What follows is a transcript of the letter to President Biden. You can download the full letter here:
January 29, 2021
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of the U.S. Sindhi community and Sindhis all over the world (historically from the region of Sindh, a province of Pakistan), we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your victory in the most demanding times as the 46th President of United states of America.
We Sindhis want to bring in your attention to the serious human rights violations and state sponsored environmental disasters taking place right now in Sindh at the cost of lives and livelihood of Sindhi people. Instances of enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killing, and the forced conversion of religious minorities – all victims who are part and parcel to the Sindhi nation - continue to rise each day. To illustrate a recent retaliatory strike against those who dare to speak out, protestors participating in a long march for the recovery of missing persons were beaten upon their arrival at the Sindh-Punjab border. Women protestors were dragged by their hair, arrested, and put in chains by Pakistani authorities.
The ongoing climate crisis acts as an omnipresent backdrop to the rampant human rights violations in Pakistan. The 2018 German watch Global Climate Risk Index predicts Pakistan will become completely water scarce by 2025. The water crisis heavily impacts disenfranchised people in Sindh. To compound this threat, the “Bhasha Dam” is being constructed along the ancient Indus River in Gilgit Baltistan along the Chinese border (with funding and technical help from China). This dam will stem the flow of the Indus River, the only source of water for the people of Sindh.
In light of these threats, the Sindhi Foundation has organized the 350-mile Long Walk for Freedom, Nature and Love in April 2021 to raise awareness for all global human rights violations and climate change. This march will begin on April 7, 2021 at the UN headquarters in New York City and end in Washington, D.C. We appreciate your time and consideration if you make yourself available to meet us to discuss these issues further. We can be contacted at 202-378-0333.
Sincerely yours,
Munawar Laghari
Executive Director
Read the press release here.