Former Ambassador M. Alam Brohi analyzes the situation in Sindh encompassing the wave of nationalism, PPP’s rule and the case of Sindh
- Since 1970, the Sindhi nationalists have embedded their narrative in the exploitation of Sindh’s resources by the aliens
M. Alam Brohi
Since the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, Sindh, barring a few years here or there, has been ruled by Pakistan People’s Party exclusively. The non-PPP coalition provincial administrations have also been headed by Sindhi landlord politicians – may it be Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Liaquat Jatoi or Arbab Ghulam Rahim. We exclude from the debate the Interim administrations in the run up to general elections as defined in the 18th Amendment. Since the administrative reforms carried out by Z.A. Bhutto, Sindh administration has been, more or less, manned by the bureaucrats of indigenous descent.
Have we noticed any positive change or improvement in the political and administrative management of the provincial affairs? This is the moot question which constitutes the bedrock of our debate. We have the provincial autonomy under the 18th Amendment; we have an increased share in the central divisible pool of resources; we have the right to impose and recover many taxes; we have the fourth tier of governance i.e. the local governments manned by indigenous leaders with the exception of Karachi and Hyderabad which have been manned by non-Sindhi speaking Mayors sometimes. Despite all this, there has not been any perceptible improvement in the overall administration of the province. Corruption is galore; mismanagement of resources and injudicious use of funds is endemic. The majority of the people of Sindh remain deprived of the basic right to education, healthcare, clean drinking water, honorable livelihood and security of life and property. Why is it so? This leads us to serious introspection and a frank debate.
We were an independent country before the advent of the British India. The British imperialists took over Sindh in 1843 from ruling Talpurs. They annexed it with the Bombay Presidency. It remained under the Bombay tutelage until 1936. How was Sindh doing during the Talpur dynasty rule or before that period? This is a debatable question and needs thorough research to reach a conclusion. While leaving the Sub-continent, the Britishers left behind two successors states – India and Pakistan – the latter divided between two distinct parts. Its western part consisted of divided Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan, the liberated part of Jammu and Kashmir and the Gilgit Baltistan territory. The eastern wing of the country was the East Bengal dissected from the West Bengal.
We were an independent country before the advent of the British India. The British imperialists took over Sindh in 1843 from ruling Talpurs. They annexed it with the Bombay Presidency
A substantial number of administrative officers from the Sub-continent opted for Pakistan. They joined hands with the more developed bureaucracy of Punjab to have an upper hand in the management of the affairs of the country. The federal government of the time was also predominantly made of the Punjabi and Mohajir Muslim Leaguers who tended to support this Mohajir-Punjabi axis. This situation was further exasperated during the separation of Karachi as a federal city and the later One-Unit. Naturally, the people of all the three small provinces in West Pakistan and of the bigger wing Bengal were not happy with this state of affairs.
The Wave of Nationalism
This gave vent to nationalist and parochial thinking. This nationalist trend received an impetus from the seething Bengali nationalism which manifested itself in the 6-point manifesto of the Awami League of Shaikh Mujeeb. Earlier, the Sindhis fought commendable battles at every front against the One-Unit, and degradation of their developed language. These were iconic battles which Sindhis won at the end of the day. Had they continued with their campaign against other excesses and injustices meted out to them, they would have wrested many of their legitimate and constitutional rights from the federation. Over-pampered or misled by their small successes, they directed their energy and focus to an apparently impossible mission under the shadow of the Jeay Sindh Front.
The Sindhi and Baloch nationalism, inspired by Bengali secession, veered towards Greater Balochistan and Sindhudesh fiercely supported by Baloch political and tribal stalwarts, and Sindhi nationalists including G.M. Syed and his young followers from the Jeay Sindh Front. Many precious lives were lost in clashes with the state’s security apparatus in Balochistan and Sindh during over five decades. It is not easy to fight the might of the state without any external support. The separation of the Bengal owes a great deal to the military intervention of India and the defeat of the over-stretched security forces of Pakistan.
Sindhis fought commendable battles at every front against the One-Unit, and degradation of their developed language. These were iconic battles which Sindhis won at the end of the day
G.M. Syed’s slogan of Sindhudesh, though beyond any logic and rationality, was driven by some motivating factors. The rise of nationalism in Sindh was the logical consequence of the suppressive policy of the federal authorities. The Sindhis were scared by the systematic erosion of their political and territorial importance in the new country. Their provincial governments were subject to manipulation; their megacity was taken as a federal territory; the well-developed Sindh University was taken over and re-named as Karachi University; their language which was made the language of courts and offices including local body councils by the British colonizers in 1848 making it mandatory for every British officer posted in Sindh to learn it, was systematically degraded and almost exiled from the provincial courts and offices. It was being progressively replaced by Urdu. Punjab, KPK and Balochistan opted for Urdu as the medium of education in their primary and secondary high schools and means of communication in other provincial departments.
In a coup de grace, the small provinces including Sindh were made part of the West Pakistan in the One-Unit scheme, and were territorially and administratively placed under Lahore which not only caused many administrative inconveniences to the local populace but deprived their elite of political importance and weightage. We may recall the provincial administration of late Abdul Sattar Pirzada had vehemently opposed the merger of Sindh in the One-Unit. His government was dismissed and Muhammad Ayub Khuhro was brought in as the new Chief Minister. Mr. Khuhro was earlier dismissed as the Chief Minister in 1948 for his resistance to the mass settlement of immigrants in Sindh. He was later disqualified for any public office. However, he was brought back as the henchman of the federal authority to have the resolution of the merger of Sindh in One-Unit passed by the Sindh Assembly. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
The One Unit scheme violated all the norms of democracy and federal governance and was unsustainable
Sindhis taking a leaf from their holistic struggle for the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency launched a similar movement against the One-Unit which was supported by the so called elite for their own political and economic purposes. They had no love lost for the common population. They wanted restoration of their political and economic weightage. The One Unit scheme violated all the norms of democracy and federal governance and was unsustainable. It was aimed at creating some sort of equilibrium between the bigger Bengal and this part of Pakistan. Since Bengal still had the majority in population, the ‘Parity Scheme’ was thrust upon them which strengthened the centrifugal forces there giving stimuli to Bengali nationalism. The One-Unit collapsed in 1969 just before the first country-wide general elections in December 1970.
A New Narrative of Nationalists
Since 1970, the Sindhi nationalists have embedded their narrative in the exploitation of Sindh’s resources by the aliens thereby meaning the Punjabi-dominated establishment and the people of other provinces including Punjabis and Pathans. The narrative has both political and economic connotations. It is well entrenched in the psyche of Sindhi populace causing apprehensions and concerns. The dominant political dynasties clustering in the PPP keep whipping up these apprehensions and showcasing themselves as the saviours of the besieged Sindh.
The skepticism of Sindhis was further exasperated by the execution of Bhutto and the creation of MQM by dictator Zia ul Haq strengthening the rural-urban divide which had surfaced during the general elections of 1970. The prospects of the win of PPP and the shifting of the political power from the Punjabi-Mohajir axis to Sindhi leaders had created a phenomenon of fear and insecurity among the non-Sindhi speaking population of the province as reflected by the United Front of Nawab Muzafar Khan.
The skepticism of Sindhis was further exasperated by the execution of Bhutto and the creation of MQM by dictator Zia ul Haq strengthening the rural-urban divide
This insecurity was exasperated by the riots over the adoption of the Sindhi Language Bill in July 1972 triggering mass shifting of non-Sindhi speaking population from the cities and towns in the interior of the province to megacities like Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi. This had already created an atmosphere for the creation of a political group representing purely Urdu speaking populace. Thus, the MQM, riding on the shoulder of the establishment, attracted a wide support among the non-Sindhi speaking segments of the provincial population particularly in the megacities of Karachi and Hyderabad.
Sindhi nationalists are spilt into many political parties and groups too. All the factions of the Jeay Sindh Front are ineffective to launch any meaningful political movement for want of public support
As happens in all the political and linguistic groups created by the establishment in a bid to divide and rule, the MQM also degenerated into a fascist and terrorist organization going on a spree of violence against moderates within its own organizational structure and community and political opponents alarming the establishment. Finally, it broke up in many factions. Today, it is the pale shadow of its former self losing its street power and reach. It survived premature extinction as the establishment did not want to denude it completely of its support keeping it alive and kicking for use in its unending political schemes. In its current form and organizational structure, the MQM is under the full control of the establishment.
The Sindhi nationalists are spilt into many political parties and groups too. All the factions of the Jeay Sindh Front are ineffective to launch any meaningful political movement for want of public support. They have lost the confidence and support of the common populace. These are surviving only on the support of the diehard nationalist workers or those ideologically allied to G.M. Syed. Similarly, the Sindh Tarqi Pasand Party of Dr. Qadir Magsi, the Sindhi United Party of Syed Jalal Shah and Zain Shah, National Awami Tehrik of Ayaz Latif Palijo and the Awami Tehrik of the Late Rasool Bukhsh Palijo, individually, are not in a position to impact the current political situation in Sindh. There are no hopes for a new political party or a well-structured alliance comprising all these parties, in the immediate future. The leadership of these parties and factions has no will to abandon their political comfort zones for any bigger purpose. They lack trust in each other. (Continues- Read Part-2 on September 29, 2024)
Read: Amendment in Indus River System Authority Act: Save Sindh from Ruination
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The author is a former member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and has served as Ambassador for seven years.
Read – Pakistan: Four in One
