WASHINGTON, July 22: The president and Board of Directors of the World Sindhi Institute (WSI) have expressed serious concern at a news report printed in Dawn on Thursday, July 20, 2006. According to this article, an anonymous Pakistan government official of an unnamed department claims that the World Sindhi Institute finances terrorist organisations in Balochistan and Sindh.

A press release says WSI was established in 1997 as a non-profit organisation to promote human rights in Sindh through non-violent means and it brings together Sindhis of all religious and geographical backgrounds and their supporters in a proactive, progressive movement whose purpose is to inform others of the human rights and environmental atrocities occurring in the province.

WSI initiates and welcomes collaborative projects with other governmental and non-governmental organisations and individuals seeking positive, non-violent change in South Asia and elsewhere.

Over the past nine years, the World Sindhi Institute has shown dedication to the democratic, social, and economic best interests of Pakistan. Among its activities are cultural and educational programmes to maintain awareness of Sindhis abroad concerning the social, economic, and cultural issues in Sindh.

Mr Munawar Laghari, executive director of WSI, notes that, “It is precisely this kind of discrimination and disinformation that further alienates Sindhis from Islamabad.”

WSI calls upon the government of Pakistan to stop human rights violations and disappearances in Sindh rather than to label those who raise their voices against these human rights violations as terrorists or separatists.