World Sindhi Congress thanks UK for sanctions on Pak cleric accused of forced conversions

World Sindhi Congress (WSC) thanked the government of the UK for putting sanctions on Mian Mithu, who has been involved with the forced conversions of Sindhi Hindu girls in Sindh.

An influential cleric and a Pakistani politician, Mian Mithu was accused of forced conversions and is among the list of 30 entities sanctioned by the UK. For the last three years, WSC has actively interacted with the All Parties Parliamentary Committee for Pakistani Minorities (APPG-Pakistani Minorities), which is a cross-party parliamentary committee to look into the violence and violations against religious minorities in Pakistan, the statement of World Sindhi Congress on Facebook read.

For the past two decades, the World Sindhi Congress (WSC) has worked to end religious minorities' persecution, including forced conversions.

According to the statement, WSC met with the committee several times to inform them of the gravity of the crimes against Sindhi Hindus. Last year, the Committee issued a detailed report titled 'Abductions, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Religious Minority Women and Girls in Pakistan.'

WSC submitted a detailed brief, which was considered to produce the report. The APPG report mentioned the role of Mian Mitho in this atrocious practice.

The World Sindhi Congress urged the UK government to implement the report's additional recommendations in order to provide relief to religious minorities in Pakistan, notably Sindhi Hindus.

Earlier in November, the World Sindhi Congress held 34th International Conference on Sindh in London. Addressing the International Conference on Sindh, Dr Rubina Shaikh, the chairperson of the World Sindhi Congress, stressed that Sindh is witnessing the "worst period in history."

During the conference, the World Sindhi Congress urged international institutions including the United Nations to file a "case of ecocide" against the Pakistani government in local and international courts.

Dr Rubina Sheikh said, "Sindh is going through the worst period in history. Sindhis have to make a joint, systematic and united struggle for the right to self-determination for their homeland," World Sindhi Congress announced in a statement on November 23 on Facebook.

The World Sindhi Congress proposed resolutions on various issues of Sindh. In the resolutions, the World Sindhi Congress stressed that the people of 23 districts of Sindh continue to live a "very difficult life" and blamed federal and provincial governments for it.

(ANI)