Sindhis And Their Original Persio-Arabic Script
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
22 June
2024
There's
news in a few English dailies that young Sindhis aren't in favour of the old
script of their language and they want Sindhi language to be read and written
in Devanagari script. The original script of Sindhi is Persio-Arabic. The
script uses 52 letters - 28 from Arabic, some from Persian, and others unique
to the language. Devanagari doesn't have enough letters and sounds to suit
Sindhi phonology. Yet, the insistence on employing Devanagari for Sindhi has a
religio-communal aspect to it. Sindhis believe that they've been wronged by
Muslims.
Before the
Partition, most of the Sindhis in the subcontinent were concentrated in the
Sindh Province (Karachi, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Larkana, among others). There's no
denying the fact that Hindu Sindhis were driven out of Sindh and Pakistan by
the Muslims and there was a mass exodus. Sindhis from Pakistan had to come to
India and they settled in different parts of the country.
Hindu
Sindhis who stayed back in Pakistan faced acute discrimination and their
daughters and women were abducted by Muslim goons. Many of them had to embrace
Islam for survival. So, Sindhis in India and anywhere in the world have a
dislike, if not aversion, for the Muslims and anything associated with this
community.
Since, we
fallaciously tend to associate a language with a community and religion,
Persian/Arabic and even Urdu became languages of Muslims and Islam. Just the
way Hindus have begun to hate Urdu script because it's written from right to
left and used mainly by Muslims, Sindhi people, esp. youngsters, also think
that their original script is Islamic. So, it must be dispensed with and
Devanagari should be introduced instead.
Needless to
say, it's an outright erroneous belief but then, in these polarised times, we
tend to see all things through the prism of religion and community.
I've quite
a few senior Sindhi friends who still write in Urdu and can't even read
Devanagari. They're also not very complimentary about the Muslims as they
wistfully remember their halcyon days in Pakistan and how they were
unceremoniously booted out of that country when the Partition took place. Human
mind likes to perpetuate the feelings of hatred. It's implacable.
Moreover, today's circumstances are also conducive for the growth of
hatred and bitterness. They contribute to the continuation of rancour and
resentment.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL:
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