Sindhi Militant Nationalism Questions the Islamic Character of Pakistan
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
18 July
2022
In Recent
Years Sindhi Militant Nationalism Has Threatened The Stability And Islamic Character
Of Pakistan.
Main
Points:
1. Sindhis take
pride in their cultural identity.
2. They
suffered great losses due to the Partition.
3. Bangladesh's
Liberation stoked Sindhi nationalism.
4. Sindh gave
two prime ministers to Pakistan.
-----
Recent
violence in Sindh by Sindhi nationalists is yet another reminder that culture
and ethnicity, not religion, bind people.
A few days
ago, some Sindhi militants killed a 35 year old Pashtun in a hotel in
Hyderabad. In other incidents, shops and houses of Pashtuns were destroyed and
other shops were forcibly closed.
This has
increased tensions in a province that has a long history of peaceful
co-existence due to its being the seat of Sufism. Sufi Bayazid Bustami and Bu
Ali Sindhi lived in this area. Sindhis are known in Indian sub-continent for
their contribution to arts, culture, politics and economics. But the
Independence and Partition of India wielded a hard blow to this community. They
became divided between India and Pakistan. The refugees from India flooded the
areas of Sindh, particularly Karachi. Other migrants from Punjab and Khaibar
Pakhtunkhwa also settled there, creating the fear of a demographic change among
the Sindhis. Moreover, the dominance of Punjab in the defence sector also
caused anxiety among them. During the civil strife in Afghanistan, refugees and
Taliban terrorists also took shelter in the area. All this created a sense of
insecurity among the Sindhis.
Earlier,
the sense of political, economic and cultural insecurity led to the launch of
the Sindhi Nationalist Movement in 1972. In 1971, Bangladesh had seceded from
Pakistan and declared independence on the issue of democratic transition
following elections, Bangla language and cultural identity. The imposition of
Urdu on the Sindhis was one of the causes of the disillusionment of Sindhis
with the state of Pakistan, as it was in the case of then East Pakistanis and
now Bangladeshis. The independence of Bangladesh gave fillip to the nationalist
aspirations of Sindhis and G.M. Syed launched his party Jeay Sindh Mahaz. It
demanded either autonomy within Pakistan or a independent state outside
Pakistan..
However,
the movement could not get wide support of the public, though the people of
Sindh were not happy with the people of other states particularly Balochistan
doing business and settling in Sindh. This was because Baloch people also have
been running a movement for independent Balochistan and so they do not welcome
people from Sindh and other states to work or do business in Balochistan. Often
labourers from other provinces working in Balochistan are attacked and even
killed by Baloch nationalists.
However,
the Sindhi nationalist movement was revived after the assassination of Benazir
Bhutto. She was a Sindhi and very popular among the Sindhi people. She was
affectionately called the Queen of Sindh and addressed as Bibi. Her
assassination on December 27, 2007, had sparked widespread violent protests by
the Sindhis in Pakistan. They destroyed properties, buses, trains, government
buildings etc and shouted the slogan, "We don't want Pakistan".
Benazir's widower Asaf Ali Zardari had to appeal to the protesters to calm
down. Benazir's assassination was seen by them as another attempt to suppress
their political presence in the political arena of the country. Earlier her
father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a Sindhi politician was hanged after a coup by the
dictator General Zia. Therefore, Benazir's assassination intensified the
disillusionment of the Sindhis with the state of Pakistan.
After that
the Sindhi nationalism became militant. In 2010, a Sindhi militant organisation
called Sindhudesh Liberation Army carried out a few blasts on railway tracks of
Hyderabad and left pamphlets that vowed to continue the struggle till
'freedom'. The organisation carried blasts in 2011 also but the majority of
Sindhis being sufi minded, they did not support violent or terrorist means to
achieve their goal. However, that does not mean the Sindhis have renounced
their demand of an independent state. Recent attacks on Pashtuns in Hyderabad
show this. In fact, in recent times, the Sindhi nationalists have increased
their militant activity which has caused instability in an already instable
country. Baloch's have propagated the view that Muslims are not a nation and
that the ethnic loyalty much surpass religious loyalty. This is the view of the
Sindhis also who have in the past thwarted the Pakistan government's plans to
rehabilitate the Biharis stranded in Bangladesh in Sindh saying it would change
the demography of the province.
Pakistan
was created in the name of religion but only after 24 years, it was divided in
the name of language and ethnic and cultural identity. Balochs and Sindhis have
been demanding freedom from Pakistan on the ground that ethnic, linguistic and
cultural identity, not Islam, is important to them.
Demanding
secession from an Islamic state by Muslim ethnic community is the demonstration
of a tribal mind-set which Islam came to overcome. Islam assimilated all the
tribal and ethnic communities of Arabs into the Islamic mainstream and made
them a powerful united community. But ironically, today Muslim ethnic
communities want to turn the clock back and take pride in asserting their
tribal mentality or identity.
The corrupt
political systems of Islamic countries with biased political leaders has also
contributed to the disillusionment of Muslim ethnic communities with Islamic
states. They complain of injustice, harassment and exploitation by the
government and see only secession as the solution to their problems. The
religious leadership of Muslims has failed to control the growing separatist
and secessionist ideas among ethnic groups because of their own sectarian and
exclusivist ideology. Until the political leaders and religious coterie shed
their inhibitions and sectarian and ethnic bias, Muslim ethnic groups will
resort to violence considering it the only means to solve their problems.
-----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/sindhi-militant-nationalism-islamic--pakistan/d/127507
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