This Pyre Will Burn…!

#62 Posted by ijaz_gul

“very recently I traversed and criss crossed 1,700Km on foot, camel and jeep, deep in the desert East of Mirpur, Sorah, Kipro and Hatangu.”

That was not the point. My point was how much do you know about the people and their history. Measuring by just KMs, I have traveled more extensively in Pakistan, Including Balochistan, Sarhad and Kashmir right up to and beyond Hunza. I have put in more miles in India than mere 1700 KM. When you travel, you learn about peoples behavior and responses and not what they are. Reading about history, economic progress and social intercourse in the society helps you understand the people and what their aspirations are. That study in my opinion is more comprehensive than any travel.

Don’t get upset. By just equating all Sindh with a few feudal and their influence shows lack of knowledge. I expect Romair to go on this tangent as he has barely read anything about anything except the army. But I think you are better educated and have a better understanding of the socio-political issues. However, your remarks did not reflect that!

For instance, you mentioned small Sindhi middle class elite can you elaborate on who they are?

"Do you believe today's world, seccessionists have any chance?"
Secessionist availed a chance in 1947, they availed yet another in 1971 and that was near home. Try former Soviet Union and Check republic.

You are clearly intellectually challenged. I am not calling for succession.

#51 Eklayva,

Sindhi nationalism rose out of extreme resentment at the high-handed way they were treated in their own province after Partition. The Punjab govt stated outright they'd only take E. Punjabi refugees, no Muhajirs. Sind offered to take them all. Karachi was made the Federal Capital and hived off from Sind; Muhajirs moved right into the gap left by the forced of Hindus from Sind; more refugees from India were allowed into Sind when Liaquat Ali Khan opened the border at Khokrapar in order to allow them to move directly to Karachi.

If you actually look at Sind pre-Partition, it is an astonishing melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. Memons, Aga Khanis, Jews, Christians, etc. There were large Balochi and Pathan minorities in Sind as well as Rajput tribes that crossed over from Rajasthan and became Sindhi. The sole requirement for being accepted as Sindhi was assimilation: essentially, learning to speak Sindhi effectively did it.

In Shikarpur, it was fairly common until quite recently to address people as 'Lala.' This was because Shikarpur had a very old and very large Pathan minority that had completely assimilated to the extent of speaking Sindhi and not Pashto. Ever wonder why some prominent Sindhi families have surnames such as Durrani and Pathan?

However, the influx of Muhajirs into Karachi and Hyderabad was large enough, and they had political power, that they refused to assimilate in any way shape or form. Not just that, they insisted that the natives change to conform to the wishes of the immigrants. Not surprisingly the Sindhis were not too thrilled by all this. G M Syed, the grand old man of Sindhi nationalism, was the one who moved the Pakistan Resolution in the Sind Assembly in 1944, the first official such act.

Let me give you one relatively minor example of how the minority bullied the majority. When ZAB became PM, he let the Sind Assembly require mandatory Sindhi language instruction until Class V in all schools in Sind. Instant riots as the Muhajirs refused to learn an inferior, Hinduized (as they said) language.

This was of course only a sop thrown to the Sindhis but became 'evidence' used by the Muhajirs to show how oppressed they were by and how they still hadn't been accepted as Pakistanis. Keep in mind that Urdu had already been declared the national language decades ago and being 'forced' to learn a new language when you are in the first few years of school is a very easy thing to do; its not as if they were being forced to pass Sindhi language exams as a prerequisite for college admission. What a load of crap.

Muhajirs no doubt have some legitimate grievances post-1973 (mainly having to do with the fact that rural vs. urban Sind employment quotas means that Sindhis with lower educational qualifications get jobs at the expense of better educated Muhajirs) but this is a result of decades of systematic discrimination against Sindhis in their own province.

Reply to #57 Urstruly
You wrote, "napak fouj must be sent back into its kennels, Americans and other neo-colonialist be told to fukk off, ousted judiciary should be re-instated, an election commission should be established under the supervision of those judges; and free and fair elections be held."

- You have a long wish-list out of a tantrum, ending in a fantasy of free and fair elections, a self-perceived outcome of a imagined recipe. Grow up!

For HP,
Sir, this fire is fast burning down to ashes in itself, as earlier, even bigger fires, did. Pakistan lives on. Don't confuse yourself with a 3 day episode of looting and plundering as some form of popular reaction...there wasn't any, at the level we have perceived so far. The nation's amnesia keeps on getting stronger every day. Don't expect much!

"Try former Soviet Union and the Check(sp) republic."

Yugoslavia is perhaps a better example.

"Since perceptions count more than reality, yes some may try playing the Sindh Card. I believe, this card belongs to a small educated elite. As for haris and peasants, they are still in the strong grips of fuedals like Mehars, Pagaras, Jhkaranis etc. They dont understand a hang about nationalism".

This is totally and absolutely incorrect. Sindhi peasants are not, and were never, in the grips of Mehars, Pagaras, Jhkaranis, Bhuttos, soomros, Jatois, Marris, Khurhos, Talpurs, etc. They have always been, and are still being, terrorized and victimised by hindustani mukkaRs who chased away all the educated Sindhi Hindus and occupied their lands and homes. I still remember as a four year old, when my parents brought me to Pak, I used to chase Hindus all over the place with weapons of mass destruction. Must have chased thousands of families across the border. After I chased away all the Hindus in Karachi, my father was finally able to get a cushy 500 Rs/month job in the translation section of the USIS, after months of toiling, so he could support his family with five small children. Do you really think he could have gotten it if the Sindhi Hindus were still in Pak, His M.A in Arabic and English minor and experience with the All India Radio notwithstanding? So you can clearly see that my family was personally responsible for vicitmizing and oppressing the Sindhis and taking away all the good jobs.

Now granted he (my father) couldn't afford to give us money to take the bus to school so all of us walked 2-3 miles each way to school, but at least we had the luxury of going to school which is more than what millions of Sindhis ever did.

I vividly remember being interviewed by Principal D'Souza of the D.J. Science College after matriculation. Though I was terrified inside I managed to fool him into admitting me, while denying admission to hundreds of deserving third division holders, on the flimsy basis that I was a hindustani. So what if I had a first? Does that hide one's ethnicity?

The same rigging drama repeated itself two years later. It was Ayub Khan's time and, under the pretext of subjecting all of us to an all West Pakistan merit based entrance test, the NED Engineering College flaunted the same bias and admitted lots of us hindustanis into their engineering program. Once more many deserving natives were left high and dry simply because they didn't have the grades or could not pass the test. How unfair and disgusting? Now the College staff was very shrewd and did also admit many Punjabis, some sindhis, even Christian, Hindus, and Parsis to make it appear as if they were going strictly by merit. But we know the prejudiced minds of those damned Aligarhians; they were not fooling anyone.

My head hangs in shame every time I think of how many poor fisherman couldn't get decent jobs in Karachi because I went to the engineering college .

Look Ma, there is blood on my hands!

Re: # 70

Is this post some kind of a satire? If so please say so. Mohajirs wanted to destroy the fabric and culture of sindhistan, and they did so effectively. Why was Sindh so stupid in accepting them in the first place? Why were these Mohajirs not settled in Baluchistan?

Would it not be possible for the sindhi hindus to get their land back? After all that is exactly what the Palestinians who were driven out of their ancestral homes are demanding.

I can commence by saying that Pakistan became possible by Mohajir vote. If Mohajirs had not made the questionable decision of voting for All India Muslim League (breaking their families and condemning themselvesto a weakened position in a Hindu India) there would be no Pakistan. I am ready to accept an argument against the Partition itself; that it destroyed Sindhi nationalism; that it caused forced exodus of Hindus; or that it caused an arrival of (in your terms) the masses of maurauding, plundering Mohajirs. But for anyone who cherishes PAKISTAN, cannot complain about the arrival of Mohajirs without sounding hypocritical. For better or for worse, Muslims in central India gave you this country with their votes. So a small fraction of them being let into Pakistan --remember that the Muslims staying back in India outnumber the population of all of Pakistan -- is not some charity for which they should be grateful. And it makes me quite angry when I hear revisionist bakvaas about how bad it was to let these paupers within the borders of Pakistan.

Second: it is a bad idea to base your historical narrative on just your own personal experience. I do not question for a minute that some (maybe a large number) of immigrants drove the Hindus out of Sindh. This was a great, awful crime. (And many immigrant Hindus dished the same to Muslims in India, which kept the "Mohajirs" trickling into Pakistan until the mid 1950s.) But this is not the whole story. If a hundred people robbed the locals, 500 started from scratch.

Third: Initially, the political discourse in Pakistan was dominated by the Punjab/Mohajir perspectvie, as this was the Pakistani establishment. Any alternative to that -- Bengali, Balochi, Sindhi, etc. -- was considered fringe, secessionist, ethnicist, and dangerous. The powerful often dismiss the protests of the powerless as divisive rabble-rousing, and portray themselves as being above all these petty squabbles, and as the custodians of something sacred (usually religion or country) which itself exists primarily to guard the interests of the powerful. This cynical, and self-serving ploy is employed in almost every political conflict in the world. In the earliest days of Pakistan, the establishment trained this tactic on Bengalis, Pushtoons, Baluchis, and Sindhis. (Sheikh Mujib, GM Syed, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, were regularly labeled as "muta'assib" leaders, while no one said the same of Ghulam Mohammad, Iskandar Mirza, or Ayub Khan.) "Mohajirs" are no more a part of the Pakistani establishment, and dared to voice their grievances (with a very sad choice of spokespeople I must admit). So now Altaf Hussain is an ethnic partisan (which he is, for sure) but no one says the same of Nawaz Sharif of Imran Khan. (For the record, I do not buy into the politics of any of these people.)

Fourth: Maybe given the current state of affairs, and our historical baggage, it's impossible to rise above ethnicity, but events are forcing us to make a different choice. We can try to change the fault-lines of our politics from ethnicity to ideas. Unfortunately, the idiots that we have as political leaders are utterly incapable of thinking beyond building personality cults and ethnic armies. What kind of country do we want to live in, is a far more urgent question for us to answer than what language we will speak in the Sindh assembly, or how much quota should Karachi have in Federal Government jobs. To me, there are two fundamental questions. One, whether we are going to have a country which is ruled by the people, or one that is an oligarchy ruled by a few. And second, whether or not we are going to live in the current world, or are we going to recreate sixth century Hijaz within the boundaries of Pakistan. The Jihadis (MMA, Taleban, various lashkars, etc.) have understood the urgency of the second question, and have basically formed a united front that transcends ethnicity. The other side is still bogged down in squabbles and power-grabs within itself.

If Sindhi haris were in the grips of waderas, ZAB would never had won in Sindh. There are more Sindhi feudal outside of the PPP than inside of it. I looked at the list of the PPP candidates in Sindh and I could not find any big name wadera in there. Jotois both of Nawabshah and Dadu are opposing the PPP. Pir Pagara hated Bhutto even though he introduced Bhutto to Ayub and Iskandar Mirza. The Talpurs of Tando Mohd. Kahn and of Mirpurkhas barely register in the new PPP.

Btw, Nisar Khuro is not related to ayub Khuro and many Bhuttos are not related or are distant relations of the Bhuttos and mostly work in small jobs such as in banks and post offices.

In the just terminated Sindh assembly, barely two or three would qualify for wadera. Most of them were small to middle class landowners.

Fuziar that is a good post any it shows the reasons for the resentment but the real issue in any nationalist movement is economic. Sindhi were deprived of the economic opportunity in Sindh and that is still the case.

Re: # 66

High Intellectual Excellency HP Mian:

Do you believe world today is different from '47 and '71?

High Intellectual Excellency HP Mian:

Do you really know what you want, say and analyze upon analyze?

I have no reason to defend Zardari but his father was never a wadera in the true sense in Sindh. He owned couple of upscale cinema halls in Karachi and used bank loans to construct them.

Asif Zardari went to ordinary schools and his one sister Faryal(people might have heard of her) was a practicing Doctor until it was not possible for her to continue that.

Mir Banday Ali talpur was the biggest mean ass wadera in Sindh before partition. His children and grandchildrens are found begging for bank loans.

The Talpurs of TM Khan, Mir Ejaz ali talpur was a member of every assembly in Pakistan. Nobody knows where his sons and daughters are now.

A majority of Sindhis are forced to tend lands for living, that does not automatically make them wadera as we know them.

Re: # 70

viqram,

.... you are a very bad man !

Re: # 71
"Is this post some kind of a satire?"

Is it? I was taught by Khwaja Moinuddin at school, and you wouldn't know satire if it hit you on the head like a ton of bricks.

"If so please say so".

Why?

"Mohajirs wanted to destroy the fabric and culture of sindhistan, and they did so effectively".

Ah, now you are being modest. In fact, I would like nothing better than to destroy the entire shitty fabric of Pakistan. Who wants denial of inheritance and justice to women, and culture comprising honor killings, vani, watta satta and savage panchayats ordering gang rapes of defencless women? If I could replace all this trash with the egalitarian value set which the hindustani makkaRs stand for, the moral standing of Pakistan will go up a trillion percent at least.

"Why was Sindh so stupid in accepting them in the first place? Why were these Mohajirs not settled in Baluchistan?".

Exactly! Now you are talking. Imagine saddling the sophisticated Sindhis instead of the Baluchis who, as we all know, are subhumans at best. Why, they have no culture to speak of. And certainly no rights or claims to any justice in Pakistan.

"Would it not be possible for the sindhi hindus to get their land back?"

Are you crazy? I am not giving up all those zero thousands of acres never alloted to me personally by Liaquat Ali Khan before his assasination, and which I have never owned since my childhood.

Over my dead body!

very insightfull and thought provoking article and interacts.

especially that or Mr madni, a rare moment of truth.

especially this paragraph.

"The Sindhis suffered extremely in every way but one can put plabe on Hindustani Muslims as they were welcomed in theory and they have leadership of movement. Hindustani muslims were victorious as sindhis just moved without any resitance. The sindhi leadership of landlord feduals were not wise to even understand what is happening. The Hindustani muslims established facts on ground they were the masters of new lands. They were better at politics as their leadership clealy understood politics as concentrated economics. The sindhi defeat was so fast and bad it is said or rumored L.A.Khan said what is Sindhi culture, driving camels and donkeys. This may not be true but Sindhis were so lowly considered by Hindustani muslims.
So sindh ( native sindhis) has suffered most after partition and will suffer as they made mistakes of not understanding. "

....they and other now must understand , how were they able of live peacefully [ relativley that is ] for thousands of years as neighbours ,.....yet post 47 a spat of bad blood
has tasted many a mouths..

Re: # 67

Fuzair sahib:

When hindu-sindhis opened educational institutions, hospitals etc., it is very hard accept that they were merely middle class who was displaced by mohajirs. This is further confirmed by the success hindu-sindhis have achieved. I had great opportunity to meet and do business together. In India, there is a saying that you would not find a sindhi beggar. Outside India, their success is compared to Jewish diaspora. Inside, India I have known them in Chennai speaking fluent Tamil, in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and elswehere. Each place completely assimilated and doing better than the locals. I would call hindu-sindhis as true portrait of non-regional Indian.

Why is it the same cannot be achieved by Mohajirs in Pakistan? They lost their land and identity also.

Globally, hindu-sindhis have accomplished even more.

What do you think is the difference between hindu-sindhi and muslim-sindhi identity? Hindu-sindhis don't feel oppressed, lost or exploited.

Thanks