Sindhi Protest in DC

The World Sindhi Institute
August 2, 2006
Press Release

WSI Protest Rally Scheduled
Rally to occur August 14 outside the Pakistani Embassy

Washington, DC—On August 14, the World Sindhi Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes human rights in the Sindh province of Pakistan through non-violent means, is sponsoring a protest rally at 11 a.m. outside the Pakistani embassy in Washington, DC.

The Pakistani government continues to abuse its power within Pakistan. At least three members of the press have been killed since January 2006: Munir Sangi, Mukesh Rotena, and Sunjay Kumar, and death threats have been made against journalists Sarmad Kanrani and Mubarak Bhatti. Since January 2006, at least three members of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) have been abducted, including Dr. Safdar Sarki, Asif Baladi, and Aakash Malah. Women and girls continue to be subjected to the practice of Karo-Kari, harassment, marriage while minors, and arrest. Couples continue to be arrested under the “draconian Islamic Hudood Laws.” In May 2006, the human rights commission of Pakistan observed that Pakistani “intelligence” agencies have been involved in the kidnapping of nationalist leaders and students from the Sindh and Baloch provinces, with more than 57 people reported missing due to these abductions. In Time, “Pakistan’s Other War” details the use of military equipment provided by
the United States government in the suppression of the Baloch. The extent of A.Q. Khan’s nuclear program and the possible sale of nuclear technology to countries, like Iran, Libya, and North Korea, remains to be disclosed.

The World Sindhi Institute has organized this event to protest the ban on freedom of _expression, the persecution of journalists, continued tortures, denial of women’s rights, the Hudood Ordinances, the lack of democracy, the disappearances of Sindhis and Baloch, and the issue of nuclear proliferation.”

“Only when these issues are resolved,” says Munawar Laghari, Executive Director of the World Sindhi Institute, “may Pakistan be considered a fully functioning democracy.”

For more information, please contact Caprill Hacker or Yelena Rubanovich at 202-223-1777 or via e-mail at wsihq@worldsindhi.org. You may also visit www.worldsindhi.org for more information.

Through nonviolent means, The World Sindhi Institute works relentlessly for universal human rights and humanitarian law for the Sindhis of Sindh, in southeastern Pakistan.