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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000047 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PGOV PHUM PK
SUBJECT:  SUKKUR, PAKISTAN: LOOKING TO THE USG FOR SUCCOR 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  During a February 2 visit to Sukkur, the 
business, education and communication hub of Upper Sindh, PolOff 
attended the inauguration of a USAID funded initiative.  In separate 
meeting, Hindu minority leaders discussed professional 
discrimination and their ongoing security concerns, NGO activists 
from outlying areas used the term 'tribal terrorism' in outlining 
the challenges they face and rural women entrepreneurs supported by 
the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) requested USG aid for 
technical development as a sustainable handicraft based 
micro-finance organization. 
 
---------------------------- 
HINDUS AND SECURITY CONCERNS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) A significant minority in Upper Sindh, the Hindu Panchyat 
(HP) represents a highly educated demographic of engineers, doctors 
and businessmen among others.  They complained, however, of facing 
discrimination in professional settings and particularly that they 
are banned from entering the military sector.  HP demanded a census 
to update the old and now obsolete data of the 1998 census as these 
percentages are critical for acquiring 'reserved for minority' jobs 
in the government; the old data cited minorities as 3 percent of the 
population whereas they believe it is now about 10 percent. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The blasphemy law, kidnapping for ransom, and forced 
conversion head the HP's list of concerns facing their community. 
Dr. Dwarkadas, member of the HP, detailed the case of Dr. Pavan 
Kumar who was detained on blasphemy charges for his proclamation 
that 'Disprin' (an aspirin based medication) has life saving powers 
and not Allah.  He is currently on bail but could face execution if 
convicted.  HP asked for USG assistance in urging the GoP to change 
this law.  Kidnapping for ransom is common in rural areas and 
because the Hindus are relatively wealthy they are frequently 
targeted.  When we pressed them on their original complaint of 
forced conversion of young girls to Islam without parental consent, 
they admitted they were actually referring to adult Hindu females 
who choose to marry Muslim men and must convert to Islam as part of 
religious edict.  Thus, while there may be some cases of forced 
conversion, this is more of an issue of community control. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
FEUDALISM AMOUNTS TO 'TRIBAL TERRORISM' 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Hussain Sarang, the Director of the Regional Development 
Organization of Coordinating Council (RDOCC), which is located in 
Ghotki, emphatically declared that he and his organization were 
"political but non-partisan" entities.  Affirming that feudalism is 
rampant in his area, he claimed that feudal lords waged 'tribal 
terrorism' by threatening physical violence, abduction of daughters, 
and eviction from property against citizens in their areas.  Sarang 
claimed that ethnic Pashtuns are involved in supplying arms to these 
'tribal terrorists.' 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mohammad Bachal Abro, the Director of Development Planning 
Management Graduates Coordination Society (DPMGC), which is located 
in Shikharpur, explained that his organization brings solutions to 
the common man's problems to their doorstep.  Under his leadership, 
the DPMGC has reopened thirty-one schools, campaigned against 
violence against women and taken a public stand against tribal 
feuds.  As an example, he referenced the Jatoi/Mahar feud, which 
started in 1987 over the issue of land and a fish pond, and has 
taken a number of lives.  Both Abro and Sarang advocated for 
academic and infrastructure development and promotion of gender 
equality in the educational sector. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
BACK TO SCHOOL AGAIN; BUT FIRST, GIVE US A SCHOOL! 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶6. (U) The Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) operates in 
villages around Sukkur where it supports and trains local 
craftswomen and markets their products including blankets, bags, 
scarves and serving trays.  PolOff met with their cadre of rural 
women entrepreneurs who discussed challenges they faced and 
opportunities provided by SRSO; they requested support for 
vocational centers to develop skills in sewing, patchwork and 
information technology as well as improved educational 
 
KARACHI 00000047  002 OF 002 
 
 
opportunities, particularly for their daughters. 
 
¶7. (U) Shahida Begum, a master trainer at SRSO, is a role model for 
her peers; she is committed to finding ways to share her knowledge 
with other young women to create a sustainable cottage industry. 
Lack of technical equipment is her main challenge and she reiterated 
SRSO's desire for a vocational training center stocked with 
machinery, material and training staff. 
 
¶8. (U) Shahida lamented how cultural boundaries in her village have 
affected their livelihoods; she discussed how the men in her area 
are not securely employed and despite the fact the craftswomen 
support their households, they do not get the freedom or the respect 
they believe they deserve.  Girls have limited opportunity for 
education and she noted that one girls' public school in her village 
does not even have a teacher.  Dynamic and passionate, Shahida has 
recently enrolled in middle school again to complete her 
matriculation.  Mother of seven children, Shahida has a daughter in 
the ninth grade who Shahida hopes will help her with her homework! 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: Eloquent and passionate about the concerns of 
their community, the HP opened the meeting by asking if PolOff was 
there "to simply asses or to actually help."  However, despite the 
challenges they collectively face, the community does not appear to 
be organized or realistic about their options.  The HP members 
advocate a syllabus change that would introduce a Hindu scripture 
class option for Hindu students in the public school system, but 
admitted they had yet to submit such a proposal to the government. 
Complaints and accolades regarding the political structure went hand 
in hand.  The HP expressed appreciation for the joint electorate 
system re-introduced by Musharraf that replaced a separate 
discriminatory electorate, while simultaneously citing a 'trust 
deficit' in their representatives seated in the assemblies and 
cabinet who, they claimed, are beholden to the political parties who 
selected them and not to the community. 
 
¶10. (SBU) While the bulk of the HP requests were beyond the 
provenance of the USG, we noted that several NGOs are already 
working to provide solutions through community education.  The SRSO 
noted that USG representatives had visited them at least three times 
in the past year and they are placing high hopes on receiving U.S. 
assistance.  END COMMENT. 
 
FAKAN