Malhar Faqeer was an eyewitness to the colonial period of the British in Sindh. Unfortunately, by birth, he was a member of a so-called “criminal tribe” and spent 44 years in Concentration Camp
Farooq Sargani
When I started researching the Hur movement one and a half years ago, I discovered that one of the early writers of the movement was Malhar Faqeer Khaskhaili. However, despite my efforts, I couldn’t find his books. Even recently, I visited the Sanghar District, the hub of Hur guerrilla activities, and interviewed several writers and intellectuals, but none could provide me with Malhar Faqeer’s books or authentic material related to the Hur movement. In this article, I aim to discuss Malhar Faqeer’s contributions to the history of the Hur movement.
Malhar Faqeer Khaskhaili was one of the early writers of the Hur movement and an eyewitness to the colonial period of the British in Sindh. He was born in 1908 in Bhukshu Mari village, Taluka Singharo, and unfortunately, by birth, he was a member of a so-called “criminal tribe.” He spent 44 years under strict surveillance by the ruthless British. Moreover, he received his early education in British concentration camps in Nawabshah and even recited the national anthem of Queen Elizabeth in school. Although he was not a guerrilla fighter like Bacho Badshah, he played a crucial role in highlighting the Hur movement through his rare booklets.
Read: Hur Guerrilla War Strategy against British Colonial Rule in Sindh
Colonialism left a deep impact on the indigenous people of Sindh, and whom Malhar was one of them. However, he was not deprived of his intellectual approach, which led him to start writing about the history of the Hur resistance movement from an indigenous perspective. He rejected the state’s propaganda that depicted the Hurs as criminals and terrorists. Without financial support, he printed his booklets, and over ten of his books were published by Latif Printing Press in Nawabshah. He distributed copies of these books all over Sindh. These books are considered rare and essential for the history of the Hur movement, but unfortunately, they are not available in the market. This is likely because those who betrayed Surah Badshah and undermined the Hur resistance would be exposed if people in Sindh had access to them.
Malhar Faqeer also spent time with Surah Badshah, and the Pir had instructed him that “if my own son betrays us, the Hurs have permission to shoot him down.” Malhar had an immense understanding of the Hur resistance movement. One of his remarkable contributions was highlighting the role of Hur women, who fought battles alongside their husbands or formed independent gangs of Hur women. In his book ‘Brave Sisters’, he glorified the role of women in the patriotic D-class society of Sindh, a society that did not generally support women’s independence. No one except Malhar Faqeer wrote a researchable article on the contribution of Hur women to the movement.
Read – The Hurs: Once a Criminalized Tribe in Sindh
Furthermore, M. Usman Diplai wrote a novel named ‘Sanghar’, which holds significance in Sindhi literature because much of its foundational knowledge about Hur women, the role of Surah Badshah, and the Hur movement in general was drawn from Malhar’s books.
After the partition of Sindh, Malhar realized that the newly formed government—the so-called Islamic state—continued to treat the Hurs like criminals, just as they had been treated in concentration camps. He mentioned this in his book ‘Tareekh Huriyat Sindh’ (History of the Hur Movement in Sindh), where he noted that on September 9, 1947, the Chief Minister of Sindh visited the Hur settlement in Nawabshah. Malhar Faqeer presented the entire case of the Hur movement, but the government, which was a continuation of colonial rule, remained unsympathetic towards the movement. Their policies toward the indigenous people did not change.
In short, Khaskhaili was a religious man, and he wrote history in a dramatic yet authentic way. His sources were reliable, and he belonged to the Saalim Jumait of Pir Pagaro. Sadly, the so-called “civilized” people of Sanghar have erased his valuable contribution to the Hur resistance movement from history.
Read – Policing Insurgency: The Hurs of Sindh
_________________
The author is a student of History at Karachi University
(The photos were provided by the author, who got them from the Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro, where these books are available)
So authentic and knowledgeable in short words you explained it very well.
Best writeup