Religious extremism biggest threat to Sindh, say nationalists

LONDON: Sindhi nationalists allege that religious extremism is being promoted deliberately in Sindh to destroy the historic tolerant nature of Sindhis and to harm the indigenous people of the province.
Speaking here at the 26th International Conference on Sindh, organized by the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), Sindhi leaders said violent extremist religious groups had become very active in Sindh and were snapping up lands to establish seminaries and centres as centre of influence.
They said the target of these religious extremist groups was secular and liberal Sindhis who had traditionally shown extreme acceptance towards the people of other cultures and religions.
Dr Safdar Sarki, Chairman of Jeay Sindh Tehreek, told The News that Sindhi political parties could play an important role in promoting regional peace, security and prosperity by neutralizing the spread of religious extremism. He said Sindh was rich in natural resources but attempts were afoot to get Sindhis fight each other on linguistic and cultural basis.
Dr Lakhu Luhana, Chairman of the World Sindhi Congress, said geo-political situation at the regional and global levels was undergoing rapid changes.
“The Sindhi nation has some real threats and opportunities. It is critical that Sindhi nation should take a correct position. It is a huge historical responsibility on the shoulders of the current generation of Sindhi nation to find their way out of this worst period for them and for their future generations,” he stressed.
Dr. Saghir Shaikh, Deputy Secretary General of World Sindhi Congress, feared that narrow religious nationalism could create a disaster inside and outside the Sindh borders. He said the South Asian situation had increased the importance of Sindh.
The conference passed 12 resolutions concerning situations in Sindh and Pakistan in general and demanded the release of political detainees and the alleged missing persons.
The conference resolved that religious minorities were subjected to “brutal atrocities all over Pakistan, especially against Sindhi Hindus in Sindh and Christians and Ahmadis in Punjab”. It condemned the forced conversion of Sindhi minor girls and demanded equitable distribution of resources to all provinces of Pakistan.
The conference condemned the recent demand of more provinces in Sindh by the MQM and stressed that both the PPP and MQM were “befooling their constituencies by promoting ethnic hatred and acrimony” among the Sindhis.
Others who spoke to the day-long conference included Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, Rubina Greenwood, Hidayat Bhutto, Naseer Memon, Paulo Casaca, Ex MEP and CEO South Asia Democratic Forum Brussels, Sassui Abbas Laghari, Bharti Tailor, Syed Ghulam Shah, Dr. Charles Graves, Interfaith International Switzerland, Dr Naseer Dhasti and Prof. Joshua Castellino.