The Premu Kolhi’s lonely protests over the desecration of the dead body of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar have turned into a thunder raising the banner of the Sindh’s traditional culture of humanism, human fraternity and religious tolerance.
M. Alam Brohi
The Premu Kolhi’s lonely protests over the desecration of the dead body of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar have turned into a thunder raising the banner of the Sindh’s traditional culture of humanism, human fraternity and religious tolerance. Sindhis from different ethnic and religious background and far flung places have been flocking towards Umerkot to register their protest over the heinous murder of Dr. Shahnawaz. The audiences are thrilled by the recitation of the poetry of great mystics steeped in humanism and humanity far above the dogmatic religious pretensions. Sad to note, the political leaders, cowering under the awe and fear of seminary culture, are conspicuous by their absence from these congregations.
Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar, a blasphemy suspect, was arrested from Karachi; taken back to Mirpurkhas and handed over to Sindhri police for safe custody away from the sights of the mob whipped up to the frenzy invoking the question of the honour of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was brutally and mercilessly murdered by police in a fake encounter. Motive of this barbarous act, shrouded in haze and secrecy, could be the religious radicalization of the state actors or the fear of the charged mob. This could have only been determined by a judicial inquiry carried by a well reputed Judge of Sindh High Court.
The murder of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar in fake police encounter has exposed how the religious extremism and militancy has deeply and unobtrusively seeped into the vitals of the polity of Sindh
Whatever the motive of this cold blooded murder, the saddening event has shook the liberal and tolerant culture of Sindh, nurtured by Shah Inayat Shaheed, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Sachal Sarmast. The religious radicalization in other parts of Pakistan is already rampant. In Sindh and Balochistan, Muslims and non-Muslim have coexisted for centuries with their places of worship standing cheek to cheek. The saints of Sindh and Balochistan have had equal followings from all backgrounds and various faiths without any religious divide and sectarian bias.
The murder of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar in fake police encounter has exposed how the religious extremism and militancy has deeply and unobtrusively seeped into the vitals of the polity of Sindh. As if the dastardly gunning down of Dr. Kumbhar was not enough, the religious zealots pursued and interrupted the ambulance carrying his blood stained body to his village for a decent burial. They snatched the body to torch it in the sandy dunes. My heart goes out to the heroism of Premu Kolhi challenging the bunch of extremists and retrieving the half burned body of Dr. Shahnawaz which was finally laid to rest in the private lands of the family. What would be the more heart-rending ordeal than this that the parents and children of the slain doctor were running bare-foot in the torching sands to have the last glimpses of their beloved one? The brave police of Sindh was found nowhere. Wither the writ of the state.
So far it is only the civil society which has risen to save Sindh from religious bigotry. The leaders of the ruling PPP have been very restraint in their condemnation of the incident
Dr. Shahnawaz is gone leaving his wife and children to the mercy of this inhuman society. In death, he has given a sharp fillip to the collective conscience of his land which was getting rusted steadily by an irresistible temptation for power and property. This greed has been obscuring the cultural norms of Sindh, moral decency, religious tenets and legal and constitutional obligations. This fillip has shaken the real substance of Sindhi polity out of the numbing fear of the religious extremism. The funeral prayers of the slain doctor were held, his grave covered with flowers and shrouded with Ajrak – the centuries-old symbol of honour and respect in the Sindhi culture. In a defiant rebuff to the religious fanaticism and gallant display of their anger and anguish, the liberal and tolerant people, Muslim and Hindu equally, have since been marching to the native village of the slain doctor to share the sorrow and grief of the bereaved family.
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The protest of the civil society is growing apace. The social media is awash with condemnatory posts, slamming the cowardice of the state actors and the religious bigotry, and the abuse of the blasphemy laws by whipping up the religious sentiments of the innocent people for purposes usually extraneous to the observance of the Islamic tenets. In many cases, property, personal malice and petty quarrels have triggered blasphemy allegations. In this case too, the main instigator of the mob is reported to have had interest in some properties belonging to Hindus which Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar had saved from being forcibly occupied.
The nationalists of Sindh, though slow, are gradually responding to the challenge. It seems they have not fully realized the gravity of the situation
So far it is only the civil society which has risen to save Sindh from religious bigotry. The leaders of the ruling PPP have been very restraint in their condemnation of the incident. The nationalists of Sindh, though slow, are gradually responding to the challenge. It seems they have not fully realized the gravity of the situation. Sindh lost half of its enterprising Hindu population during the frenzy of the partition. The remaining Hindu population has not been living in an ideal situation given the frequent instance of their abduction for ransom, forcible conversion and marriage of their girls to Muslim boys, and insecurity of their life and property. The culture of Madrassa is expanding by leaps and bounds due to the crumbling public sector schooling system. The failure of the PPP to deliver and the disunity in the ranks of the nationalist has encouraged and aided religion-based political parties to make inroads in the province.
The Sindh is again looking to you, Pir Pagara, Dr. Qadir Magsi, Zain Shah, Ayaz Latif Palijo and Sanaan Qureshi, to save its liberal and tolerant polity from the religious bigotry if you cannot challenge the continuous misrule of the PPP. You are the heir to the liberal and secular political heritage and the valiant struggle of Shaheed Sibghatullah Rashdi, G.M. Syed, Hyder Bux Jatoi, Fazal Rahoo and Rasool Bux Palijo for the growth and strength of the liberal and tolerant culture of Sindh. Follow the footprints of these leaders and show your collective strength and identify it with the will of the people Sindh by holding a massive show of power in Umerkot hold aloft the banner of tolerant Sindh in the desert of Thar.
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Sindh once again feels besieged. There is an ardent talk of the territorial division of it on one hand, and appropriation of its lands in the name of corporate farming on the other. The new irrigation projects envisaging three barrages upstream Qadirpur along with as many as six big canals off taking from hydraulic schemes upstream Guddu Barrage are at the anvil. The initiators of these projects are powerful and could only be challenged by the collective power of the people of Sindh.
Sindh once again feels besieged. There is an ardent talk of the territorial division of it on one hand, and appropriation of its lands in the name of corporate farming on the other
Sindh could only be sustained for survival by the irrigation waters of Indus River, and its liberal and tolerant culture. It is already water-stressed because of the natural scarcity of water in the river owing to the climate changes and the evaporation from Taunsa to Guddu Barrage and pilferage of water upstream. Telemetry system for the measurement of the flow of the water as per the IRSA has never worked properly. The seven canals off taking from the Guddu (Ghotki, Begari, Pat Feeder canals) and Sukkur Barrages (Rohri, Nara, Rice and Dadu canals) should have monthly water supply of over 100,000 cusecs in the cropping season as per the IRSA water share formula whereas these canals have suffered from chronic short water supply of 30,000 to 40,000 cusecs.
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The command area of the two of the above seven canals – Pat Feeder and Begari – includes Nasirabad and Dera Murad Jamali divisions. The shortage of water would equally ruin the agriculture in these divisions. The Sindhi nationalists should coordinate with Baloch leaders from the above divisions for a concerted campaign to save IRSA.
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The author is a former member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and has served as Ambassador for seven years.
