NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Sindhoo Nawaz, an activist of the Sindh Youth Action Committee, who was arrested on Tuesday for protesting against the growing unrest in Kandiaro, has been released, it emerged by 4:30pm.

More than a thousand people protested outside a Sukkur court and demanded Sindhoo be released on Wednesday morning. Around 200 lawyers voluntarily submitted their papers, ready to fight her case.

A court has granted Sindhoo and her fellow protestors 14-day physical remand and stated that the Anti-Terrorism Court had removed Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 from the FIR.

The police had registered an anti-terrorism case against her, protester Hamza Ali Chandio and five others under sections 147 (Punishment for rioting), 148 (Rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).

Sindhoo and her fellow protesters were arrested during a sit-in at Star Chowk, Kandiaro as they chanted slogans against the police. They demanded an end to unrest and crimes in the city. “Bandits rule the city and the police sleep peacefully,” Sindhoo Nawaz said during an address.

Police officers struck a protester with batons as they dragged him to the police station.

Who is Sindhoo Nawaz

Sindhoo Nawaz Ghanghro is a documentary filmmaker and activist who moved to her ancestral village, Kandiaro, two years ago.

She has organized and participated in peaceful protests against inflation, drainage issues, murders and many more community issues in the past two years.

“Sindhoo realized that in order to bring about real change, you need to start at the grassroots level,” her brother Halar Nawaz told Aaj News. “So she left her comfortable life in Hyderabad and moved to Kandiaro to fight the injustice against our people.”

He said that the FIR against Sindhoo should be an eye-opener for what he described as the “entire pro-PPP lobby”, including intellectuals, civil rights activists, writers, sympathizers, women activists, journalists and supporters alike. “When we are standing against this corrupt mafia, it’s not for us, it is for the people and for Sindh. This just one FIR, bring a thousand FIRs, sanctions and cases, all of us will firmly stand against this mafia, for the rest of our lives.”

Halar felt that state machinery was used to suppress the voices of people trying to challenge “this corrupt and dishonest system”.

“That is the reason most of the political parties and opposition is in conciliation with power corridors, and often follow the backdoor settlement for party interests and a small share in power,” he said. “It’s not just Sindhoo alone, there are many young voices like her, who are being oppressed, threatened, and pressured by this system every day. With full-fledged state support, these dynastic political parties and feudals are at the forefront of corruption and oppression of the common man. They have nothing to do with the welfare of the people.”

On February 25,2023, Sindhoo posted a tweeted saying, “An FIR has been lodged against me and my comrades for the crime of peaceful protest against the murder of the young Hakim Brohi who was martyred by dacoits in Kandiaro.”