JSFM holds sit-in protest in Jamshoro over enforced disappearances, state repression

Jamshoro [Pakistan] May 17 (ANI): The Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) organised a non-violent sit-in demonstration on the Jamshoro Kotri Main Highway, obstructing the roadway and resulting in considerable traffic disruption to protest against the enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions of Sindhi nationalist activists.

The protest aimed to highlight the ongoing violations of human rights in Sindh and Balochistan and to demand the immediate release of imprisoned and missing activists.

The JSFM criticised what they referred to as "state repression" designed to silence peaceful political dissenters.

Demonstrators shouted slogans against the oppression faced by Sindhi nationalist leaders and underscored the poor conditions in prisons. They also condemned the issue of enforced disappearances, a persistent problem in the area.

In a collective statement, JSFM Chairman Sohail Abro, along with leaders Zubair Sindhi and Amar Azadi, proclaimed that the Sindhi nation will not yield to oppression. "This peaceful sit-in serves as a protest against the unlawful arrests of our nationalist activists, the abuses occurring in jails, and the enforced disappearances. Our effort is peaceful and democratic, and we will persist until our people are free," the statement indicated.

Among their primary demands, the JSFM requested the immediate release of Zahid Channa, Sajad Channa, Adnan Baloch, Badshah Baloch, Rafiqat Manghanhar, and Shahid Soomro.

They also called on authorities to dismiss all fraudulent charges against nationalist activists currently incarcerated and to free all individuals forcibly disappeared from Sindh and Balochistan.

The protesters cautioned the Hyderabad Jail administration to cease mistreating detained activists, threatening to intensify their demonstration by obstructing the main entrance to the prison if violent actions were to persist.

Further, the JSFM urged international organisations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the British Parliament, to urgently recognise Pakistan's human rights abuses.

They called for worldwide condemnation of these violations, legal action against Pakistan under international law, and pressure for the unconditional release of all political prisoners and missing persons. The group also appealed for international initiatives to mitigate environmental damage caused by water projects and corporate farming in Sindh, which they characterised as a direct attack on local farmers' rights and economic well-being.

Chairman Sohail Abro reiterated the JSFM's commitment to a peaceful and democratic struggle for the freedom and self-determination of the Sindhi people, pledging to continue despite ongoing state repression. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)