Things got really heated in Karachi after protests calling for a separate Sindhudesh turned violent. It all kicked off on Sunday, 7th December, during Sindhi Culture Day when crowds hit the streets demanding freedom for Sindh.
A big group from Jiye Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSSM) was out there shouting “Azadi” and “Pakistan Murdabad,” pushing hard for Sindh’s liberation, something Sindhi nationalist groups have been talking about for years. Sindh, the area around the Indus River, ended up in Pakistan after the 1947 Partition. Back in the Mahabharata days, it was called Sindhudesh, and it’s now one of Pakistan’s largest provinces.
Rally turns chaotic with police clash
Tensions boiled over when the authorities changed the rally’s route, which ticked off thousands of protesters. Soon enough, some started throwing stones at the police and damaging stuff around them. The cops fired back with tear gas to break up the crowd. Local news says at least 45 people got arrested over the violence.
Yesterday,Sindhi People protested in Karachi, demanding a new country Sindhudesh. pic.twitter.com/3lDuLpDuBk
— War & Gore (@Goreunit) December 8, 2025
According to a report by Dawn, five police officers ended up hurt. The government told police to track down and nab anyone who trashed property or wrecked police vehicles. It was a messy scene, but no one seems to have been seriously injured beyond that.
Calls for help from the UN and PM Modi
Sindhi groups have been complaining for ages about political crackdowns and human rights issues in the province. Earlier this year, JSSM, led by its exiled boss Shafi Burfat, asked the United Nations to step in and make Sindhudesh its own country.
They even reached out to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi for support, pointing to the deep historical and cultural links between Sindh and India. In their statement, they accused Pakistan’s security forces of atrocities like forced disappearances, torture, and killing activists and journalists without trial. They also said the anti-terror laws are being twisted to go after their movement.
Why is Sindhudesh talk heating up now
The push for Sindhudesh is getting fresh attention lately amid all sorts of political buzz around Sindh. Just last week, a Pakistani TV channel had a chat where a journalist and expert said MQM leader Altaf Hussain once told former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza that after the 18th Amendment, “the Sindhudesh card is now in our hands.”
Over in India, the topic popped up too when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he’s sure Sindh will come back to India someday. At a Sindhi Samaj event in Gujarat last month, he talked about how many Sindhi Hindus from his generation never really got over the 1947 split that put Sindh in Pakistan. He added that while Sindh isn’t part of India right now, it’s always been linked culturally, and borders can shift; who knows, it might return tomorrow. India’s national anthem even mentions Sindh as a part of India.
Pakistan didn’t take Rajnath’s words lightly; their foreign office called them “deeply troubling” and told India to cut out the provocative talk.
The demand for Sindhudesh is not new. It dates back to the late 1960s when GM Syed, an early supporter of Pakistan’s formation, started calling for an independent Sindh. The idea grew stronger after Bangladesh separated from Pakistan in 1971. Many Sindhis were inspired by the Bengali movement, which succeeded in creating a separate nation after years of cultural and political struggle.
