Sindhi Foundation organise protests in London, demands safe return of abducted minor girls

Dissent against the case of the abduction of a minor Sindhi Hindu girl, Priya Kumari, who was abducted from Sindh province in Pakistan three years ago, resonated in London.

A Washington-based human rights body, the Sindhi Foundation and the local Sindhi community organised a long march on Friday from 10 Downing Street (the official residence of the British Prime Minister) to Pakistan’s High Commission in Lowndes Square to demand the return and recovery of Priya.

The march was followed by a memorandum presentation to UK officials, the Sindhi Foundation stated in a press statement.

Responding to the effort, the UK Prime Minister’s office appreciated the initiative for promoting human rights.

However, the same statement said that the Pakistani High Commission officials straightaway declined to receive the memorandum.

The march intended to demand the return and recovery of Priya, and also raised concern over the forced conversions of Sindhi Hindu girls and young women in Pakistan.

The walk was mostly attended by members of the Sindhi community living in the UK and US, the statement read.

The Executive Director of the Sindhi Foundation, Sufi Munawar Laghari and Razia Sultana Junejo a leading member of the Sindhi Foundation, presented the memorandum to the UK Prime Minister.

The memorandum to the Prime Minister included information about the atrocities committed against Sindhis in their native Sindh, including the case of Priya Kumari.

They requested the British PM’s support and urged them to raise their voice for the immediate release of the abducted minor Sindhi Hindu girls to their homes and stop forced conversions of young Sindhi Hindu girls and women.

An official of the Prime Minister’s office, while receiving the memorandum from Laghari and Junejo acknowledged their appreciation for the human rights they defended.

The protest walk for the recovery of abducted Priya Kumari was also dedicated to slain Sindhi journalist Nasrullah Gadani.

The walk continued through various streets of London and reached its culmination point at Pakistan’s High Commission building.

Speaking to the protesting members of the Sindhi community, Munawar Laghari said, “After occupying the mountains, islands, waters, forests, agricultural lands, cities and villages of Sindh, the Pakistani army has now turned their attention to the daughters of Sindh. They are being abducted and many of them were forcibly converted.”

Laghari further said, “The Pakistani apparatuses, including highly politicised police, have miserably failed to recover Pirya Kumari. We approached the gates of the Pakistani High Commission to hand over a memorandum to a Pakistani official whom we met at Pakistan’s High Commissioner but the official adamantly refused to receive the memorandum.”