1988 Latifabad riots

1988 Latifabad riots
Part of Violence against Muhajirs
LocationLatifabad, Hyderabad, Pakistan
Date30 September 1988
Deaths200+
VictimsMuhajirs
PerpetratorsQadir Magsi and Sindhi nationalists


The 1988 Latifabad riots were a series of pogroms in the Latifabad area of Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan, perpetrated by Sindhi nationalist militants targeting Muhajirs on 30 September 1988. It resulted in the death of more than 200 people and is considered one of the Muhajir–Sindhi issues in Pakistan.

The following day Sindhis were killed in ethnic rioting which killed at least 46 people. A curfew was enforced in both Karachi and Hyderabad.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the mainstream Muhajir party, would broaden its scope as a party of the middle class following this incident, emphasizing the common physical suffering of the local Muhajir community in parallel to its socioeconomic decline.