In the United States, seven lawmakers have expressed concern over human rights violations in Pakistan’s Sindh province and urged the State Department to place it on priority during interactions with the country.
Expressing concerns about it the Congressmen led by Brad Sherman, Chair of the Congressional Sindh Caucus wrote a letter to the Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells and US ambassador to Pakistan David Hale. The lawmakers urged them to place a priority on human rights and democracy in its interactions with the government of Pakistan.
The lawmakers also urged them to work with the government of Pakistan to seek the release of persons held on false charges in Sindh. the Congressmen also urged to protect religious freedoms of the Sindhi people, to end the forced conversions of minority Sindhi girls and women.
Noting that the people of Sindh face religious extremist attacks, the Congressmen said, reports suggest that every year, over 1,000 girls and young women in Pakistan, including many in Sindh, are forcibly converted upon marriage. They said Pakistani government has not done enough to stop this practice, and reform measures are circumvented or not enforced.
Other signatories of the letter are Carolyn Maloney, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Adam Schiff, Barbara Comstock, Trent Frank, and Dana Rohrabacher.
