Institute for Social Movements, Pakistan

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The Institute for Social Movements, Pakistan (ISM) was the first Sindh-based organization to bring together study of social movements, activism, and research. It was started by activists, journalists, development workers, and academics from across Sindh. The institute was based in Hyderabad and began in March 2010 after talks in Karachi, Hyderabad, Umerkot, and Sukkur.

ISM worked across Sindh and nearby Balochistan, focusing on civil, political, minority, and land rights, as well as disaster relief and education. It played a leading role in supporting flood victims and internally displaced people (IDPs) during the Indus River floods and pushed for IDP rights. It also worked on land rights movements, opposition to religious extremism, and broader democratic and civil rights in Sindh. ISM participated in national legal processes, including a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and organized forums on disaster management and IDP issues.

In 2012, ISM was forced to shut down under pressure from intelligence agencies. Founding executive director Zulfiqar Shah and his wife Fatima Shah faced harassment and threats and left Pakistan on May 30, 2012, seeking asylum in Nepal with UNHCR.

ISM helped in medical relief across 12 flood-affected districts in Sindh and parts of Balochistan and supported education for IDPs. It also coordinated relief funding through the Indus Flood Relief Fund, established by HIMAL Southasian and The South Asian Trust of Nepal, with ISM managing the funds.

ISM’s vision was to create an environment where men, women, children, youth, religious and ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable groups could be empowered socio-economically and culturally. It asserted a set of core principles, including rights-based development, economic self-reliance, true democracy, justice and peace, respect for diversity, equal rights for all life, protection of UN charter rights, non-violence, and the idea that a healthy political culture supports development and peace.