New York [US], April 24 : A group of delegates from the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), an organisation involved in Sindh rights advocacy, participated on Tuesday in the 23rd session of the ongoing UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNIPFII), raising concerns about the occupation of agricultural and residential lands belonging to the Sindhi people by the military and their proxies, the World Sindhi Congress said in a press statement.
https://twitter.com/sindhicongress/status/1782566329930666181
During his intervention, the representative of the World Sindhi Congress, Farhan Soomro, made a statement on the grave situation of the occupation of the lands of the Sindhi people by the Pakistani army and its proxies.
He said that the process started at the inception of Pakistan when Sindhi Hindus were coerced to leave and their lands seized.
"We need our rights to life, food, and economic security. This issue traces back to the displacement of Sindhi Hindus at the time of Pakistan's inception and further intensified Ghulam Muhammad Barrage in 1955. This resulted in the allocation of vast tracts of land to military affiliates through opeques processes by an unelected interim government," he said.
"These allocations are often void of transparency and legal rectitude and do not represent the local communities. This a stark representation in the Dhabeji area, where 50 thousand acres of land are under threat of military occupation, manoeuvres, and military firing jeopardising centuries-old villages. Moreover, Bahria Town's occupation of 46 thousand acres of land in Karachi despite being ruled illegal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, underscored the persistent disregard for the law and rights of indigenous people," Soomro added while highlighting the sheer lawlessness in Sindh.
Putting forward the demands of the local people of Sindh, the WSC leaders stated, "In light of these circumstances, the World Sindi Congress urgently requests the United Nations to press the Pakistan government to immediately seize the land exploitation in Sindh and facilitate the restoration of land wrongfully snatched back to their rightful Sindhi owners. Further also addresses poverty and malnutrition in the region".
"We demand increased transparency, legal adherence, and accountability in all regional and land transfers, particularly those involving military and commercial interests. These steps are crucial to rectify the severe human rights infringements to preserve the dignity and rights of indigenous Sindhi people," he added.
The press statement by the WSC also stated that the process has continued unabated and is seeing unparalleled haste to illegally occupy vast areas of agricultural and residential lands.
The Pakistani military has announced plans to occupy 1.3 million of acres of land in Sindh for corporate farming. This practice is causing grave harm to the rights of Sindhi people to life and well-being as well as destroying ecological habitats and historical sites.