doCip ARCHIVES WORLD SLNDHJ CONGRESS STATEMENT BY WORLD SINDHI CONGRESS REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS-SUB-COMMISSION ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS MS. AMBRE EN HISBANI "REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS PERTAINING TO THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE" ITEM 4 OF THE 19th SESSION OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTCTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS, GENEVA, JULY 23 TO 27,2001 2^2 2 "REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS PERTAINING TO THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE" THE CASE OF [NDEGENOUS PEOPLE OF SINDH Honorable chair, distinguished guests, and fellow comrades, good afternoon! It is a great privilege and pleasure to share my views and experiences with you about the human rights situations of indigenous people of Sindh. Let me first briefly introduce the historical background of the indigenous people of Sindh— also known as 'Sindhis.' Sindh and Sindhis Sindh, a land of peace and harmony, covers an area of about 58,000 square miles, extending northwards from the Indian Ocean and straddling the Indo-Pak border. Inhabitant by approx. 30 million Sindhis, descendants of the original inhabitants Dravidians, with their distinct culture language, and civilization ~ "Indus Civilization" ~ considered to be about ten thousand years old, and still sumving in the villages and towns of Sindh. Sindhis are not an ethnic minority or sub-nationality, but a historical nation. Sindh has always remained an independent country until conquered in 1843 and merged into British India. In 1947, when British rulers decided to leave India, instead of restoring the original independent status of Sindh, Sindhis were asked to join either India or Pakistan. Sindhis decided to join the newly created state of Pakistan on the basis of Pakistan Resolution of 1940, which promises, n^amku&uiinmhMbtim)rmiQt^(mdsc^^^a^\^, the promise of autonomy and sovereignty was never fulfilled. This has resulted in an incredible sate of economical, political and social hegemony and a terrible human rights situation. Current Setup Pakistan has been under military rules for 40 years out of its 54 years of existence. Today it is under the de-facto martial law. All federal and provincial assemblies are dismissed. A military general is a President, Chief Executive and Military Chief at the same time! We believe that crisis and instability in Pakistan derive from the country's composition in the present form, in which one province, namely Punjab, has an overwhelming domination in all spheres of power. Indigenous peoples of smaller provinces, especially Sindh and Baluchistan, are being denied their due political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Issues threatening to indigenous population of Sindh Here is a brief review of developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people of Sindh especially to our right to development, including our right to participate in development affecting us. Exploitation of Sindh's resources and economy Today 70% of Pakistan budget goes into defense related expenses. To justify such huge defense expenses Pakistan engages in regional wars. We Sindhis find this engagement neither morally justifiable nor economically viable. On one hand Pakistan is spending billions in nuclear bombs and on other hand Indigenous People of Sindh and Baluchistan are dying out of drought and famine. Unequal Allocation of Financial Resources For last ten years, an illegal and unconstitutional body (consisting of selective non-representative individuals) called the National Finance Commission is managing taxes as well as other financial resources in Pakistan. Despite the fact that Sindh remains the largest contributor to the country's federal income (70% of federal taxes and 50% of overall income is generated from Sindh), the province is currently bankrupt and unable to carry out its day-to-day operations-not to speak of any meaningful development. The unconstitutional government and its crony bureaucrats constantly manipulate population census figures and Sindh's budget requirements, and charge false federal expenses to the province to justify discrimination. UNCHR-Sub-QmvTvdonon dxPromaionandPrimiion cfHmm Ri$ts WorkingGrouponbu^nous Population, 23-27July 2001, ScawnentbyAmbt^enHiskam, CtdtumlSfcrttayofthe WoridSindhiCongess 3 People of Indus without the Water from River Indus Inhabitants of Sindh are facing an unprecedented man-made shortage of water. Presently, Sindh is receiving about 8C% short of its due share. More than 50% of the urban and rural potable water schemes in major towns have virtually been shut. It is projected that crop yields would be far less than normal this year. Considering, the fact that agriculture remains the major source of income in Sindh this irrigation water scarcity is causing a great deal of poverty in the region. In addition, a recent study showed that sea intrusion has inundated over 12 million acres of farmland in the coastal areas of Sindh, dislocating almost a quarter million of indigenous population, and inflicting financial losses of over US $1.7 billion so far. Experts attribute this devastating situation to the unfair policies of federal government and to the construction of dams and barrages on the flow of the Indus River during last 60 years or so. This has caused a substantially reduced flow of river water resulting into the serious ecological imbalance, reducing agricultural production and recurrent famines in Sindh. The policies of IRSA, the federal agency responsible for water distribution, impartially favor Punjab over other three smaller provinces i.e. Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP. Last year federal government made claims about die water shortage, but we saw that Punjab enjoyed harvesting of "bumper" wheat crops of 2.1 million tons and increased cotton crops in the next season! To make the matters worse, recently hundreds of peaceful Sindhi demonstrators (including women and children) in various parts of Sindh, protesting government policy of unfair distribution have been put in jails. Two people have been killed by government agencies. The protests are pan of every day of our lives. Economic Deprivation and its effect on Society Unemployment rate is at its peak in Sindh. People are resorting to suicides and crime and drug addiction is at its rise. According to an editorial of Dawn. (A largest circulating English daily in Pakistan), "In the past six months, there have been over 5C0 reported cases of suicide in Sindh alone, as against about 2C0 in the corresponding period last year." Off course un-reported cases are much more and the number is increasing this year! Systematic Suppression of Indigenous Culture and Language The majority of people speak the Sindhi language in Sindh, and Sindhi was the official language of the region even under the British rule. In the current undemocratic setup, however, the Sindhi language has been marginalized to such an extent that its survival is under threat. The state-controlled media only provide less that 30 minutes a day of Sindhi broadcast. Sindhi schools are systematically shut down throughout the province, especially from urban areas of Sindh. This is widening the gap between rural and urban people of Sindh. The gap has been a central factor of many social conflicts in the province, resulting in deaths of tens of thousands of indigenous people. Federal policies thai increase the urban-niral divide are detrimental to Sindh. Furthermore, Sindhi Sufi thoughts, which are more secular in character than the orthodox Islam, have been systematically threatened, as the State engages itself in pan-Islamic propaganda. The suppression of Sindhi culture and the dominance of state-imposed social life created hopelessness among indigenous people of Sindh. Religious Intolerance as a threat T" Indigenous People The current setup in Pakistan thrives on religious dogmatism and intolerance. There exist numerous laws and policies that diminish socio-political status of religious minoriries and sects. There exists separate electorate for Non-Muslims. Blasphemy law is still intact and practiced. Government provides its patronage to Madarasaa Schools a hub for pan-Islamist militancy. Sindhi people are both Muslims and Hindus and this religious intolerance is a threat to our culture and populatioa Violation of Civil Rights and District Election Policies Current dictatorial government of Pakistan has come up with a so-called district election plan which blatantly violates civil and political rights of all nations and religious minorities in Pakistan. L^'CHR-Sub-CommmmonthPn^cWnandProtecdm Wonting Groupo n bidgtnaa Populate rs, 23-27July 2001, Statement by AmbreenHisbani, CukundSecrztarycfthe World Sindhi Co ngess 4 This plan in its inherent nature violates Article 1 of the Intemation Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which proclaims inalienable right of self-detennnation This plan will not only isolate the religious minorities more as it is based on discriminatory separate electorate and will also strengthin the direct rule of Federal Govt, over Indigenous people of smaller provices of Pakistan. Honourable Chair, The situation in Sindh and for the indigenous population of Sindh is worsening day by day. We Sindhis have come to conclusion that current strong federal structure leaves no room for negotiating a fair sharing