US urged to take up issue of Karachi and Mohajirs with Pak govt

Washington: A US-based Mohajir group has urged the Trump administration to raise the issue of Karachi and Mohajirs with the Pakistani government and take every possible step to put an end to the persecution of the community.

Mohajirs are Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 during the Partition and settled in Pakistan. A large chunk of them are settled in Sindh province.

Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat, who also heads South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation, said this in a letter to Assistant US Secretary for South Asia Alice Wells and Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy and human rights.

"For the Pakistani military establishment, supporting religious extremists has proved to be the most lucrative business for the last many years, and the US tax dollars are being unwittingly used to continue this ugly business.

"To find a real solution to security issues in South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, the USA needs reliable partners in the region. Let me reiterate once again here that Urdu-speaking Mohajirs living in Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh province are the best allies of the USA in the region who will support your policies to secure long term peace in the region," Nusrat said.

The US also needs to review its financial and military aid to Pakistan as the aid is mostly used to sponsor terrorist groups operating against the US interests in the region. It is also used to brutally crush ethnic and religious minorities in Pakistan, including Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadis and Hindus, he said.

"We request you to continue to exert pressure on Pakistan until it fully adheres to the Universal Charter of Human Rights, and all other international covenants and charters dealing with human rights. Moreover, the US weapons and military aid should never be allowed to be used against civilians in Pakistan or any other country," Nusrat said in his letter.