Attack on Pakistani Rangers: Sindhi nationalists the losers?

Sindhudesh, Sindhi nationalists, Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, SRA, Pakistan, G M Syed

Islamabad: On 30th July 2016, Sindh saw a jolt. Two blasts targeted Pakistani Ranger’s vehicles and from the spot two pamphlets were found which claimed that the attack was done by a Sindhi nationalist group Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA). So far Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) is the only one Sindhi nationalist organization which was in the news but with this blast has SRA finally arrived?

As per the Pakistani media, the twin explosions took place near a Rangers kiosk on the Mirokhan Road. The blasts killed one Pakistani soldier and injured 15 others (5 of them Pakistani rangers).

From Pakistan’s point of view, it would not want the world to believe that another of its province is going the Bangladesh way. But this is true that the ethnic Sindhis are unhappy with the Pakistani Rangers and their prolonged stay in Sindh. Even Urdu-speaking Mohajirs are not really welcoming on this either as they see it as an assertion of Punjab.

Sindhi nationalists are also unhappy that the Punjab-dominated Pakistan has opened the floodgates of Pashtoon refugees from Afghanistan in Sindh. So could this be an attempt on the part of ISI to discredit the Sindhi nationalists who have often seen their people being eliminated and silenced in brutal ways?

Many Sindhi nationalists have been found dead or simply disappeared never to be found. In this matter, many Sindhi nationalists actually suffer the same fate as the Baloch nationalists.

Sindhi nationalism works on the principle of a unique Sindhi culture and ideology which wants to have a separate identity in the world and also dislikes Punjab’s control over its natural resources and heritage.

In the early 1970s GM Syed, a Sindhi nationalist disillusioned with Punjabi dominance, gave the call for an independent ‘Sindhudesh’ ─ a separate homeland for the Sindhi people. But the blast, if it indeed is by the SRA, could mean even more brutal days ahead for the Sindhi nationalists.

(Pic source: Twitter)