Pakhtuns being harassed across Sindh, alleges Shahi Syed

The Pakhtun community is being harassed across Sindh on the pretext of action against illegal Afghan refugees. Police have been demanding bribes from Pakhtuns so that they are not detained after being labelled as Afghans.

This allegation was made by Sindh Awami National Party (ANP) President Shahi Syed as he addressed a press conference on Thursday at the Mardan House in DHA. Syed stated that breaking into homes at midnight to check ID cards of Pakhtun families was not an appropriate conduct. The Sindh police should not turn the good exercise of deporting illegal foreigners into a moneymaking affair, he said.

The ANP leader lamented that the sanctity of the familial privacy was being violated by breaking into the houses at midnight. “We have no objection to sending illegal Afghan refugees back to their countries, but we do object to this conduct.”

He appealed to the Rangers director general, corps commander and inspector general of police through the media to resolve this issue. Syed also expressed grief at the martyrdom of soldiers in recent terrorist attacks. He said he and his party stood with the state institutions, but the attitude of the Sindh police towards the Pakhtuns was condemnable.

He also questioned the operation against illegal foreigners under the caretaker government. The job of the caretaker government was only to run the day-to-day affairs of the government until the elections, Syed said.

He warned that the ANP would hold protests if the arrests were not stopped at midnight in the name of verification. In response to a question, the ANP leader said the Pakhtun elders had brotherly relations with the Sindhi elders. “We have historical relations with the Sindhis, and we will not allow the evil elements to spoil the situation in Sindh,” he remarked.