After Balochistan, freedom calls grow in Sindh as protesters slam Pakistan’s human rights violations

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM), a political group advocating for Sindhu Desh, staged a peaceful sit-in protest on a highway in Pakistan on Friday, demanding the release of missing and jailed Sindhi nationalists.With traffic halted and slogans echoing through the air, the group sought global attention toenforced disappearances, illegal detentions, and human rights abuses in Sindh and Balochistan.JSFM leaders, including chairman Sohail Abro, Zubair Sindhi, and Amar Azadi, called for the immediate release of Zahid Channa, Sajad Channa, Adnan Baloch, Badshah Baloch, Rafiqat Manghanhar, and Shahid Soomro. They also demanded that false charges against them be withdrawn and that all forcibly arrested persons be freed."This peaceful sit-in serves as a protest against the unlawful arrests of our nationalist activists, the abuses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 collective statement read.The protestors warned the Hyderabad Jail authorities against further mistreatment of detainees and threatened to block the prison’s main gate if abuse continued. They also called out to international organisations like the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, urging intervention and global condemnation of Pakistan's rights violations.Human rights violations in SindhA 2022 US State Department report, had pointed out widespread cases of extrajudicial killings and the recovery of mutilated bodies across Sindh. In 2024, Abro had also appealed for help in the case of Priya Kumari, a missing Hindu girl, stressing rising cases of forced conversions and marriages to Muslim men.Sindhis have been historically struggling for identity and autonomy. They accuse the Pakistani state of erasing local culture through systemic oppression—citing Urdu imposition, the ‘One unit’ policy, and historic land grabs like the removal of Karachi from Sindh.Meanwhile, in related developments, Balochistan declared independence from Pakistan this week. On social media, hashtags like #RepublicOfBalochistan trended, with users sharing proposed flags and maps.