Sindh Guardian VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 9 August 2016
sindhipac.org
The Sindhi American Political Action Committee
The Hindu Marriage Bill: Doing More Harm than Good? Pakistan and Its Failure to Act in the Fight Against Terrorism What I Learned During My Time with SAPAC Detailed Report on Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program An Interview with Saira Jatoi About the Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program Siege in Ghotki and Hindus Living in Terror
*Disclaimer* The information and views set out in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of SAPAC. Page | 1
Table of Contents The Hindu Marriage Bill: Doing More Harm Than Good? ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 Pakistan and Its Failure to Act in the Fight Against Terrorism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 What I Learned During My Time with SAPAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5 Detailed Report on Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program ~~~~~~~ 8 An Interview with Saira Jatoi about the Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program ~~~ 10 Siege in Ghotki and Hindus Living in Terror ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11
SAPAC Sindhi American Political Action Committee 1050 17th Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036 sindhipac.org Page | 2
The Hindu Marriage Bill: Doing More Harm Than Good? By: Brigitte Burrell In the beginning of this year, the government of Pakistan passed the Hindu Marriage Bill. Even through much opposition and a delaying process, the bill has come to law. This is a piece of legislation legalizing the registration of Hindu marriages. This does not only include Hindus, but Zoroastrians and Sikhs. Along with this, the law will apply to existing marriages. One very important restriction to this bill is that the bride and groom cannot be less than 18 years old and there has to be mutual consent on both sides of the marriage. There will be repercussions, such as fines, for those who have Hindu marriages that are not legally registered. This was only made possible after the 18th Amendment was passed, which gave more of a focus towards minorities in Pakistan. This is a piece of legislature that will be very helpful for Sindhis and Sindh in general. Because of Sindhi’s acceptance of everyone, no matter their religion or race, there are many Sindhi Hindus. They have been discriminated against for decades. Hindu women are being forced to convert to Islam. Without having a registered husband, women are more likely to become abducted and forced to convert to Islam. Finally, this is a start of showing support to religions besides Islam and Christianity. Being recognized as a legally registered couple provides much more benefits and security. They also now have a chance on obtaining government documents, which before was virtually impossible to obtain. This law was introduced in order to protect women from becoming easy targets for forced conversions and rape. However, a social worker in Karachi discusses how, “A section of the bill says that if any Hindu woman, even if she is married and has children, has converted to Islam, her Hindu marriage will be considered illegal. Many influential people exploit this section.”1
This bill also does not truly answer the question of the consequences of kidnapping someone in order to convert them to another religion. Forced conversions are mainly never in the media, therefore in order to shed light on the issue with this bill is becoming very difficult. Many do not know how much this bill is actually hurting women who are being captured and being forced to convert to Islam. It is hard to even narrow down how many girls are being forced to convert because, “there is no[t] any mechanism to calculate the actual figure”1 The amount of awareness about forced conversions is not being put out in the public, making it very difficult to show how much of an issue it truly is in Sindh. This bill is not clarifying the consequences of kidnapping for the intent to forcibly convert a woman. Overall, this law that was supposed to be used to help these religious minorities and it is ultimately not doing its job. It took way too long to even get passed through all of the sanctions and ultimately is not benefiting Hindu girls. Many powerful people in Sindh and Pakistan are exploiting certain passages in the bill to discredit one of the main reasons it was created: to combat forced conversions of Hindu girls. This law needs to be ratified so that there is no question of the consequences of kidnapping someone in order to convert them to another religion. There needs to be more specific repercussions so that the bill can actually combat these horrific acts from happening. Also, being able to add a mechanism to keep track of the amount of forced conversions happening in Sindh will help bring awareness to this serious issue that is continually swept under the rug.
1 “Caste
and Captivity: Dalit suffering in Sindh,” Dawn News, March 13, 2016, accessed July 28, 2016, http://www.dawn.com/news/1244684.
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Pakistan and Its Failure to Act in the Fight Against Terrorism By: Jessi Dusenberry The Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint subcommittee hearing with the subcommittee for Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and the subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific. The hearing was entitled, “Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight against Terrorism” and was held to give members the opportunity to learn more about Pakistan’s ties to terrorist groups so they could make more informed decisions on U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. has spent billions of taxpayer dollars in aid to Pakistan since 9/11, and Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies are still linked to terrorist organizations. The funding going to Pakistan is directly aiding extremist and terrorist groups who then target Sindhi people. The extremist groups target Sindhi people through the education system, which is plagued by ghost teachers, lack of access to higher education, and poorly built and maintained schools. Children are drawn into madrassas, which are Islamic fundamentalist seminaries run by extremist groups. Hafiz Saeed, founder of terrorist group Lashkar-eTaiba, also founded its charity front, Jamaat-ulDawa, where the terrorist organization raises funds, and operates madrassas. Charity fronts such as Jamaat-ul-Dawa provide humanitarian assistance when the government does not. In return, parents send their children to madrassas to learn Islamic fundamentalist ideas. Saeed is on the most-wanted list in India and has a bounty of $10 million in the U.S., yet he roams freely in Pakistan, and is given a free hand by the Pakistani Army. The extremist groups that operate madrassas are funded directly through misappropriated USAID money. Congressman Brad Sherman, who is a ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as the founding member of the Sindh Caucus, offered an alternative to sending money to Pakistan.
He suggests sending textbooks to the children in Sindh, that way the U.S. won’t be funding terrorist groups, and school children won’t be taught Islamic extremist ideas. During the hearing, Bill Roggio, senior editor of the Long War Journal, offered a testimony that identified Pakistan as a foe. He points out that while Pakistani officials and forces have assisted the U.S. in hunting senior al Qaeda figures, Pakistan’s overall strategy is pro-jihadist. Pakistan battles some terrorist groups within its borders, but only when they pose a direct threat to the state. Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and the U.N. gave a testimony urging the U.S. to adopt an isolationist policy against Pakistan to force cooperation. Mr. Khalilzad believes that Pakistan has portrayed itself as a U.S. partner, yet its support of the Taliban and other terrorist organizations should merit its inclusion on the State Department’s list of state-sponsors of terrorism. He attributes the success of these terrorist groups to the strategic decision of the Pakistani military and intelligence services to provide sanctuary and support to these groups. By aiding terrorist groups, Pakistan can utilize them to further their own political agenda, such as suppressing Sindhi culture and values. Politically, Pakistan cannot be a member in good standing of the international community so long as it supports terrorist organizations. To protect Sindh and its people, the U.S. needs to cut off all funding to Pakistan until it stops operating as breeding ground for terrorism. Not only does Pakistan need to stop funding and promoting terrorism, but it also needs to take actions to stop terrorist groups that are already active. Being idle when terrorism is occurring, is just as bad as directly aiding and promoting terrorist groups. Sindh Guardian Volume 2 Issue 9 | 4
What I Learned During My Time with SAPAC By: Isaac Joseph Over this summer I had the pleasure of gaining experience in advocacy work and representation by interning at an organization called the Sindhi American Political Action Committee (SAPAC). The stated purpose of this organization was to spread awareness about the issues facing Sindh and to advocate on behalf of Sindhi Americans. Not having much previous knowledge of the political situation in Pakistan, I had no idea that there was a province in Pakistan called Sindh which contained the majority of the country’s religious minorities. While I was only a part of this organization’s operations for a few short months, SAPAC has been around for at least the past six years and has made significant grounds in establishing representation for Sindhis who face constant discrimination and violence in Pakistan and for their families who are living here in the United States. During my time interning for the Sindhi American Political Action Committee I learned something that is very important regarding the process of representing certain interests or people in the United States Congress. In any democratic country it is important, if not absolutely necessary, to create cohesive, unified, and organized representation in order to influence the political process or represent a niche community or interest, especially in a country as large and with as much global reach as the United States. First of all, representation is the bedrock of democratic governance and a healthy politically involved society. On a theoretical level, an ideal democracy would have the direct involvement of the polity in the legislative process; this is truly putting power in the hands of the governed. However, on a practical level, this would be virtually impossible, if not completely chaotic. If every single citizen were obliged to vote on legislation, rather than having elected officials do that for them, there is no doubt that there would be no consensus on anything. Political parties are a natural consequence of attempting to generate consensus on policies and issues. For matters of practicality, organizing
representation is an essential in any democratic society, but it does not, or at the very least should not, stop at political parties. Some interests or communities within a given country, such as Sindhis within the United States, are too small to be viewed through the scope of party lines. Sometimes these interests fall out of or even cross over party lines. It is for this reason that organizing separate mechanisms, like political action committees, becomes necessary to properly represent a group of people and their interests. For my internship, I was able to work for an entity whose purpose was to organize the representation of a subset of the United States’ population.
Organizing representation comes in many different forms, the most common being political parties. However, because of the way the United States conducts its elections as well as its sheer size, there are only two major catch-all parties: the Democrats and Republicans. Considering how this type of representation affects small and scattered communities, such as Sindhi Americans, it’s hard to imagine that the specific and niche issues of these communities will get addressed by catch-all parties. The situation in proportional representative
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democracies is much different. Often, parties will be formed around a single issue for any given election before vanishing in the next one. For this reason, I believe that advocacy groups and political action committees, like the one I interned for, have a much more important role to play in the American political process. Organization outside of the party apparatus is necessary for a group of constituents like Sindhi Americans who only number around 50,000 in the United States and who are scattered across the country. Due to the nature of catch-all parties like the Democrats and Republicans and the single member district style of representation in the House of Representatives, candidates for office have to develop a platform that has wide appeal. This overinclusiveness can sometimes have the opposite effect, and small groups like Sindhi Americans can feel excluded from policy and legislation that affects their community. The disconnection in these situations is because there needs to be a conduit between the constituents and their elected representative. While there are already mechanisms in place for this, like the representative’s district office where constituents can go to lodge complaints, this only helps facilitate dialogue between members of the district and its representative. Trying to inform Congress about legislation that affects a particular ethnic community requires further organized representation beyond the single member district, two-party structure of American politics. SAPAC acts as the conduit between a scattered ethnic population and the members of Congress whose legislation affects Sindhis.
One essential way that I learned during my internship experience to organize representation based upon certain legislation rather than districts is through Congressional Caucuses. About five years prior to my internship, the Sindhi community was successful in getting Congress to establish the Sindh Caucus. This could not have happened without the organized efforts of the Sindhi American Political Action Committee as well as Congressmen Brad Sherman and Adam Schiff, who were instrumental in this process. Caucuses are a great way to inform members of Congress about issues and legislation that affect the beneficiaries of the Caucus. Caucuses are also not necessarily restricted by party lines. The Sindh Caucus has bipartisan membership, which exemplifies its unique role in representing the interests of Sindhi Americans. Both parties have the political will to address the issues that face Sindhis, so SAPAC is able to organize bipartisan consensus through the Sindh Caucus. Caucuses also go a step further than simply just organizing representation outside the party apparatus; they also get into the nitty gritty of trying to get sponsored legislation introduced to Congress. During SAPAC’s advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill, which the interns helped organize, I came across a similar theme in many of the meetings I had with staffers. I was always asked if there were any Sindhi Americans who were members of the Representative’s district or the Senator’s state. This was always a tough question to answer, but nonetheless an important one. Because Sindhis are not a concentrated community, like Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, it is hard to say definitively that there are Sindhi Americans who are constituents of certain members of Congress. In our advocacy campaign we had to take a different and less straightforward route than simply playing the “we-are-your-constituents” card. This route involved addressing specific legislation and big picture policies that affect the Sindhi community and the United States at large. Due to SAPAC’s size as an organization, it also involved appealing to Congress’s conscience rather than their wallets. For example, when we were scheduling meetings for our advocacy Sindh Guardian Volume 2 Issue 9 | 6
campaign we reached out to the offices of Congressmen who were in certain Committees like Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, or Intelligence depending upon what policy issue we wanted to address. If they were in Appropriations, we would let the staffers know about the lack of accountability of USAID funds which were supposed to go to education and development projects in Sindh but instead wound up in the pockets of corrupt officials. We explained how this doesn’t just affect Sindhis, but also US taxpayers and that it also has implications for the future of counter-terrorism efforts in the region. The fact that both Republicans, who were concerned about the waste of taxpayer dollars, as well as Democrats, who were concerned about the human rights and development in the region, could get behind these issues also demonstrates the necessity of political organization beyond the party structure. It makes accomplishing policy goals and representation much more dynamic, and thus creates a more effective democratic governance. This type of approach, whereby an organized and informed political action committee reaches out to Congressional Committees on specific legislation and policies, would be unheard of without prior political organization outside of the party structure like the Sindhi American Political Action Committee. All in all, the biggest thing that I’ve taken away from my experience with SAPAC is that you do not have to be a party member, a staffer, or an elected government official to get involved in American politics and the legislative process. Regardless of how many parties there are or how wide their policy platforms are, there will always be a need in democratic societies for organizing outside of this structure. SAPAC provides an opportunity for Sindhi Americans who are spread across the United States to get involved in politics and be heard by the government. While many people, especially during this presidential election, feel that big money and private interests are ruining and corrupting the legislative process of the United States, it is important to remember the smaller communities for whom advocacy and political action committees are just as important.
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Detailed Report on Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program SAPAC held its Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program from July 13th-15th, 2016. Eight participants from around the nation came to Capitol Hill to join SAPAC to advocate for Sindhis. This entailed splitting these participants up into four different groups so that there could be as many meetings as possible. There were over 50 meetings on the Hill scheduled. One of the participants was returning from last year’s program, Saira Jatoi. She is a very passionate Sindhi, who wants to give a voice to the voiceless and shed light on the human rights violations occurring in Sindh. Executive Director, Fati Gul, joined in on various groups that had priority at the time of meeting to help out. To kick-start the event, SAPAC hosted a meet and greet on Wednesday, July 13th, in the evening. Everyone received a folder that included the itinerary for the following two days, a map of Capitol Hill, a map of Sindh, an article about the Lahore Resolution 1940, and an article about the plight of Sindhi Hindus by Kamana Mathur. The purpose of these handouts was to help educate the participants on the issues which face Sindhis, inform about the Representatives and Senators whose offices they were meeting with, and specify what things to ask Congress to do to help. Two special guests came to the meet and greet, Farzana Majeed and Sameeta Vikram. Everyone introduced themselves and provided fun information about themselves, and then jeopardy was played. Jeopardy was created by a SAPAC intern and provided six different categories to truly test the knowledge that the participants had about Sindh. These categories included: geography, culture, education, human rights, funding, and religious extremism.
Thursday, July 14th, was the start of the meetings on the Hill. SAPAC interns had prepared envelopes for all of the meetings which included a report on enforced disappearances, a brochure discussing Sindh and all of the issues that were to be mentioned in the meetings, and a letter that requested Representatives to join the Sindh Caucus. Thursday was a very busy day for both Congress and SAPAC because it was the last day of Congress’s session before a long break. Everyone appreciated the time that the Congressional offices took to meet with the SAPAC team on such a busy day. The SAPAC interns and Fati Gul started the day at Senator Bob Casey’s Keystone Coffee with a light breakfast with the Senator. During the Meet and Greet, SAPAC had the opportunity to share their views and voice their concerns with the Senator himself, and his staffers. The SAPAC team was also able to ask about a very new piece of legislation that was introduced by Senator Casey into the Senate, called the STORM Act. One of SAPAC’s interns, Isaac Joseph, is from Pennsylvania and is one of Senator Casey’s constituents. Isaac is concerned about the problems that Sindhis face from religious extremists every day in Pakistan and was looking forward to discussing with Senator Casey the new bill that Casey is co-sponsoring that would help cut down on terrorist financing.
Sen. Casey’s Keystone Coffee: The SAPAC team discusses the STORM Act, recently brought to the Senate by Senator Bob Casey and Johnny Isakson.
Meet and Greet: Participants wearing traditional Sindhi lungi after a fun game of Jeopardy.
Afterwards, everyone participating in the meetings on Thursday went to Senator Johnny Isakson’s office to begin the official round of scheduled meetings. Everyone voiced their specific concerns during the meeting and were able to learn more about the STORM Act. Senator Isakson co-sponsored this bill along with Senator Casey. The STORM Act, if passed into law, would grant the President
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greater authority to designate and punish countries who aren’t doing enough to stop the financing of terrorist groups or who are complicit in supporting and protecting terrorist groups. This Act was originally intended as a response to the growing threat of ISIS in the Middle East but this can help control the acts of terrorism in these countries like Pakistan. They were able to express concerns about how some of the elements of the Pakistani establishment protect religious extremists and how this bill would help to put pressure on Pakistan and protect Sindhis from terrorism. Senator Bob Casey himself has made two trips to Pakistan in the past and reassured us of his commitment to protecting the rights of religious minorities in the country. After this, everyone split off into their respective groups for the day of advocating on the Hill. Either at 11:00 am or 12:00 pm, groups took an hour lunch in whichever office building’s cafeteria they were in, and then they went right back to advocating on the Hill! One group had the pleasure of meeting with Representative Brendan Boyle in person. Representative Boyle is a member of the Foreign Affairs committee and was interested to learn more about Sindh and to get involved. He was mainly interested in the problems of religious extremism and USAID mismanagement and wanted to learn more about the Sindh Caucus. He mentioned that after the meeting he was going to conduct some research of his own and consult Representative Brad Sherman, the member of the Sindh Caucus, for more information. Most of the other meetings were with staffers in the various Congressional and Senate offices, and they were very successful. Whether it was religious extremism, women’s rights, or misappropriation of USAID funds, each office had its own interest that it was happy to help with.
Rep. Brendan Boyle: Tram and Jessi discuss the current issues that Sindhis face and how joining the Sindh Caucus can significantly help them.
Among the various offices that the SAPAC team met with on Thursday included Senators Ernst, Gardner, Markey, Flake, and Wyden as well as Representatives Pallone, Norton, Farr, Lowenthal, Rooney, Rothfus, and Shultz. Everyone was proud that they met with both Democrats and Republicans who were both in agreement on continuing to help Sindhis and fight injustices in Pakistan. Every group had a different meeting at 3:00pm, which was their last meeting of the day. Afterwards, SAPAC interns and Fati Gul headed to Representative Adam Schiff’s office to receive a VIP Tour of the Capitol Building. Representative Adam Schiff was the first member of the Sindh Caucus and has continuously shown support for Sindhis. The SAPAC team also dropped off an envelope containing information about current issues for Representative Schiff. A member of his office gave us the Capitol tour, and everyone greatly enjoyed being able to learn more about the United States’ history. Friday, July 15th, the participants were first split into two groups so that there were people on the House side and Senate side of the Hill. One group met with Senator Marco Rubio’s Office staff to discuss important issues and how his office can help the large Sindhi community in the state of Florida. His office is also sponsoring the STORM act and was willing to meet with the Sindhi Community in events they have in Florida. Afterwards, the groups met Representatives Kyrsten Sinema, Jackie Speier, Robert Dold, Don Beyer, Elijah Cummings, Gene Green, Lynn Jenkins, Tom Marino and Lois Frankel to discuss human rights violations, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in Sindh. While some of the Representatives were aware of these issues, most were unaware they were so blatant. Many members of Congress commended the idea of supporting education by helping provide textbooks to Sindhi school children as an alternative to USAID funds, which can be misallocated. After lunch in the Hart Senate Office Building, the group took meetings with Senators Joni Ernst, Ron Johnson, Amy Klobuchar, and Mark Kirk. Meetings continued with other representatives, and the SAPAC team ended the day with a tour of the Washington monument where the views were breathtaking once they reached the top. SAPAC is very appreciative to all of those who participated in both the meetings on Capitol Hill, and the meet and greet. Being able to show these politicians how informed so many youth in America are and the importance of Sindh is to these youth really made an impact. It was a very successful program that will be continuing next year, in hopes that one day Sindh will be a safer place by advocating and providing awareness of Sindhi people everywhere.
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An Interview with Saira Jatoi About the Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program By: Brigitte Burrell What is your overall reflection of the Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program? Honestly it was very organized, I really liked that. There was a lot more information than we had last year. We had a better idea of what we wanted to do to remedy specific problems that we had. The timing was also a lot better throughout the different meetings. We had a structure to how the meetings should go and left the last two minutes to discuss specifically what we want from them. Overall, I was really happy I was able to come and do this because I really did not think I was going to be able to. Even though I was only able to participate in one day of the program, I was extremely grateful to be given that day. Why are you so passionate about Sindh and Sindhis? Well first I am Sindhi and I have been to Pakistan where these people are living in such horrible conditions. Trash is filling the streets and homes. The village that I am from we do not get electricity for most of the day. With all of the human rights movements happening in America today, I really wanted to get out there and do something. So I thought why don’t I help my people now and incorporate more of these modern movements while I go on with my life? Last year when I first heard about this program I signed up immediately because I knew I really wanted to do it. I want to fight to women’s rights in Sindh, for children’s rights in Sindh, for freedom of speech really. I wish that one day Sindh can be a place where its citizens can analyze and criticize what is happening and not feel that their lives are being threatened because of it.
Did you learn any important lessons from your experience in the program? I learned that not everyone is going to listen to you. Just because you believe and not just believe, but know your cause is right, does not mean everyone else will have the same strong emotions towards it as you would. Even though one fifteen-minute meeting does not go as smoothly as you wanted it to, does not mean that you should go to the next meeting with any less passion than you did for the first. You should always express yourself the way you want to. Would you recommend other participate in the program next year? I think the way to progress as a Sindhi community is by helping Sindh itself first. That’s where everyone comes from, that’s our homeland, that’s our culture, that’s the culture we grew up with, that’s us, that’s all we have. If we can help them first, if we help their education have better infrastructure, then we’ll be happier because we will know that where we come from is safe and better. I would say if you are eligible, you should get involved in this program. It aides us in starting from the root and working our way up.
First Meeting: Before Saira, on the far left, enters Florida’s Representative Marco Rubio’s room with SAPAC team Second Annual Youth Advocacy and Leadership Program.
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I had in my childhood witnessed elders of Hindu Sindhis of Northern Sindh touching the walls of mosques with respect and then keeping those hands on their foreheads. They even used to get chicken and Published In: Daily Kawish goats slaughtered by Muslims. Growing up as a Hindu kid has also become a crime there now. There were Written By: Hasan Mujtaba many Hindu teachers who had read the holy quraan, some had even read it with translation and had learnt In upper Sindh and specially in the district it by heart. Teachers of Ghotki district Saain Ghotki to be born, raised and living as a Hindu has a Ghansham Das, Thakur Das, Pyaray Lal and Amar Lal very heavy price to pay which Sindhi Hindu’s have were among the teachers who had read holy Quran been paying for years as a penalty for their love and and respected it. Professor Talreja of Sukkur used to sincerity for this land, country, river Indus and all deliver lectures on TV against sectarianism with their ancestral and religious sites. Irshad Sagar’s references from Quraan in earlier days of Pakistan words “My poor motherland for you we pay Television. Even Professor Talreja had to leave Sindh. penalties” depicts this whole situation realistically. It’s Hindu’s in Sindh and particularly those in North just a bookish thing but Sufi Shrines, Shah, Sachal. Sindh live with a continuous mental stress and in Sami, Qalandar, Bekas, Bedal, Hayat Pitafi, Rehedki, Ghotki district particularly most of the people they call Sadh BeloSatiyen jo Aastaan and Wasan Shah. It’s them kurar or waniya. If the moods are good they call almost impossible to forget one’s motherland. them deewan or bhaiband with respect. What a young Hindu have to go through from early education to For the love of soil; we the devotees grade 12 could be a topic of social studies research. Have paid price which wasn’t even due These kids are most affected by mental and physical abuse. Their nude photos are taken forcefully and are blackmailed to have sexual relationships. Their parents It’s upper Sindh where wheel of evolution has have to pay extortion money. All this is like they say stopped. Specially areas like Daherkee, Obaro, “One Waniyo (Sindhi Hindu) is the only heavy person Ghotki, Jarwar, Hayat Pitafi, Yaroo Lund, Dad Laghari, Khanpur etc. where after each 8 or 10 miles in the whole sinking ship”. These Hindus are even severely affected when there is a new lord, Sardar or Pir. They rule those Pakistan and India go to war. Even while an incident like areas. They have their farmers, servants, slaves and followers; they can all be identified differently as they Babri Mosque happens Hindus get affected not only all have their distinct way of dressing up, beards, caps, that but even if Pakistan loses a cricket match to India these people are hold responsible for the defeat. Not laws, customs and costumes. They are all above the only that even if a mentally retarded person does a law and rely on jirgas to settle disputes. Honor wrong act or if a mosque is deserted local Hindu killings, tribal feuds and increasing religious population is attacked and held responsible like it extremism make these areas of upper Sindh like recently happened in Ghotki District where the whole north Waziristan. Construction of multi-story Hindu population had to live in a curfew and building of religious seminaries on national highway and both sides of river Indus are also contributing to nonpolitical siege like situation. Everyone is living in terror. It all appears like Amar Jaleel’s story “The religious extremism in those areas. Journey of a cold dead body” is being repeated in reality. Just remembered when a small thief who steals goats or cows and for the sake of bringing innovation It’s not that this area is only inhabited to his skills instead starts kidnapping people for ransom by people but also pigs and people like that also affects Hindu population of Sindh. Khudo people. Almani is the one who did first kidnapping for ransom
Siege in Ghotki and Hindus Living in Terror
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in Sindh later on that dacoit became Sardar (Chief of a tribe) Khuda Bux Almani. He is the one who threatened to kill Shaista Almani and another couple from Maher. We recently knew that Shaista Almani is living happily with her husband in a Scandinavian country. Where shall the Hindu population of this area go? Who is planning to cleanse this country of its Hindu population. Not all the Hindus can migrate to India or be partners of General retired Aslam Baig or Naseer Akhtar. Many of those who migrated to India have returned back. We all also know how India treats its minorities. Thousands of Hindu’s who migrated to India haven’t yet been given citizenship or even a permit to live. A few days ago many religious pilgrims from Ghorki district were arrested in India accusing them of espionage. Why shall Hindu migrate? This is their country and they shall be treated equally. Local Hindu population shall not be made ATM machine for criminals, landlords, Peers and their hooligans. Even an SSP can stop all these atrocities. Let’s look at the example of Zafar Iqbal Chhatha of Punjab who was posted in District Rahim Yar Khan who controlled extremist elements there and protected Christian population against any extremist attacks. My friend Nabeela Kayani is proud that Zafar Iqbal has been one of her students. If Police had any control in Ghotki district two innocent youngsters wouldn’t have been attached like that. One of them died later. Someone correctly said it on social media that a Hindu who out of fear and respect hardy touches their religious scriptures can never be disrespectful to any other religion’s holy scripture. This area has a history of accusing people of damaging religious scripture to fulfill their personal interests. Religious leaders of different sects accuse each other of such things, even some drug addicts who have arguments accuse each other of such things but they always end up being fake accusations. All this was never heard of before 1940’s when Professor Pamnani of Rohri and Singer faqeer Bhagat Kunwar Ram were killed. If these incidents and Manzil Masjid Gah incidents hadn’t happened; possibly the partition of subcontinent wouldn’t have happened so easily. A Journalist friend of mine Fayaz Naich told me that there has never been any differences in the Shrine of Burjhandee and Reherkee Darbar. Do you also
know that there is a piece of land measuring around 100 acres between Reherki and Daherkee which is owned by Sant Sandhoo Ram and a local Hindu partnership and some powerful people have interest in it? This time it appears the whole incident was conspired for this reason.
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In theatres August 12, a Bollywood movie is finally being done about one of the world’s oldest civilization, Monhenjo Daro! We are very excited and happy that there is going to be recognition to this beloved civilization located in Sindh. We feel it will bring more awareness about Sindhu civilization and cannot wait to watch.