Sindhi nationalist leader reported missing in Karachi

Sindhi nationalist activist and Sindheen National Congress (SNC) central organiser Ghani Aman Chandio has reportedly gone missing from Karachi in what rights groups and nationalist organisations have described as a suspected case of enforced disappearance.

Chandio was last seen on Tuesday outside a hospital, where he had been visiting his newborn twin daughters, who were under treatment. Since then, his whereabouts have remained unknown.

Chandio’s family members told The News on Wednesday that the activist was “picked up by unidentified persons” shortly after he stepped out of the hospital premises. “He has not made contact and his phone has been switched off since the incident,” added a family member.

Prominent Sindhi writer and researcher Ghulam Rasool Chandio, while speaking to The News, said the disappearance “appears to be linked with his recent public address on Sindhi nationalism which went viral on social media.”

Ghani Aman Chandio, originally from Warah in the district of Qambar-Shahdadkot and currently residing in Jamshoro with his in-laws, recently earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Sindh. He is known among Sindhi youth for his rhetorical speeches on cultural identity, and has memorized much of the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Human rights bodies and diaspora-based Sindhi nationalist organisations have condemned the incident. The World Sindhi Congress and the Sindhi Association of North America demanded his “immediate and safe recovery” and called upon the authorities to “cease the practice of intimidation against peaceful political expression.”

The Sindh Bar Council and the Karachi Bar Association have also issued statements expressing concern over the disappearance, urging law enforcement agencies to clarify whether Chandio is in official custody.

Meanwhile, members of the Sindheen National Congress staged protest demonstrations outside the Karachi and Hyderabad press clubs, warning that they would widen their agitation if authorities failed to trace him. Civil society representatives say Chandio’s case is the latest in a series of alleged abductions of political activists and nationalist voices in Sindh — an issue repeatedly raised in parliament and before the superior courts in recent years. Police have not yet confirmed whether a case has been formally registered, and no official statement had been issued by any security agency till the filing of this report.