The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, or simply UNPO is an international organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalised nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 in The Hague, Netherlands. Its members consist of indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories.
Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the Sindh province of Pakistan. The historical homeland of Sindhis is bordered by the southeastern part of Balochistan, the Bahawalpur region of Punjab and the Kutch region of Gujarat. Having been isolated throughout history unlike its neighbours, Sindhi culture has preserved its own uniqueness.
The Sindhudesh Movement is a separatist movement, based in Sindh, seeking to create a homeland for Sindhis by establishing an ethnic state called Sindhudesh in the proposed by Sindhi nationalist parties for the creation of a Sindhi state, which would be either autonomous within Pakistan or independent from it. The movement is based in the Sindh region of Pakistan and was conceived by the Sindhi political leader G. M. Syed after the independence of Bangladesh. He gave a new direction to Sindhi nationalism, founded the Jeay Sindh Tehreek in 1972 and presented the idea of Sindhudesh. Sindhi nationalists sometimes claims the Kutch region of India, the Lasbela District of Balochistan, and sometimes southern Punjab
Bashir Khan Qureshi was a Sindhi nationalist who served as the leader of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), a Sindhi nationalist movement in Sindh, founded by G. M. Syed. He was assassinated with slow poison at the age of 54 years on 7 April 2012.
Jam Saqi popularly known as Comrade Jam Saqi, was a left-wing politician from Sindh, Pakistan. He was previously the general secretary of the Communist Party of Pakistan. Saqi was imprisoned for more than 15 years due to his political activities. During his period in jail his then wife, Sukhan, had committed suicide after reading a newspaper containing allegations of Jam Saqi's death. He then left the Communist Party in 1991 and joined the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Trotskyist The Struggle group. He was married to Akhtar Sultana.
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The World Uyghur Congress claims to be a nonviolent and peaceful movement that opposes what it considers to be the Chinese "occupation" of 'East Turkestan' and advocates rejection of totalitarianism, religious intolerance and terrorism as an instrument of policy. The Congress is funded in part by the National Endowment for Democracy or NED of the United States. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by China since 2003 for conspiring with separatists and religious extremists to plan terror attacks.
There are or have been a number of separatist movements in Pakistan based on ethnic and regional nationalism, that have agitated for independence, and sometimes fighting the Pakistan state at various times during its history. As in many other countries, tension arises from the perception of minority/less powerful ethnic groups that other ethnicities dominate the politics and economics of the country to the detriment of those with less power and money. The government of Pakistan has attempted to subdue these separatist movements, which have included those in Bangladesh, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) in Balochistan; the "Sindhudesh" movement in Sindh province; "Balawaristan" in Gilgit-Baltistan; Jinnahpur and Muhajir Sooba movement for muhajir immigrants from India.
Ghulam Murtaza Syed, known as G. M. Syed was a prominent Sindhi politician, who is known for his scholarly work, passing only constitutional resolution in favor of the establishment of Pakistan from British India's Sindh Assembly in 1943. Later proposing ideological groundwork for separate Sindhi identity and laying the foundations of Sindhudesh movement. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Sindhi nationalism.
Sindhi nationalism is an ideology that claims that the Sindhis, an ethnolinguistic group native to the Pakistani province of Sindh, form a separate nation. After Bangladesh became independent in 1971, G.M. Syed gave a new direction to nationalism and founded the Jeay Sindh Mahaz in 1972 and presented the idea of Sindhudesh; a separate homeland for Sindhis. G.M. Syed is considered as the founder of modern Sindhi nationalism. However, Sindhi nationalists stand divided upon the idea of a separate country or autonomy within Pakistan.
Zulfiqar Shah is a civil rights activist, journalist and writer of Sindhi origin. He was forced by the Pakistan Army to unlawfully leave the country and close down The Institute for Social Movements, Pakistan in May 2012. He resettled in Nepal, where the UNHCR approved him for refugee status. In Kathmandu, he began freelancing with newspapers and websites on the issues of Pakistan, particularly concerning Sindh and the restive province of Balochistan. He was insurrected in his house in Kathmandu and was given heavy metal poison by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI with local facilitation; however he was rescued by local doctors. He was forced to leave Nepal, thus he left for Pakistan in December 2013. In Pakistan, he again was persecuted and threatened to be killed. He went India for medical treatment on 11 February 2013, where he was not only denied appropriate health treatment at the behest of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, but was also harassed by high commission officials. He, along his wife Fatima Shah, gave a protest sit-in for 285 days near the Parliament of the Republic of India in defiance of the threats against his life committed by the Pakistan High Commission and its facilitation by the Indian authorities.
Human rights abuses in Sindh, Pakistan, range from arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances to torture, extrajudicial killings, and political repression.
The Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz is one of several major separatist political parties in Sindh, Pakistan, that advocate for the separation of Sindhudesh from Pakistan. Founded in the year 2000, by the veteran Sindhi nationalists belonging to the Sindhudesh movement who left JSQM. The founder and the current Chairman of party Shafi Muhammad Burfat is living in exile in Germany under political asylum.
Sindhi Americans are Americans or residents of the United States who are of Sindhi descent. They are a subgroup of Indian Americans and Pakistani Americans.
Sindhi Cultural Day is a popular Sindhi cultural festival. It is celebrated with traditional enthusiasm to highlight the centuries-old rich culture of Sindh. The day is celebrated each year in the first week of December on the Sunday. It's widely celebrated all over Sindh, and amongst the Sindhi diaspora population around the world. Sindhis celebrate this day to demonstrate the peaceful identity of Sindhi culture and acquire the attention of the world towards their rich heritage.
Forced disappearance in Pakistan originated during the military dictator General Pervez Musharraf. The practice continued during subsequent governments. The term missing persons is sometimes used as a euphemism. According to Amina Masood Janjua, a human rights activist and chairperson of Defence of Human Rights Pakistan, there are more than 5,000 reported cases of forced disappearance in Pakistan. Human rights activists allege that the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are responsible for the cases of forced disappearance in Pakistan. However, the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan deny this and insist that many of the missing persons have either joined militant organisations such as the TTP in Afghanistan and other conflict zones or they have fled to be an illegal immigrant in Europe and died en route.
Bakhshal Thalho is a Pakistani, left-wing political worker, organizer and progressive writer. He is president of Awami Workers Party, Sindh.
Persecution of Muhajirs or Human rights abuses against Muhajirs or Anti-Muhajir sentiment ranges from discrimination, mass killings, forced disappearances and torture, to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech of Muhajirs, mainly those belonging to the right wing party Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan.
The Sindhi Bhils/Bheels are a Sindhinised sub-group of the Bhil people who live in the Sindh, Punjab, and Balocistan provinces of Pakistan. They are one of major Hindu community in the region, and are one of the Hindu groups in Pakistan who are known to not leave Sindh during the Partition of India.
The Sindhi Meghwars are a Sindhinised sub-group of the Meghwal people who live in the Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. They are one of major Hindu community in the region, and are one of the Hindu groups in Pakistan who are known to not leave Sindh during the Partition of India.
