Latest news with #JSMM
Hans India
24-05-2025
- Hans India
Jharkhand: Two Maoists including Rs 10 lakh bounty holder killed in Latehar
Latehar: Two Maoists, including a top operative carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh, were killed in an encounter with police in the Ichwar forest area of Jharkhand's Latehar district on Saturday morning, officials said. One of the deceased has been identified as Pappu Lohara, a wanted Maoist with multiple cases against him across several police stations in the state. The second has been identified as Prabhat Lohara. Both were associated with the banned outfit Jharkhand Sangharsh Mukti Morcha (JSMM). Following specific intelligence inputs regarding the movement of Maoists in the region, a joint team of police and security forces, led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Kumar Gaurav, launched a search operation early Saturday. Around 8 a.m., the team came face to face with a group of armed Maoists in the Ichwar forest, leading to a fierce exchange of fire. Two Maoists were killed in the gunfight, while several others managed to escape under the cover of the dense forest. A search operation is underway, with the area cordoned off. Security personnel recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the encounter site, including an AK-47 rifle and other Maoist items. Police believe the Maoist group had gathered to carry out a major attack in the region. Pappu Lohara had previously been involved in several violent incidents. Notably, on September 28, 2021, his squad had clashed with security forces in the Salaiya forest of Latehar, resulting in the martyrdom of BSF Deputy Commandant Rajesh Kumar. One Maoist was also killed in that encounter. This operation comes weeks after a major breakthrough on April 21 in Jharkhand, when eight Maoists -- including top commander Prayag Manjhi, who carried a Rs 1 crore reward -- were killed in an encounter in the Lugu hill area of Bokaro district. The Jharkhand Police, along with central security forces, continue to intensify anti-Naxal operations across the state.
India Gazette
23-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
JSMM urges global recognition for Sindhudesh, calls for action against Pakistani oppression
Darmstadt [Germany], May 23 (ANI): The Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), led by chairman Shafi Burfat, has made an urgent request to the United Nations, international human rights organisations, democratic nations, and global civil groups to acknowledge Sindhudesh as an independent nation and denounce Pakistan's ongoing military control and systematic oppression of the Sindhi people. In a detailed political and humanitarian document entitled The Sindhudesh Global Freedom Charter, JSMM emphasised Sindh's rich civilisational history and its ongoing battle against colonial rule, first under British domination and then under what it refers to as a 'Punjabi-dominated military-security state' in Pakistan. The Charter claims that Sindh, which is home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, was never a willing participant in the establishment of Pakistan. JSMM contended that the inclusion of Sindh in Pakistan in 1947 constituted a betrayal of its national aspirations and historical identity. According to JSMM, Sindh currently exists under a form of colonial rule, deprived of sovereignty and controlled through military and political oppression. JSMM has accused the Pakistani government of exploiting Sindh's abundant natural resources, including oil, gas, coal, ports, and agricultural land, while leaving the region in poverty. It asserted that state-sponsored resettlement initiatives are being employed to change Sindh's demographic profile, diminishing Sindhis to a minority in their land. The Charter also points out the environmental damage caused by the redirection of the Indus River, which has led to the desertification of fertile Sindhi territory. The statement firmly condemned Pakistan's security forces for perpetrating serious human rights abuses in Sindh, including enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of political activists, journalists, and student leaders. It mentioned that anti-terrorism legislation is being misused to target secular and nationalist movements, whereas religious extremists receive support from the state. JSMM reiterated its call for a free, secular, and democratic Republic of Sindhudesh, rooted in principles of equality, minority rights, and social welfare. It referenced international regulations, such as the UN Charter and the ICCPR, to advocate for Sindh's right to self-determination. In a particular message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India, JSMM appealed for moral, political, and practical backing, stressing the historical and cultural connections between Sindh and India. Additionally, it urged international organisations to dispatch observers, denounce human rights violations, and aid Sindh's peaceful liberation movement. (ANI)
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Sindhudesh as an independent nation: JSMM demands UN recognition
ANI image The Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), a Sindhi nationalist group led by exiled chairman Shafi Burfat, has issued a renewed plea to the United Nations and other international communities, urging recognition of Sindhudesh as an independent nation and calling attention to what it describes as sustained political repression and human rights violations in Pakistan 's Sindh province. In a comprehensive political manifesto titled The Sindhudesh Global Freedom Charter, JSMM has approached the United Nations, international human rights bodies, democratic governments, and global civil society organizations, arguing that the Sindhi people are subject to a form of internal colonialism under Pakistan's military and political establishment. In a direct appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian public, JSMM cited historical and cultural ties between Sindh and India, requesting moral and political solidarity. The group also called on international institutions to send human rights observers, document alleged violations, and engage with Sindh's demand for peaceful self-determination. JSMM alleges that demographic engineering through state-sponsored resettlement has diluted Sindh's ethnic composition, threatening the linguistic and cultural identity of the Sindhi people. Environmental degradation, particularly the diversion of the Indus river's waters, has compounded local grievances, with widespread desertification of once-fertile lands cited as an ecological consequence of state policy. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025: Steel Suppliers From Mexico At Lowest Prices (Take A Look) Steel Suppliers | search ads Search Now Undo The statement firmly condemned Pakistan's security forces for committing serious human rights abuses in Sindh, including enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of political activists, journalists, and student leaders. It mentioned that anti-terrorism legislation is being misused to target secular and nationalist movements, whereas religious extremists receive support from the state. Positioning itself as a secular, democratic movement, JSMM has reiterated its vision for a sovereign Republic of Sindhudesh, grounded in principles of equality, minority protections, and social justice. The group invokes international law including the United Nations Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to support Sindh's right to self-determination. Long before modern borders were drawn, Sindh flourished as the heart of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation which was a sophisticated urban society that emerged over 5,000 years ago along the banks of the Indus river. With advanced city planning, intricate craftsmanship, and a vibrant mercantile culture, Sindh was once a beacon of early human progress. Mohenjo-daro, one of the civilisation's most iconic sites, still stands as a testament to the region's intellectual and architectural legacy. This deep-rooted historical identity is central to the Sindhi nationalist narrative, which views contemporary political struggles as a continuation of a civilizational arc interrupted by colonial conquests and post partition state formation. I n the colonial era, Sindh existed as a distinct administrative region under British India before being annexed, and eventually was re-established as a separate province in 1936. Advocates for Sindhi autonomy argue that this period fostered a unique political consciousness, one that emphasized cultural plurality and regional pride. The Partition of 1947, however, redrew not just boundaries but identities. Over subsequent decades, Sindhi activists have pointed to a pattern of political marginalization and centralized control, arguing that their historical autonomy has been systematically pulled apart. Framing Sindh's struggle as both civilisational and contemporary, the charter situated the region within the historical legacy of the Indus valley civilisation, asserting that Sindh was forced into joining Pakistan in 1947 and has since faced cultural erasure and economic exploitation. The document claims that Sindh's resources including oil, gas, coal, fertile farmland, and deep-sea ports have been systematically extracted to benefit other regions, while the local population remains economically marginalised. While JSMM's claims are politically charged and remain unacknowledged by the Pakistani state, the charter marks a significant step in internationalizing what has largely been a domestic conflict.
India Today
21-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Sindh turns battlefield over Pak Army's Indus canals, 2 shot dead
The agitation in Pakistan's Sindh province against the controversial, army-backed canal project on the Indus River System has gained fresh momentum. Two activists were shot dead on Tuesday as protests intensified after having subsided last month following the shelving of the project. Blaming Punjab's domination for their water woes, Sindh protesters attacked the house of a minister belonging to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).advertisementSindh and Punjab are two of Pakistan's four provinces. Inhabitants of Sindh have held Punjab, which is the power centre of both the civilian and military establishments, responsible for putting it lower on the priority protests and police action turned northern Sindh into a "virtual battlefield", Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairperson of the PPP, came in for sharp criticism for its shaky stance on the canal protests from Sindhi nationalist party Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM). The Sindh-based PPP is part of Shahbaz Sharif's ruling coalition in Islamabad and holds power in Chairperson Shafi Burfat accused Pakistan's military establishment of using an "immature, power-hungry, and unserious" Bilawal to advance its own geopolitical objectives and suppress the canal NORTHERN SINDH TURNED INTO A BATTLEFIELDTensions escalated on Tuesday after Zahid Laghari, an activist of the Sindhi nationalist party Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), was shot dead by police. In response, protests turned violent in Naushahro Feroze district of northern Sindh, turning it into a "virtual battlefield".advertisementDemonstrators blocked a national highway and set a couple of oil tankers on unrest in Sindh intensified further as protesters stormed the residence of Sindh's Interior Minister, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar. They vandalised the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader's house and set parts of it, including the drawing room, on from JSMM activist Laghari, another unnamed protester died as a result of indiscriminate police firing, reported the Karachi-based The News than 15 protesters were injured, at least five of them critically, after police opened fire on protesters in Moro town of Naushahro Feroze district, according to the Karachi-based independent media outlet The Rise had died out after the federal government claimed to have shelved the Indus canals project, but the protesters never left the agitation sites, alleging that construction activities continued secretly. Many also saw the shelving as a tactical move by the army-led regime to defuse backlash without actually abandoning the aggressive protests began on May 19, marked by mostly affiliated with the Sindh Saba Party led by Ashfaq Malik, blocked the Moro bypass road to protest against corporate farming and the proposed construction of canals, reported Dawn, a Karachi-based with rods and sticks, protesters chanted slogans as police tried to disperse situation escalated quickly, with police resorting to baton charges and aerial firing. Over a dozen people, including a DSP and six police officers, were injured in the chaos and a police van was were shut down and roads were deserted as the area turned into a "virtual battlefield", noted the Dawn report. In response, policemen from multiple districts of northern Sindh were deployed to restore from the protests in Moro, similar demonstrations erupted in nearby towns, including Kandiaro and Faiz Ganj, reported Samaa a similar protest planned in Hyderabad was thwarted by police, who cordoned off the area and detained two Sindh Saba activists, according to Dawn.$3.3-BILLION ARMY-BACKED CANAL PLAN DREW SINDH IREThe $3.3-billion canal project, officially known as the Green Pakistan Initiative, was launched in February 2025 by Army Chief Asim Munir and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. They said the project in the Indus River system would irrigate millions of acres of previously uncultivable land in Punjab and parts of including the military and Shahbaz Sharif's federal government, touted it as a solution to Pakistan's food security the project sparked outrage in Sindh in April, where it was perceived as a move to divert water from the Indus River, critical to the province's agriculture and including Sindhi nationalists, argued that the canals would primarily benefit Punjab's feudal landlords and corporate farming interests, exacerbating water scarcity in project also revived the long-standing provincial rivalry between Sindh and Punjab. The unrest was compounded by India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the Pakistani deep-state-sponsored Pahalgam attack, which heightened fears of water shortages in already-parched hybrid Islamabad-Rawalpindi regime faced widespread opposition from Sindh's political parties, nationalist groups, and civil weeks of protests in April, including highway blockades that disrupted transport to Karachi Port, the Pakistani government announced on April 24, 2025, that the project would be shelved until a consensus could be reached at the Council of Common Interests (CCI) this, protests continued, demanding a permanent cancellation of the several prominent voices, including Sindhi writer-activist Ustad Rahi Soomro, alleged that despite official claims of halting the canal project, work on it had quietly continued."The canal project has not stopped. With modern machinery, work is going on. The project has added three more canals to six controversial canals, making them nine," said Soomro on May AND BILAWAL BHUTTO FACE BACKLASH OVER INDUS CANALS PROJECTBilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairperson of the Sindh-based PPP and son of Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, has come under fire for his and his party's stance on the canal project, as well as for consistently "failing to represent the genuine interests of Sindh and its people".Bilawal had initially endorsed the army-backed canal project, describing it as "vital" for Pakistan's interests. However, as public outrage grew, he shifted his position and criticised the federal government's handling of the issue, saying, "The people of Sindh have rejected the canal projects, yet those in Islamabad remain blind and deaf to our voices".After the project was "shelved" by the federal government, Bilawal also played the India card, saying, "India's announcement on the Indus Waters Treaty was not illegal, but against humanity... As long as the PPP exists, not a single drop of Sindh's water will be given away".Bilawal tried to use the India card and New Delhi's move to the IWT, where his stance remained shaky stance did not shield him from fierce criticism from the chief of JSMM, whose activist was killed by police firing on Burfat, the chairman of the Sindhi nationalist party JSMM, accused Bilawal of being a pawn of the "Punjabi military establishment".He further labelled Bilawal as "immature, power-hungry, and unserious", accusing the PPP of abandoning Sindh's interests to serve Punjab's feudal elite rather than standing up for Sindhi rights or also alleged that the military was manipulating Bilawal to spearhead Rawalpindi's objectives, including its anti-India campaign, promising him political power in the Indus canal protests have exposed fault lines in Pakistan's federal structure, Sindh's resentment against the Punjab-dominated establishment has now reached a boiling point. Even as Islamabad tries to fire-fight, the continued unrest signals that trust has eroded far beyond InMust Watch
India Gazette
20-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
JSMM Chairman alleges Punjabi military using Bilawal Bhutto as pawn against India
Frankfurt [Germany], May 20 (ANI): In a strongly worded statement, Shafi Burfat, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), has accused Pakistan's military establishment of manipulating Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to serve its geopolitical objectives, particularly in an anti-India campaign on the international stage. In a post on X, Burfat claimed that the 'Punjabi army and establishment' are offering Bilawal the promise of political power and the possibility of becoming Prime Minister in return for leading a global diplomatic offensive against India. However, he warned that this alliance is temporary, and alleged that Bilawal could ultimately face the same fate as his grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and his mother, Benazir Bhutto -- both of whom were assassinated under controversial circumstances. Burfat labeled this as a 'historic pattern' of betrayal by the Punjabi-dominated military. According to Burfat, the PPP has long failed to represent the genuine interests of Sindh and its people. Instead, he claimed, the party has acted as a political proxy for Punjab, serving the interests of feudal landlords rather than standing up for Sindhi rights or autonomy. He characterized Bilawal as 'immature, power-hungry, and unserious,' and accused him of playing a role in promoting misleading narratives about India on behalf of the Pakistani establishment. Burfat also emphasised the cultural, spiritual, and historical ties between Sindh and India, rejecting any notion that India is an enemy of the Sindhi people. He described India as a 'spiritual and cultural sister' and stated that the Sindhi nation has always viewed India as a neighborly and supportive presence throughout history. The JSMM chairman went further, accusing Pakistan and specifically its military of being a tool of regional destabilization, used by foreign powers like China and Turkey to target India. He referenced alleged Pakistani involvement in violent acts, including incidents in areas such as Pahalgam, and condemned what he called the military's terrorist activities. Burfat stressed that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's actions on the world stage do not reflect the will or sentiment of the Sindhi people. He called upon the international community and Indian leadership to recognise this distinction and understand that Sindhis do not share the anti-India stance allegedly promoted by Pakistan's military and establishment. Concluding his statement, Burfat reiterated a stark warning to Bilawal Bhutto, predicting that he is being exploited by the military and may eventually be cast aside violently, as other Bhuttos were in the past. He denounced what he called the 'cruel and dishonest tradition' of Pakistan's ruling elite. 'We Sindhis consider India our friend and the Punjabi establishment views India as an enemy, that is their thinking, not ours' said Burfat. (ANI)
