New Delhi: Several US Congressmen have asked Pervez Musharraf regime to end persecution of Sindhis and restore confidence among them, as the "serious economic imbalance" and neglect of these people threatened the integrity of Pakistan.

"The Government's reluctance to address these concerns further marginalises the Sindhis in Pakistan.... Such an economic imbalance threatens the integrity of Pakistan," 11 members of the US House of Representatives said in a hard-hitting letter to Musharraf. The letter was posted on the website of World Sindhi Institute.

Stating that these "concerns" had also been brought to the notice of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali during his recent visit to Washington, they said, "of greatest and deepest distress for the Sindhis are the Indus River constructions. The most recent plans for the building of the Thal Canal and Kalabagh Dam threaten the environmental security and the cultural and economic stability of the Sindh Province.

"Already suffering from poverty and extreme drought, the Sindhi community would be greatly challenged if the river constructions continue. It appears to us that the Pakistani Government is ignoring the Sindhis' opposition to the river constructions, expressed through the Sindh Assembly's unanimous vote against them, as well as in daily street protests in Sindh," they said.

The US Congressmen said over half the people living in Sindh and Balochistan were below the poverty level and quoted a recent report of the Asian Development Bank as saying that poverty rates in these two provinces "are twice as high as those in the other provinces of Pakistan".

Stating that such an economic imbalance threatened Pakistan's integrity, they said, "We hope that you will do everything in your power to work quickly to restore the Sindhi's confidence in the Central Government."

The signatories to the letter also pointed towards the persecution of Sindhi activists and referred to the arrest of Human Rights activist Kirshan Sharma earlier this year.

Sharma, they said, had later been released. "We are concerned about his welfare and the Sindhi community views his treatment as illustrious of their own ongoing persecution by the federal Government.

The Congressmen who signed the letter were Tom Tancredo, Joseph Crowley, James Greenwood, Jay Inslee, Steve Israel, Tom Lantos, Jackson Lee, Jim McDermott, Kendrick Meek, Donald Payne and John Tierney.