Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s placards were seen at a pro-freedom rally in Sann town of Sindh in Pakistan on January 17, the 117the birth anniversary of GM Sayeed, one of the founding fathers of modern Sindh nationalism.

In a video, tweeted by news agency ANI, the protesters can be seen holding placards of PM Modi and other world leaders, shouting pro-freedom slogans and seeking the intervention of world leaders in people’s demand for ‘Sindhudesh’. In one of the slogans, one can hear the name ‘Narendra Modi’… but the rest is not audible.

Sindhis believe that Sindh is the home of Indus Valley Civilisation and Vedic religion which was illegitimately occupied by the British Empire and was handed over by them to Pakistan in 1947.

“Among all these barbaric assaults on its history and culture, and all these ages of occupation and dawns of independence, Sindh has retained and maintained its separate historical and cultural identity as a pluralist, co-existent, tolerant and harmonious society where all the different cultures, languages and ideas of the foreign and native people have not only influenced each other but accepted and absorbed the common message of the human civilisation,” said Shafi Muhammad Burfat, Chairman of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, reports ANI.

Several nationalist parties in Sindh are fighting for a free Sindh nation. They have been raising the issue on various international platforms and calling Pakistan an occupier that continues to exploit resources and are involved in human rights violations in the region.

In recent years, Sindhi dissatisfaction has grown over issues such as the construction of large dams, perceived discrimination in military and government jobs, provincial autonomy, and overall revenue shares.