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Hafeezan Wadhio, an executive committee member of the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), during her intervention at the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), called for greater engagement by UN human rights bodies and mechanisms over what she described as escalating concerns in Sindh.
Wadhio raised concerns over renewed proposals to create additional provinces or administrative units, saying such moves could fragment Sindh's historically recognised territory. She said that although no formal constitutional decision to divide Sindh had been enacted, the issue warranted preventive international attention before what she described as irreversible harm could occur. Referring to the history of Sindh, Wadhio said Karachi was removed from provincial authority soon after the creation of Pakistan. She also said that under the One Unit scheme, Sindh was administered as a province for 15 years. Wadhio said territorial concerns were compounded by what she described as rampant human rights violations against the Sindhi people. She said that for a historical people, territory, identity, political representation and control over natural resources were inseparable, adding that all sections of the Sindhi people had rejected the proposed fragmentation. According to Wadhio, fragmenting Sindh would undermine the rights of the Sindhi people to self-determination, political participation and cultural survival. She urged the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner and relevant UN mechanisms to monitor developments affecting the territorial status of Sindh and their impact on political participation, cultural development and self-determination. (ANI)
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