his brothers behind. His brothers then filed a petition in Sindh High Court, and the hearing was scheduled on the 25th of February 2014. On February 18th, 2014, Sahib’s bullet-riddled and tortured body was dumped near a railway track Bhirya Road, District Naushero Feroz, Sindh. Sahib was previously abducted by security agencies but was freed after illegal torture and detention (4).

Pakistan’s Culture of Impunity Holding the Pakistani police accountable for their actions is something that is almost impossible. This as well emphasizes the fact that the Pakistani criminal justice system is one of the most corrupt,

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abusive and unaccountable institutions. As they always try to avoid legal procedures that take a long time and seek quick results, which leads to extrajudicial killings and torture (7). For instance, on February 6th, 2019, thirty-year-old Irshad Ranjhani was shot by the Union Council Chairman Rahim Shah. Irshad was a Sindhi Activist and the President of the Sindhi nationalist group Karachi Jeay Sindh Tehreek (JST). He was shot four times when he came back from Dubai to visit his family. After Shah shot him, he was not taken to the hospital instead the police took him to the police station. Protesters said that he was shot four more times at the station to make sure he died. According to Shah, Ranjhani and another man had a gun and they were trying to rob him, as he just left the bank. Therefore, Shah shot him to defend himself, however, videos of the incident proved otherwise. Still, the Pakistani police sided with Shah and believed his story (3). On February 11th, 2019, because of the protests, the police finally filed a First Information Report (FIR) and arrested Shah not because he murdered Ranjhani but for not allowing him to be sent to the hospital and they still were not held accountable for shooting Ranjhani again at the station. The unfettered impunity without accountability has turned the country into an authoritarian police state.

The citizens of the country are being robbed of their fundamental rights and no one is safe. Even in the most oppressive of regimes some semblance of security can be felt, however citizens are left on the mercy of mighty and powerful to do as they please.

state of

EDUCATION and

HEALTH

SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN SINDH

educational system. On the other hand, Sindh, Balochistan, and FATA’s performance in the education field have remained extremely poor (5).

When it comes to education, Sindhi children face many problems Written by Ayia Ghazy because of the poor system. In Sindh, out of 12 million children, 6.2 Background Nelson Mandela said that “education million are out of school and about 52% of those out of school are girls. is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (4). According to the Alif Ailan’s report, Sindh has miserably failed in To illustrate, education plays a bringing any improvement or crucial role in shaping people’s future, acquiring the necessary skills change to the education system. To clarify, schools’ infrastructure in and learning the society’s basic rules, regulations, norms and values. Sindh score about 54%. To exemplify, 48% of the primary It teaches people how to live life, schools have electricity, 64% have communicate to others and restrooms, 58% have drinking water, differentiate between right and 65% have the boundary wall, and wrong. It is what gives people the only 35% of the schools have been chance to become a beneficial and found in a satisfactory condition (5). productive part of the society.

Unfortunately, the education system In other words, according to the in Sindh is in a pitiful condition and reform Support Unit (RSU) report, which is a subsidiary of the Sindh it is neglected by the current Education Department, there are government. Schools are poorly about 42,383 schools in Sindh managed, and accordingly, province. Out of this total number, knowledge is not transferred to the about 23,235 schools do not have students of Sindh (4). Not long ago, electricity, 15,478 schools do not the 2017 report regarding the have restrooms, 18,128 schools do educational condition and ways to not have drinking water and 16,359 improve it was released by Alif schools do not have boundary walls Ailan. The first on the list were (2). This lack of basic facilities makes Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber schools like prisons, also, Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Baluchistan, infrastructural development is what Sindh and finally the Federal Administration Tribal Areas (FATA). motivates students to go to school.

As a result, the lack of the facilities is The list shows that both KP and what caused significant enrollment Punjab have improved their

Education

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decline in Sindh. Throughout Sindh, 71% government primary school buildings are in a pathetic condition. Furthermore, about 47% of the schools are supervised by single teachers and about 27% run in a single classroom. The majority of teachers in Sindhi villages are running their own business instead of showing up at schools and giving some of their time to students.

Therefore, 50% of children enrolled in Sindhi primary schools drop out before even finishing their primary schooling, and about 22% of children do not go to schools.

Despite the fact that, article 25(A) of the constitution guarantees the right of free education for children aging from 5 to 16 (6).

Children without a proper classroom or materials Supporting the report of Alif Ailan are the reports released by the World Bank, and the Sindhi Annual Status Education Report (ASER). All the reports indicate that Sindhi public schools, in terms of both infrastructural development and academic standard is worse than imagined. The World Banks report shows that Punjab is on the top of

the list of the schools with the basic facilities with 93% percent. Sindh, on the other hand, is lagging far behind with about 22% percent. According to ASER’s report, primary schools are not firmly established, as a result this will negatively impact students’ future educational engagements. The report reveals shocking student ability to learn Arithmetic, English and Language have significantly dropped. To clarify, about 63% of the students in Class V cannot read Class II level story in Sindhi and Urdu. For English, 19% of Class V students could read English sentences, which could be read by students in the second grade. Regarding learning Arithmetic, 24% of Class V students are able to solve twodigit divisions that also could be solved by students in the second grade (2).

Ignoring Girls’ Education Many policies have been formulated to achieve a considerable literacy rate among Sindhi girls, but Pakistan is still unable to achieve the goal of universal education due to various hurdles. This is despite the fact that both men and women have been given equal educational rights in religion and constitution, however, that is not the case in reality. It is always believed that no society can progress when about half of its population is kept backwards and prevented from playing its role in progress, social change and human development (1).

Sindh has the second-highest number of total out-ofschool female students, it as well has the highest contribution of 36% to the national figure of primary female out-of-school children. There are multiple “Education is the most powerful reasons why women in Sindh cannot get an education.

These reasons include, conservative approaches weapon which you can use to regarding co-education, the purdah system, less importance granted to the female child and the nonchange the world” availability of educational facilities. It is difficult for - Nelson Mandela women to get an education in rural areas, mostly because no separate schools are present. Therefore, A report conducted by UNICEF in 2015 showed that about women are the victims, as they are not allowed to go 40% of Sindhi children have never been inside a school. outside. Instead, they work and sew clothes at home (1).

The main reason for illiteracy rate in Sindhi primary In addition, their male counterparts do not want them to schools is extreme poverty. Parents have the burden of get an education, because education might help them somehow feeding their malnourished children. earn a better position in society. The Sindhi people Accordingly, families tend to send their children to should remember that if children are not educated, Madrassah instead of primary schools, as they provide things in Sindh will never change. On the other hand, children with education and meals. However, quality the Sindhi government should emphasize that education is not a priority in these Madrassahs. Thus, education is the antidote for poverty, ignorance and war. although they are feeding the hungry children, they are depriving them from receiving education. The Sindh Sindhi people usually link educating a girl to ruining government’s attempt to combat this issue is by the reputation of families. Therefore, educational announcing in 2016 that it would provide free lunches to deprivation of Sindhi girls is embedded in the structure, the students. This announcement was intended to norms, culture and values of the society. Other family encourage parents to send their children to primary concerns include having a “love affair” with someone on schools, as well as reducing the problem of the way to school or at school and engaging in a undernourishment in young Sindhi children. However, behavior that is considered incongruous within the the education problem in Sindh still has not improved cultural context. Therefore, not allowing girls to go to (3). school is considered a way to mitigating the risks (1).

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Sindhi girls with no proper classroom Reforming Sindh’s Education System Unfortunately, Sindh is the only province in Pakistan where about 6 million children dropped out of school and there is no easy solution to this longstanding education emergency. Although the whole education system in Pakistan is in desperate need of reforms, the crisis in Sindh is alarming with about half the Sindhi population have never stepped foot in a school (3). Accordingly, Sindh with the collaboration of World Bank, introduced a biometric system to start taking attendance of the staff in schools. In addition, Monitoring Assistants have been hired in schools and they installed biometric devices in colleges. Although this new biometric system has slightly improved the education system, as it has ensured that at least teachers and staff attend schools, it created problems for regular teachers. To exemplify, transfers and normal leaves have become more complicated after the introduction of the system. In addition, due to the unfriendly education laws, many teachers have decided to take volunteer retirement. As a result, a vacuum is created, and many running schools have shut down. Therefore, this biometric system is not enough to improve Sindh’s education system (5). In addition, funds from the government to the education sector is very minimal. The Sindhi government should provide this sector with more funds to develop the structure of the system. Investments in educational infrastructure must, therefore, be done alongside with the creation of an enabling environment, which includes functioning schools, dedicated teachers, safe passage to school, availability of social guidance, and the provision of necessities so that parents don’t have to choose between food and education. Furthermore, Schools should at least have restrooms, electricity and clean drinking water. Also, there must be training programs for teachers so that they can pass on their knowledge and quality education to students. Reforms to the quality of education is needed to improve the security and trustworthiness of Sindhi primary school. Accessibility to schools is as well a major concern that must be addressed to combat this crisis. Uneducated parents must be made aware of the importance of educating their children and should be provided with incentives to educate their children, even in their poverty (3). These are some key factors that need to be addressed in the education sector reforms. For this purpose, the district government and Sindh Chief Minister should take some concrete actions (1).

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SINDH BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM USAID & Development Written by Billy Hackett The Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP) was officially launched in 2012 as a collaboration between the Government of Sindh’s School Education Department, which is implementing this project, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is funding approximately 94% of this $165 million USD project (1).

Areas of SBEP implementation

The CMP directly addresses the issue of low-enrollment; between 2016 and 2017 as many as 7.4 million children– or 45% of the school-aged population in Sindh– were unenrolled (2). The decision to enroll and keep children enrolled in school SBEP initiatives are underway in a are made as a family with a number total of eight districts of Sindh, of determining factors, including: including five towns of Karachi, as awareness of the utility (or tangible shown in Figure A. The ultimate benefit) of education, motivation to mission of SBEP is to increase and be educated, the economic costs of sustain enrollment of students in education, and the availability of primary education through quality educational institutions in secondary schools through the vicinity (3). The perceived risk of generating an atmosphere and enrollment becomes increasingly institutional capacity that fosters salient when measured against effective teaching and learning (1). utility as children age, so students are often withdrawn from school as There are a number of distinct they get older. projects within this larger project, and to that end this article This is especially true for young girls, highlights the Sindh Reading whose enrollment and retention Program (SRP) and the rates are significantly lower than Community Mobilization Program boys’ in the affected areas of Sindh; (CMP)– why they are necessary, their education isperceived as less and what they have accomplished. valuable, as Sindh Guardian | 20

exhibited by one parent’s sentiment in Sukkur: “If I have to choose between educating my daughter or son, then I will choose my son. The reason is that girls’ education is not appreciated in our society.” This socio-cultural implication is a factor or combination of factors largely unique to an adolescent girl’s enrollment, and expands to include a direct correlation with whether any educational institutions in the vicinity offer culturally-appropriate washrooms that offer privacy or classes that separate boys from girls (3).

The real economic costs of education affect the enrollment and retention rates of both boys and girls, especially considering they could begin working and contributing to the household revenue instead of prolonging an existence as a studious dependent. To this end, a parent in a community in Qambar Shahdadkot remarked that “parents prefer that their boys earn 200-300 [rupees] daily instead of going to school.” This is especially true when there is no school within a reasonable distance, a fairly common problem postprimary school; approximately 91% of the 45,447 government schools in Sindh were primary schools according to an annual 2015-16 Sindhi school census which reflects that secondary schools are significantly more rare and thus require longer travel times. This lack of secondary schools, coupled with a lack of public transportation, means that this commute is not accessible for most prospective students (3).

Inability to enroll or stay in school, of course, is compounded by a lack of quality education at schools that leads to dismal literacy rates across Sindh. A 2012 Annual Status of Education Report betrayed that 60% of students in Grade 5 were unable to read at a Grade 2 level, and more than half were unable to perform twodigit subtraction. In 2014, it was revealed through an SRP assessment that 41% of students in Grade 3 could not read even a single word of their local language (whether Sindhi or Urdu).

Two oversimplified questions arise when faced with the challenges in enrolling students and the poor quality of education that students do receive: 1) what can be done to improve the quality of education and 2) what will convince parents to enroll their children in school?

That’s where the SRP and CMP come in, respectively.

Left: Teaching & learning materials in Sindh

Right: Girls in Sindh carrying SRP reading exercises

The SRP has amounted to the construction or refurbishing of 10 public libraries and 23 campus school libraries. 15,551 teachers have been trained.

28,340 out-of-school children were enrolled in centers of learning. 432,124 children received a reading intervention. 54 books have been published to facilitate language-learning in both Sindhi and Urdu. Ultimately, 70,760 young students have demonstrated a clear improvement in literacy; this number is significantly below the goal of 200,000, but it is an important step (2).

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While SRP builds the infrastructural capacity of Sindh’s educational institutions, CMP’s aim is to facilitate engagement between disaffected community members and educational institutions. The activation and strengthening of school management committees, or SMCs, has proven a cornerstone of the strategy to engage more fully with target communities. The SMC supports the management of every public school in Sindh and is comprised of parents or influential community members. The SMC has the ability to allocate government funds for school improvements, which creates a greater sense of ownership among these community members– notably when funds are available, as became the case with the CMP. CMP Initiatives empower SMCs to meet with parents directly or even host community events that effectively spark an interest in school; this increasingly enthusiastic integration of schools into local communities when asked by parents, teachers, and SMCs seems to have contributed to the socialization of education in places where the program is active (3).

What do SRP and CMP teach us? Schools with more resources and increasingly motivated community members who serve as ambassadors for their schools feed into each other and increase enrollment as well as quality of education. While many infrastructural and systemic problems persist in Sindh’s educational system, it is important to recognize the improvements that have taken place under leadership of the Government of Sindh’s School Education Department, as enabled through funding by USAID.

RABIES OUTBREAK IN SINDH

Postgraduate Medical Center, which is heartbreaking for the Khan family the outbreaks of rabies. RFK has because it could have been started to expand to more rural areas like Landhi, Korangi, and more prevented(1). recently to DHA and areas in the Another case was 12-year old Eidul jurisdiction of Cantonment Board Clifton. They have vaccinated 25,000 Azha from Mubarak Abro village of Health Shikarpur, who died 40-days after dogs and spayed/neutered 2,500 the bite. However, in this case, there dogs (3).

Written by Christine Sifre was no record of the family taking In recent years there has been a rise him to any hospital in Shikarpur. It However, one of the biggest in rabies cases in the Sindh Province wasn’t until his mother took him to problems is the lack of health care of Pakistan due to lack of knowledge Chandka Medical Hospital on and education for the community about vaccines, shortages of the September 17, 2019, that she was about what to do when a dog bite vaccines, and a growing population informed that her child had happens, who is most vulnerable, a of rabid stray dogs. The Rabies Free sign of infection, and the treatment developed hydrophobia, a phobia of Karachi (RFK) project launched in options. Rabies is a 100 percent fatal water, which is a classic sign of being 2008 to address the rabies problem infection if not treated immediately. past the point to treat rabies(2). in Karachi, where dog-bite victims It is passed through by mucous were treated free of cost round-theThe Sindh authorities did take membrane and saliva, so when an clock, although it has had poor infected dog bites, their saliva mixes notice of the young boy’s death and implications in the more rural areas with the victim’s blood transferring are demanding some answers as to of the province. There has been an why this happened when the the virus. For some victims, if they intense increase of dog-bite vaccine was available. Even singerallow the wound to dry out, it will incidents, 1,789 in 2012 jumping to turned social activist Shehzad Roy stop the growth of the infection or 5,640 in 2018 and between 160,000 they must get the vaccine soon after. said that “This project (RFK) is and 200,000 people a year are bitten In general, the virus takes about 2-12 critical since we know that 40% of by dogs (3). the dog-bite victims are children,” weeks to develop after the initial bite and in rare cases, it can show up (3) The Sindh government has turned 10 days after or 2 years after the bite. to cull the stray dogs to address the Children and elderly people are the problem and in one month culled most vulnerable to these incidents. over 34,000 dogs. This method has Such as 18-year old Zahoor Khan been proved to be ineffective at from Jeva Khan Goth in the curbing the problem and has caused Nooriabad area of District Jamshoro, outrage from animal rights activists who was treated for a dog bite and demanding that they stop the given medicine, but his father was cruelty immediately. They also have never told to get a vaccine or any advocated that more dogs to get other instruction on care to prevent vaccinated and spayed/neutered, rabies from developing and is which does work at controlling the waiting to die at the Jinnah population of the dogs and limits Vaccinating strays Sindh Guardian | 22

Yet, in other cases, there have been shortages of the vaccine itself due to political issues between India and Pakistan. It is unclear if it was Pakistan that stopped the shipments of the vaccine due to the bilateral tension after New Dehli dismissed the Jammu and Kashmir special status in August(5). Pakistan used to get its supply from China, but it was suspended due to its being recalled and deemed unsafe. This then leaves only India as their suppliers but shipments from India have additionally stopped because of problems each country is having with each other and India is increasingly having a raise in rabies cases, themselves. With China out of the game, it is up to India to supply the demand but is struggling to meet the increasing demand. Thus, creating devastating cases like10-year old Mir Hasan of Shikarpur, where his parents took him to many hospitals, but only to be told that they didn’t have any vaccines for him. Then when he was taken to Larkana, the family was told that a vaccine wouldn’t have helped because he already developed encephalitis, inflammation of the brain and from that point it is incurable. Now this family must watch their precious child die from something that could have been cured if it wasn’t for governmental conflicts with other countries.

If Pakistan were to look at suppliers from Europe, it would cost Rs 70,000 (446 USD) vs. Rs 1,000 (6 USD) per dose from India, which would limit their ability to offer free treatment and would continue to be in short supply(5). By not having access to affordable treatment options, it becomes unsustainable and more people are likely to die, especially children. In some reports, it has been said that hospitals have been instructed to only give one dose of the vaccine and patients are told to go to the pharmacy or the market to get the rest. According to Vice-Chancellor Dr. Javed Akram, of the University of Health Science, depending on the circumstances of the dog bite, it might require five to seven treatments of the vaccine

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to be effective (4). This is unrealistic in multiple ways.

Open markets tend to be unregulated so there is a chance that a person doesn’t get the correct vaccine or could get a contaminated vaccine. Plus, if they were to get it at a pharmacy it could get quite costly, especially for poorer people. In some places, it could cost Rs 800 (5.18 USD), which may seem like it isn’t a lot of money but multiply that by 5 doses and that is Rs 4,000 (25.88 USD) and for people who barely make two dollars a day that is a lot of money that they probably don’t have to begin with.

With that being said, initiatives like RFK that are expanding to more rural areas to vaccinate, and spay/neuter the stray dogs give some hope that the rabies outbreak will slow down. Although the effects are admirable to take on spayed/neutered and vaccinated the dogs, there does need to be more education for the local people about what to do immediately when a dog bite happens and learning ways to avoid being attacked by dogs. Even if it is just passing out flyers to people in these small towns about ways to prevent the virus from spreading might be better than nothing. Likewise, activists like Shehzad Roy are putting pressure on the government to educate its people on preventing the rabies virus to get to the point where it isn’t treatable anymore.

However, will it be enough pressure to convince the government to do something? So far when it comes to the Sindhi people the government largely ignores them because they aren’t part of the Muslim majority.

This has led to the Sindhi people being heavily discriminated against and their needs being neglected. Additionally, with the continuous conflicts that Pakistan and India have over Kashmir, it can continue to be a problem getting the vaccine that is required for this life-saving treatment. The more this issue is talked about, especially by local activists and outside media maybe the Sindh people will get the relief they desperately need.

SINDHI HERITAGE and

LANGUAGE

department was branched into “Culture Department” and “Tourism Department” (1). In 1992, Sindh Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) was established under the companies Act of 1975. This helped in giving a Heritage board of directors for making policy decisions and providing Written by Ayia Ghazy guidelines for the promotion of Background Sindh’s tourism. STDC was History, culture, language and responsible for providing heritage have always been very dear information and facilities, even to the Sindhi people. Heritage though the management of the buildings, which have great value in sites was with the Federal the peoples’ cultural inheritance, government (9). In 2010, about 126 are an essential part of the monuments and archaeological architectural history of Sindh sites including some museums province (1). Sindh is known for its have been transferred by the well-preserved heritage, including Federal Government to the buildings from the colonial-era, Government of Sindh, Culture which presents unity and variety. In Department. The rest of the 1976, a “Culture Cell” was important monuments, museums established in the Department of and archeological sites were given Education, in order to protect to the Culture Department in April Sindh’s cultural heritage, and 2011 as a result of the termination because of the Sindhi people’s of “Concurrent List” from 1973 aspirations and enthusiasm to Constitution of Pakistan during the preserve their heritage. In 1988, the aftermath of the Constitution’s cell was granted a status of 18th Amendment. Therefore, the Admirative Department, and for domain and scope of the most of the time it remained under department has expanded transition. The Sindhi Museum, a requiring renaming the dozen libraries, one studio, one art department to cover areas of its council, and a cultural center have responsibility (1). been functioning under the department. In the beginning, the In 1994, Sindh Cultural Heritage department started as “Culture, (Preservation) Act was enacted in Tourism, Sports, Youth Affairs and order to protect and preserve Social Welfare Department,” then it ancient places and objects of became “Culture and Tourism historical, architectural, artistic, Department.” Then in 2009, the

SINDHI HERITAGE & CULTURE

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archaeological, anthropological, ethnological and national interest in Sindh. As a result, an Advisory Committee of the Government of Sindh has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary Sindh and it consisted of six other members. Half of the members were professional in the fields of archaeology, architecture, conservation, history, etc (8).

Through this act, about 600 heritage sites of Karachi, published and cataloged by the Foundation were given protection. This is the largest number of protected sites in any province of Pakistan. However, Sindh and its heritage are in trouble.

There is little help to save heritage sites from damage, both natural and man-made, nor are people willing to come forward to help. If these sites are not preserved, Sindh’s heritage will be lost to the next generation (9).

Ranikot Fort Ranikot Fort, also known as the Great Wall of Sindh, is a historical fort, constructed in the 17th century, near Sann, Jamshoro District, Sindh, Pakistan. Ranikot Fort is located about 56 miles to the north of Hyderabad and it is one of the largest walls in the world. The semicircular structure is about 35 kilometer in length and connects

with barren hills and it perfectly follows the natural contours of the region’s hilly landscape. The northern part of the fort’s perimeter is a high hill like formation, the other three sides are covered by the fort’s walls.

Within the main fort, there is a smaller fort that is called “Merri” (7). Merri is about 5-6 miles from the main fort’s gate, and it is announced that it used to serve as the royal family of Mirs’s palace. Shahpar gate is located at a distance of six kilometers from the smaller fort ‘Meeri Kot’ built within the main fort. The other three gates are named Sann, Mohan and Amri. No one knows why Ranikot Fort was built, but it is thought that it was built during the Sassanians regimes, the Bactrian Greeks or the Parthians (7). Since 1993, Ranikot Fort has been on the list of tentative UNESCO World Heritage Sites as it was nominated by the Pakistani National Commission for UNESCO world heritage status. It is as well listed as a historical site under the Antiquities Act of 1975 and its subsequent amendments and is provided protection (9).

The Archeology Department of Pakistan, the Dadu District Administration and the Department of Culture of Sindh, had made efforts to protect and further repair the monument. However, in 2005 there were allegations of poor construction and favoritism in award contracts.

To clarify, villagers who have been living on the premises of the fort said that the rampart is in an extremely vulnerable condition at multiple places and there is a chance that it might vanish completely, if authorities did not try to repair and preserve the fort. A tourist guide who has been working for 30 years, Mohammad Sadiq Gabol, said that neglect is the main cause of the fort’s fall (5). He continued saying that nearby portions of the collapsed wall had as well developed cracks and it is feared that they might crumble at any time. Gabol said “If no timely action is taken, the walls on both sides of the Shahpar gate will collapse.” Aurangzeb Shahani, a resident of the area, said the fort had been repaired from time to time in the past by both the federal and Sindh governments, while non-government organizations also gave funds for its

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repair but the work for preservation and protection was not carried out properly, which changed the original shape of the wall. His main concern is that the use of cement to repair the structure is damaging it as in old days there was no such thing as cement and they always used a material called Cheeroly. Shahani is requesting the government to start repairing the fort immediately and with the right material (5).

Mohenjo Daro Mohenjo Daro which means “Mound of the Dead” is an ancient Indus Valley Civilization city that flourished between 2600 and 1900 BCE. The archeological site is located in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Mohenjo Daro is a group of mounds and ruins on the right bank of the Indus River, northern Sindh province, southern Pakistan.

It lies on the flat alluvial plain of the Indus, about 50 miles southwest of Sukkur. The site contains the remnants of one of two main centers of the ancient Indus civilization, and the other one is the Harappa, about 400 miles to the northwest in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Mohenjo Daro was discovered and its importance was recognized in the 1920s, a little after Harappa was discovered. Successive excavations suggested that the archeological site have suffered more than once from devastating floods of abnormal depth and duration (8).

Mohenjo Daro is gradually passing through its second phase, and probably its final phase of destruction. To illustrate, due to lack of international attention and funds for its maintenance and preservation, the archaeological site is steadily disintegrating. As a direct result of the dismal lack of preservation efforts, the 240acre site is facing the dangerous threat of a rapidly rising water coupled with extensive water logging and salinity. The second major threat to the site is the changing course of the Indus River on whose banks Mohenjo-Daro is situated. Pakistan tried saving the situation in 1974, when the controlling authority was set up for the preservation of the site. However, after the death of the chairman, the prevention authority slated to be wound up and the 4,000-year-old site had been handed back to the Department of Archaeology (3). The controlling authority had chalked out a preservation plan for Mohenjo-Daro years ago to protect the ancient site from the multiple threats to its survival. The plan was estimated to cost Rs 7.5 crores of which two-thirds (Rs 5 crores) was to be borne by UNESCO and the rest was to be paid by the Pakistani government in yearly allocations. To cover part of its expenditure, UNESCO initiated a world-wide "Save Mohenjo-Daro '' fund collecting drive including the sale of Mohenjo-Daro stamps, but it only managed to collect a meager sum of Rs 60 lakhs in three years (3).

Archeologists claimed that the funds allocated by UNESCO and other donor agencies for the development and preservation of Mohenjo-Daro were being wasted owing to the incompetence of the authorities concerned. At the conference that was organized by Sindhi Adabi Sangat (SAS), Larkana Chapter, eminent researcher and archeologist Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari said, “It is tragic that work on Mohenjo Daro is being carried out through contractors rather than archaeologists,” which he believed would cause “considerable damage to the site” (2). In addition, politician and scholar Jagesh Ahuja said that religious extremism had destroyed the true identity of Sindh.

Renowned archaeologist Professor Dr Ghulam Mustafa

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Shar said that despite Rs30 crore annual budget, drinking water facilities had not been provided for tourists at the world heritage site. He said that the area of Mohenjo Daro which was actually spread to two to five kilometers had been encroached upon adding that water logging drain that was built by UNESCO to drain out salinity water. He also said women of influential families took away necklaces from the Mohenjo Daro museum and other artifacts had also been stolen from there (2).

Sindhi Culture, Tourism, Antiques and Archives Department Secretary Akbar Laghari’s attempts to protect the archeological site from being damaged. He said, on Sindhi Culture Day, that monuments of Mohenjo Daro were very sensitive and when people visit these historical ruins, they get damaged. Accordingly, the cultural heritage site is closed for the general public during the Sindhi Culture Day to save it from destruction. He said Mohenjo Daro is the civilization of entire humanity and if one brick is damaged then it will be a national loss and a loss to entire mankind (6). He said UNESCO should also prepare a law that visitors of such ancient historical places should wear a very soft pair of shoes so that most important sites are protected and no damage is done to the monuments by the visitors because, he added, hard boots also damage the ruins which are thousands of years old. He said photography is also banned in many cultural sites in the world because flash of the camera is also causing damage to the historical artifacts. He said security is deployed during Eid holidays only to save the monuments from the visitors who are mostly unaware of the importance of this site which is occupying a major place in the world.

He said lots of funds are required to preserve the ruins from destruction (6).

Sindhi Language, Festivals, Music and Arts Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future

generations. Cultural heritage includes tangible culture (such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art, and artifacts). It also includes intangible culture traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts intangible culture (such as folklore, and language), and natural heritage (such as culturally significant landscapes). Whatever shape they take, these things form part of a heritage, and this heritage requires active effort on our part in order to safeguard it. Accordingly, it is extremely important to save the Sindhi language, festivals, music and arts along with saving historical sites. As cultural heritage and the history of any nation has a very high value and is the identity that can be introduced to the world.

a language that is spoken by about 41 million people in Pakistan and 12 million people in India. The Sindhi language is as well influenced by Sanskrit where about 70% of the Sindhi words are of Sanskrit origin.

Since Sindhi is an extremely rich language with vocabulary, it became a favorite to many writers.

Accordingly, many poetry and literature have been written in Sindhi, and it has been an inspiration for Sindhi music, art, culture, literature, and the way of life. The Sindhi language can be written using either Arabic or the Devanagari script (4).

Regarding festivals, the Sindhi people love their religion and the two festivals of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ulAdha, which are celebrated in Sindh with enthusiasm and zeal. Different domestic festivals are arranged by the local people to provide people with new things they buy on Eid’s occasion. On different occasions, the Folk dance of Bhagat is also performed by professionals to entertain the visiting people. Hence, a Sindhi Cultural Festival is a compound of folk dances, music and cheap entertainment for local people (4).

Furthermore, the Sindhi society is dominated by great Sufis, the mystics and the martyrs. It has always been the land of peace, love, romance, great cultural and artistic values. There were the great theologians of the Naqsh bandi order in Thatta who translated the fundamentals of the religion of Islam into their Sindhi Festival mother tongue. There were the great Sufi (mystic) The Sindhi language developed over a period of 2,400 poets like Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai who was the years. After coming in contact with the Aryan, the Sindhi cherisher of truth and spent all his life in its people’s language became Indo-Aryan (Prakrit). Thus, the propagation, pursuit and quest. Bhitai was also an Sindhi language is mainly based on Prakrit along with excellent musician. He invented a new type of musical Sanskrit, India’s language, some vocabulary from Arabic, instrument, Tambura (drone instrument), which till some Dravidian-descendants from Mediterranean subtoday, is a primary source of music in rural Sindh. The continent and Persian. Since, Sindhi had close contact beauty of Shah’s verses is enhanced by his blending of with Arabic-speaking Muslims, it adapted many Arabic traditional Indian rag with the Sindhi folk songs and words. The Sindhi language is an ancient language that is music. In conclusion, saving Sindhi cultural and spoken in Pakistan and other parts around the world, historical heritage is significant because they create and it is considered the second most spoken language in certain emotions within the people, and they make Pakistan, specifically in Sindh province. To illustrate, it is people feel as though they belong to something, a country, a tradition or a way of life (4).

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Urdu, as the national VICTORIOUS: language, language began to impose their expectations upon the populace PRESERVING across Pakistan: “Urdu only” (2). This came to a crescendo during the 1972 THE SINDHI language riots in Sindh, where a number of factions of mixed age, and occupation were LANGUAGE ethnicity, competing for Sindhi, Urdu, or

Cultural Significance

Written by Billy Hackett Although its specific origins remain a debate among scholars, Sindhi is an ancient language that continues to be spoken by communities around the globe.

Sindhi is the mother-tongue for roughly fifty-three million people in Sindh and surrounding areas as well as an estimated four million beyond, from the African continent to the United States, as a result of historic settlement of Sindhi traders and contemporary immigration patterns (1, 8) There have been attempts to erase the Sindhi language for decades, which can be traced to the marginalization through separation of Sindhi people that arose from the partition in 1947.

Sindhi-Hindus, who owned a plurality of businesses as well as government positions in the region’s urban centers and spoke the indigenous language, were compelled to leave their ancestral home; they were in most cases replaced by non-Sindhi Muslims, or “Mohajirs,” who empowered by the declaration of their own , Sindh Guardian | 29

bringing Sindhi people into the fold with official U.S. acknowledgement, in a sense, as had never been done before. Congressman Sherman’s amendment was unanimously accepted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but the bill never became law (5).

English to become official languages in the colloquial and official sectors of the province (3).

The controversy over language was and remains much deeper than just what words escape one’s tongue; it reflects a much greater conflict for ownership against a disappearance– or erasure– of heritage, land, and class mobility for Sindhi people. This remains salient for Sindhis around the world, and SAPAC as well as members of the Congressional Sindh Caucus have played an active role in preserving the Sindhi language.

In 2011, Congressman Brad Sherman, then-chair of the Asia Subcommittee in the United States House of Representatives, introduced an amendment to the Federal Relations Authorization Act for the fiscal year (FY) 2012 to fund with $1.5 million USD a Sindhi program as part of Voices of America (VOA). VOA is the official broadcasting organization of the U.S. federal government, which provides online programming in a plurality of languages and countries around the world (4). This bill was intended to supplement Urdu and and Hindi programming that had at one point or another been funded,

Congressman Sherman did not give up. In 2013, then-Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif expressed during a visit to Washington, D.C. that he would welcome a VOA Sindhi program when asked by Congressman Sherman (5). The proposal was reintroduced before the House of Representatives a number of times, but additional attempts continued to prove unsuccessful.

The Congressional Sindh Caucus commissioned a 2015 report about Sindh from the Congressional

Research Service (CRS) to bolster demands for a VOA Sindhi program. The intent was, in part, to determine and make accessible the number of people who still speak Sindhi in Pakistan. The CRS report drew on data from the CIA World Factbook to conclude that more people actually speak Sindhi (12%) than Urdu (8%) in Pakistan, which directly contradicted Pakistan’s claim that more people speak Urdu than Sindhi and thus lended credence to the fight for services to be offered in Sindhi (6, 7).

Victory came in December 2019, a victory that will soon produce tangible effects for the global Sindhi community. The U.S. Congress approved after yet another attempt the appropriations measures for FY 2020, which included $500,000 USD to enable Sindhilanguage broadcasting as part of a VOA radio program.

This Federal Budget for FY 2020 was officially signed into law on December 20th, an exciting and important step that will guarantee the Sindhi language will be preserved, and Sindhi culture with it, despite efforts in Pakistan to actively suppress such.

SINDHI ACTIVIST GOES GLOBAL Fatima Gul testifies before the United Nations Human Rights Council

The mission of the United Nations Human Rights Council is to protect and promote human rights around the world. In March 2020, Sindhi activist Fatima Gul testified before this body to speak about the forced religious conversions and marriages of underaged Sindhi girls:

This step does not mean that SAPAC’s advocacy ends– far from it. With a decade now under our belt, SAPAC continues to tirelessly educate U.S. Representatives on "The Human Rights Council must ask the human rights violations that are taking place Pakistan how it is right to abduct against Sindhi people that will continue to preserve and uplift an endangered language, culture, and these girls, force them to marry, and livelihood for the benefit of all Sindhi people.

convert them to Islam?"

Re-launch of the U.S. consulate in Karachi website in Sindhi, another victory by Rep. Brad Sherman Sindh Guardian | 30

Fatima's words place Pakistan at the center of this troubling narrative, a narrative that the Government is actively seeking to distance itself from. When pressed by Sindhi activists to speak on human rights abuses in two recent public events in Washington, D.C. concerning U.S.-Pakistan relations, Pakistan's Ambassador at Large for Foreign Investment Ali Jehangir Siddiqui responded that these issues are not unique to Pakistan and refused to take responsibility.

As Pakistan moves to secure investments from the U.S. government and private business, we must ask: Why should we invest in a country that covers up the abductions of its own people?

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS SINDHIS; THE MOST VULNERABLE TO PAKISTAN'S SOCIAL MEDIA RESTRICTIONS The February 13th article “Pakistan Approves Broad New Restrictions Over Social Media” alludes to the broad concerns of human rights and democracy advocates as well as Pakistan’s tourism industry, but does not name the specific group who this dramatic move will affect most: Sindhis.

Sindh, the southernmost province in Pakistan, is home to some 55 million Sindhis and the largest community of religious minorities in the country: Christians, Sufis, Sikhs, and Sindhi Hindus. Sindhis have been for millenia a peaceful people, but are now the targets for a little-reported yet concentrated human rights violations perpetrated by Pakistani military and agencies.

2,000 cases of enforced disappearances, or arbitrary abductions sanctioned and denied by state officials, remain unsolved in Sindh. Masood Shah, for instance, was the only eye-witness to report a murder at the hands of a public official in Karachi, the capital of Sindh; he was subsequently abducted on September 20, 2019. 11 of his brothers and friends were forcibly disappeared after protesting for his release and, after surfacing in Karachi, have now been charged with sedition.

Each year 1,000 young, Sindhi-Hindu girls are abducted, forcibly married, and converted to Islam. The same is true for over 700 Christian women throughout Pakistan. Families who try to report their daughters as missing are most often ignored by law enforcement and their reports are never submitted. Girls are therefore left with their abductors, by whom they are often coerced into silence through threats or use of violence against them or their families.

Given the dangers and obstacles to reporting these human rights violations through formal channels, social media has become the only method to share these stories and search for loved ones. Entire Facebook Pages and Twitter feeds are dedicated to highlighting new cases of missing Sindhis and demands for their release (or proof of legal wrongdoing, which is never supplied).

Sindhis using their voice to condemn the human rights abuses plaguing their community on social media will soon be labelled threats to national security and their perspectives will be erased from any illusion of public discourse. With these new regulations, the Government of Pakistan has just gained the ability to unconditionally silence Sindhis around the world– and more people need to be made aware of this, before it is too late.

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This Letter to the Editor of the Wall Street Journal was written by Billy Hackett to highlight the ways that Sindhis specifically will be harmed by the Pakistani Government's announced crackdown on social media use.

Sindhis are little-known and rarely considered, certainly by mainstream media outlets.

There has been no response from the Wall Street Journal concerning publication of this letter.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS WHAT ABOUT SINDHIS? In a recent visit to Pakistan amid rising tensions with India, highlighted in the February 16th article “Pak-India relations: Important to ‘de-escalate, both militarily and verbally’, says UN chief,” the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed Pakistan’s commitment to peace while failing to condemn Pakistan for the abuse of human rights sanctioned within its own borders, particularly in Sindh.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahood Qurreshi expressed renewed concern over Indianoccupied Kashmir, effectively avoiding Pakistan’s recent passage of censorship laws to regulate freedom of expression via social media. These social media restrictions are expected to disproportionately affect Sindhis, of whom there are an estimated 50 million, who circulate victim-profiles on Facebook of an increasing number of enforced disappearances and forced religious conversions targeting Sindhis at the hands of military or related agencies.

Formally reporting instances of an enforced disappearance in Pakistan opens oneself up to retaliatory abduction, and of those enforced disappearances reported approximately 2,000 cases remain unsolved in Sindh. Masood Shah, for instance, was the only eye-witness to report the murder of Irshad Ranjhani at the hands of a public official in Karachi, the capital of Sindh; he was subsequently abducted on September 20, 2019. Eleven of his brothers and friends were forcibly disappeared after protesting for his release and, after surfacing in Karachi, have now been charged with sedition. Masood Shah has remained disappeared.

These actions are not in line with a country that values and promotes peace, despite the strong narrative that such a Pakistan exists given its arbiter role on behalf of Kashmiris in India. The UN Secretary General should have seen through this facade and used the opportunity to speak for and protect Sindhis.

This Letter to the Editor of Dawn, the premier English-speaking news outlet in Pakistan, was written by Billy Hackett to express concern that the UN Secretary General did not mention the human rights abuses against Sindhis when in Pakistan.

There has been no response from Dawn concerning publication of this letter.

Sindh Guardian | 32

CONGRESSIONAL SINDH CAUCUS These are the U.S. Representatives dedicated to standing up for the rights of Sindhis when few others do. The voice of the U.S. Government matters, and the Sindhi American Political Action Committee is grateful to these Members of Congress who seek to hold our strategic ally, Pakistan, to a higher standard.

Special thank you to the Chairman of the Congressional Sindh Caucus, Brad Sherman (left), for his support for Sindhis over the decade.

Chair Brad Sherman (D-CA-30)

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03)

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12)

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA-29)

Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-MD-08)

Rep. Sansford Bishop, Jr. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-07) (D-GA-02)

Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO-02)

Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC)

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04)

Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX-22)

Rep. AndrĂŠ Carson (D-IN-07)

Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX-14)

REFERENCES FORCED CONVERSIONS IN SINDH 1. Ackerman, R. (2018). Forced conversions and forced marriages in Sindh, Pakistan. Retrieved from https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/ptr/ciforb/Forced-Conversions-and-ForcedMarriages-in-Sindh.pdf Imtiaz, S. (2017, August 14).

2. Hindu today, Muslim tomorrow. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/08/hindu-muslim-pakistan/536238/ Khokhar, S. (2019, December 3).

3. A 14-year-old Christian girl is kidnapped and converted in Karachi. Her parents appeal to the Court of Justice. Asia News. Retrieved from http://www.asianews.it/news-en/A-14-year-old-Christian-girl-iskidnapped-and-converted-in-Karachi.-Her-parents-appeal-to-the-Court-of-Justice-48714.html “Morning Star News” (2020) 4. Pakistan court validates forced conversion, marriage of christian girl. Retrieved from https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/pakistan-court-validates-forced-conversion-marriage-of-christian-girl/ Sarfraz, M. (2019, April 13).

5. In Pakistan, the problem of forced conversions. The Hindu. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-pakistan-the-problem-of-forced-conversions/article26823108.ece “The Navhind Times” (2019) 6. Sindh: resolution demands end to forced conversions of Hindu girls. Retrieved from https://unpo.org/article/21588 THE CASE OF NOTAN LAL 1. “H.Res. 640:Condemning the global persecution of Christians.” GovTrack.us, 18 Oct. 2019 https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hres640/text 2. Hashim, Asad. “Pakistani Police Detain Hindu School Principal over Blasphemy.” PakistanNews|Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 16 Sept. 2019,https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/pakistani-police-detain-hinduschoolprincipal-blasphemy-190916083629192.html 3. Hashim, Asad. “‘Arbitrary’: Pakistan rejects U.S. Religious Freedom Designation.” PakistanNews|Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 25 Dec 2019,https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/pakistan-rejects-religious-freedomdesignation-191225072023139.html 4. Jayaram,Rajiv. “Death for an Academic: Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law Again in Global Focus.”ORF.https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/death-academic-pakistan-blasphemy-law-aain-global-focus-59559/ 5. Masood, Salman. “Hindu Veterinarian Is Latest To Face Blasphemy Charges in Pakistan.”TheNew York Times, The New York Times, 30 May 2019.https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/world/asia/pakistanblasphemy-law.html 6. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. “Hearing: Human Rights in South Asia:Views from the State Department and the Region, Panel II Subcommittee on Asia, thePacific and Nonproliferation (Committee on Foreign Affairs).” Human Rights in SouthAsia: Views from the State Department and the Region, Panel II | Committee Repository |U.S. House of Representatives,docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=110143.

7. “What Are Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws?” BBC News BBC, 25 Dec. 2019https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48204815 LAW ENFORCEMENT IN SINDH 1. Abbas, Hassan. “Police & Law Enforcement Reform in Pakistan: Crucial for Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism Success.” Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, April 2009. 28.

2. Dharejo, Salam. “Bashir Khan Qureshi: Murder by Death?” News Time , May 2012, https://newslinemagazine.com/magazine/bashir-khan-qureshi-murder-by-death/ 3. Dogar, Nadeem. “Irshad Ranjhani Killing: UC Chairman Arrested.” Pakistan - Geo.tv, Geo News, 11 Feb. 2019, www.geo.tv/latest/227803-irshad-ranjhani-killing-uc-chairman-arrested-on-investigative-teamsrecommendation 4. Extra Judicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Sindh, Pakistan. World Sindhi Congress, 2017, pp. 1–12.

5. Kine, P. “This Crooked System: Police Abuse and Reform in Pakistan.” Human Rights Watch, 26 Sept. 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/26/crooked-system/police-abuse-and-reform-pakistan 6. Suddle, Muhammad. Police System of Pakistan. Pakistan Institute of LegislativeDepartment and Transparency. Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.millat.com/wpcontent/uploads/pdf/democracy/PoliceSystemofPakistan_PositionPaper.pdf 7. “Violence in Sindh after Bodies of Two JSMM Men Found.” Dawn , 29 Apr. 2013, https://www.dawn.com/news/794725/violence-in-sindh-after-bodies-of-two-jsmm-men-found THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN SINDH 1. Ali, Salman. “Ignoring Girls’ Education in Sindh.” Daily Times, 14 Oct. 2019, Retrieved from https://dailytimes.com.pk/483642/ignoring-girls-education-in-sindh/ 2. Arijo, Nazeer A. “Sindh’s Education System Must Be Reformed.” Daily Times, 27 May 2018, Retrieved from https://dailytimes.com.pk/245497/sindhs-education-system-must-be-reformed/ 3. Fatimakhan. “Education Crisis in Sindh.” World Pulse, 9 Feb. 2020, Retrieved from https://www.worldpulse.com/community/users/fatimakhan/posts/93295 4. Rustmani, Javed. “Sindh’s Education System.” The Nation, The Nation, 9 Feb. 2019, Retrieved from https://nation.com.pk/10-Feb-2019/sindh-s-education-system 5. Rustmani, Riaz A. “Sindh’s Education System.” The Nation, The Nation, 3 Jan 2018, Retrieved from https://nation.com.pk/04-Jan-2018/sindh-education-system 6. “Sindh Education Issues.” Daily Times, 10 Dec. 2017, Retrieved from https://dailytimes.com.pk/156734/sindh-education-issues/ SINDH BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM 1. “About SBEP.” Sindhi Basic Education Program, USAID, sbep.gos.pk/about-us.United States Agency for International Development. (2019).

2. Sindh Reading Program Final Report: Prepared by Chemonics International Inc. USAID.United States Agency for International Development. (2017).

3. Sindh Community Mobilization Program Midterm Performance Evaluation: Prepared by Management Systems International. USAID. RABIES OUTBREAK IN SINDH 1. Bhatti, Waqar. “Teenage Rabies Victim Awaits Death at JPMC as Vaccine Shortage Persists Across Sindh.” The News, The News International, 9 Nov. 2019, https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/553329-teenageRabies-victim-awaits-death-at-jpmc-as-vaccine-shortage-persists-across-sindh 2. “Four Children Bitten By Rabid Dogs in Multan: Samaa.” SamaaTV, https://www.samaa.tv/news/2019/09/four-children-bitten-by-rabid-dog-in-multan/ 3. Ilyas, Faiza. “Initiative to Make Karachi Rabies-Free Launched.” DAWN.COM 5 Oct. 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1509000 4. Junaid, Ikram and Aamir Yasin. “Dog Bite Victims Left in the Lurch Due to Rabies vaccineShortage in Hospitals.”DAWN.COM. 22 Nov. 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1518137 5. “Pak Faces Shortage of Anti-Rabies Vaccine as India, China Halt Supply.” HindustanTimes, 15 Oct.2019, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pak-faces-shortage-of-anti-rabies-vaccine-as-indiachinahalt-supply/story-TRS1saXkAHjqG7GH9FgvZO.html SINDHI HERITAGE & CULTURE 1. “Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Department.” Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Department. Retrieved from https://sindhculture.gov.pk 2. “Funds Being Wasted at Mohenjo Daro: Archeologists.” Pakistan Today, 25 Aug. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/08/25/funds-being-wasted-at-mohenjo-daro-conference-told/ 3. “Mohenjo-Daro Gradually Passes through Its Final Phase of Destruction.” India Today, 2 Apr. 2015. Retrieved from https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/heritage/story/19771015-mohenjo-daro-gradually-passesthrough-its-final-phase-of-destruction-823896-2014-05-26 4. “Sindhi Culture.” History Pak. Retrieved from https://historypak.com/sindhi-culture/ 5. Khushik, Qurban Ali. “Ranikot Fort Crumbling Because of Official Neglect.” Dawn.com. Retrieved from https://www.dawn.com/news/1379975 6. Staff Report. “Centuries-Old Rich Culture of Province Highlight on Sindhi Culture Day.” Daily Times, 2 Dec. 2019. Retrieved from https://dailytimes.com.pk/511439/centuries-old-rich-culture-of-provincehighlighted-on-sindhi-culture-day/ 7. Sutherland, A. “Ranikot Fort: Gigantic Great Wall of Pakistan Shows Greatness of Indus Valley Civilization.” Ancient Pages, 29 Feb. 2020. Retrieved from http://www.ancientpages.com/2019/03/27/ranikot-fortgigantic-great-wall-of-pakistan-shows-greatness-of-indus-valley-civilization/ 8. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Mohenjo-Daro.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Hubert-Marshall 9. Tiwana, Imrana. “Situational Analysis on Culture in the Four Provinces of Pakistan.” UNESCO, Aug. 2011. Retrieved from http://unesco.org.pk/culture/documents/situationanalysis/Situational_Analysis_Culture_in_the_Four_Provinces.pdf VICTORIOUS: PRESERVING THE SINDHI LANGUAGE 1. Lalwani, Jagu. “History of Sindhi Language.” Sindhishaan, vol. 4, no. 4, Dec. 2005 http://www.sindhishaan.com/article/language/lang_04_04.html.

2. Hasan, Sibte. “1972 Riots: Was It a Language Issue?” Herald Magazine, 23 Sept. 2015, herald.dawn.com/news/1153263.

3. Shafi, Mohammad. “Language Controversy in Sindh.” Pakistan Forum, vol. 2, no. 11, 1972, p. 9., doi:10.2307/2568980.

4. “Home Page.” Voice of America , United States, www.voanews.com/.

5. “Pakistan's Prime Minister Tells Foreign Affairs Committee He Would Welcome Voice of America in Sindhi.” Congressman Brad Sherman, 20 Dec. 2013, sherman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pakistansprime-minister-tells-foreign-affairs-committee-he-would.

6. Kronstadt, K. Alan. “Pakistan’s Sindh Province.” CRS Report No. x7-5415, 29, Oct. 2015. Retrieved from Congressional Research Service website: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/sindh.pdf.

7. “The World Factbook: Pakistan.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html.

8. “Sindhi Culture.” History Pak. Retrieved from https://historypak.com/sindhi-culture/

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