It is heartening to know that overseas Sindhis have not lost touch with their motherland. I hope other Pakistani nationalities also come forward and demonstrate against the present anti people policies of the establishment.
Sindhis in US protest Islamabad policies
Vasantha Arora (Indo-Asian News Service)
Washington, August 16
Members from the US-based World Sindhi Institute (WSI) gathered outside the Pakistani embassy here to protest what they called Islamabad’s “cruel and discriminatory policies in Sindh and Balochistan.”
The hour-long demonstration was held Saturday as Pakistan marked its 58th independence day. Around 20 WSI members collected outside the embassy in northwest Washington DC holding placards saying “Musharraf, Give Up Your Weapons of Mass Destruction” and “Down with Musharraf. Down with the Pakistani Army.”
“There was a sharp increase in sectarian violence in the second half of the year, particularly in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan,” Munawar Laghari, WSI executive director, said in a statement.
“With the world distracted by events in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pakistani government has had free rein to commit numerous human rights violations,” he said.
The protesters chanted in chorus: “Pakistani Military Go Home” and
“Democracy In - Dictatorship Out” during the protest called “Vigil for Democracy and Justice in Pakistan”.
“We cannot continue to ignore current conditions in Pakistan. The Pakistani people are being discriminated against and tortured under the current banner of democracy, and world leaders are turning a blind eye,” Laghari said.
A long-time supporter for Sindhi rights, John Salzberg said that the “US policy in supporting dictatorial governments like the one in Pakistan is promoting terrorism.”
The protesters claimed that General Musharraf by allowing dams to be built on the Thal Canal - a major canal - that carries water to provinces in Pakistan was depriving the Sindh people of water.
Some members said they had been compelled to protest to bring to public notice “the cruel and discriminatory policies adopted by the present dictatorial government against the people of Sindh and Balochistan.”
All peoples of Pakistan, especially those living in underdeveloped provinces like Sindh and Balochistan, have legitimate grievances due to the lack of a just democratic system allowing redressal of their myriad problems! All the terrorism going on in Balochistan these days is a result of Musharraf’s failure to establish a proper democratic system that can address their problems! He seems to think himself the only saviour of Pakistan, the only one capable of single-handedly addressing ALL the problems of pakistanis! How he manages to fool himself like this considering Pakistan is a country of 140 milllion people is beyond my comprehension!