Shafi Burfat appeals OHCHR over systematic repression in Sindh by Pakistan

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – Shafi Burfat, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz on Thursday in a detailed letter submitted on behalf of the Sindhudesh National Movement and JSMM, Burfat provides a bleak picture of life in Sindh, claimed that villages are raided, families are terrorized, and political opposition is met with violence, abductions, and enforced disappearances.

Shafi Burfat, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz has issued an urgent and impassioned appeal to the Secretary-General of the UN and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Letter detailed he describes as a relentless and systematic campaign of human rights violations and political persecution carried out by the Pakistani state and its military-intelligence establishment against the people of Sindh.

Burfat provides a bleak picture of life in Sindh, claiming that villages are raided, families are terrorized, and political opposition is met with violence, abductions, and enforced disappearances.

He cited crackdowns in Hyderabad’s Qasimabad, where members of the Mirani minority, known for their political allegiance to the Sindhi national movement, have been specifically targeted.

According to the letter, police and intelligence officers invaded residences, assaulted women, and abducted numerous people, including Mukhtiar Mirani, Sansar Mirani, and Imran Mirani.

Burfat emphasized that none of these individuals were directly involved in politics; their only ‘crime’ was being linked to well-known Sindhi politicians.

Burfat claimed that these acts are part of a premeditated repression program aimed at eroding Sindh’s political consciousness and suppressing the nonviolent movement calling for Sindh’s control of its natural resources and political sovereignty.

He described how entire villages are under attack, with families subjected to midnight raids, young people abducted without a warrant, and relatives left in despair, unsure of their loved ones’ fate.

The disappearances, he adds, are the result of similar violent operations in communities like Bajarani Laghari, where civilians were beaten, homes were burned, and residents were removed without due process.

Burfat emphasized the broader political backdrop, arguing that Sindh is currently engaged in an existential struggle for survival as a historical and national entity, rather than just a governance issue.

The letter accused Pakistan’s authorities of participating in an aggressive campaign of land grabs, economic marginalization, and cultural erasure, which he refers to as “Punjabi colonialism.”

 Burfat alleged that the military establishment is aiming to illegally occupy millions of acres of Sindhi land, including urban areas, forests, and mountains.

He added that Sindh’s national movement has engaged in a peaceful and democratic political battle to resist the occupation and safeguard Sindh’s territorial sovereignty.

According to Burfat, political freedom in Sindh has vanished.

Peaceful expression of national identity is criminalized, and activists face enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial killings on a daily basis. He accuses Pakistan of becoming a militarized, fascist regime in which even dissent is met with murder and disappearances.

He cited the international community moral and legal responsibilities, Burfat encouraged the United Nations to take prompt action in response to the egregious human rights violations in Sindh.

He called on the UN Human Rights Fact-Finding Mission to Sindh, and urged the international community to put pressure on Pakistan to suspend all military operations in civilian areas and release missing political activists. He also advocates for international probes to hold those responsible in Pakistan’s military and intelligence services accountable.

Burfat stated that the people of Sindh seek justice, not charity, based on international human rights values and the United Nations Charter’s acknowledgment of the right to self-determination.

He cautioned that global silence in the face of such injustice will only strengthen authoritarianism and undermine the principles on which the UN was founded.

Burfat described the petition as a desperate cry from a people being crushed by an unjust and militarized state.

He stated that the world must act “before it is too late.”