THE%20SINDH%20STORY

G. M. Syed Or Sindh has said that all those who identify themselves with the
people and culture of Sindh, will be accepted as Sindhis. After all, this is not the
first time that outsiders have settled down in an area; they always adjust to the
new land and the new situation, to be at peace with themselves and with the
world. The “New Sindhis” are also beginning to respond to the “Old Sindhis”,
Maulana Noorani, general secretary of Jamat-i-Islami, and a ranking refugee
leader, has come out openly in support of the Sindhi demands.
There are important people in Sindh who say India should liberate them from
Pakistan --- and then keep them in lndia or outside. Any such act of mid-wifery
on the part of India would be a legitimate act of liberation on the part of one
democratic people for a fraternal people aspiring for democracy. Sheikh Ayaz,
the most out-standing modern poet of Sindh, has been saying: “Jai Sindh! Jai
Hind!” It is for the Government of India to decide whether it should help deliver
the democratic baby in Pakistan. But, even if it does not, the people there can
take care of the situation.
Pakistan took away Karachi from Sindh in 1948: and in 1954 Sindh was forcibly
merged into “One Unit”. But the Sindhis succeeded in undoing the “One Unit”
and getting back Karachi in 1971. They have the will to acquire all the autonomy
they want; and they will no doubt have their way. They have even given
themselves the “axe” (parashu) as the symbol of the “Jiye Sindh” movement, to
leave nobody in any doubt that they mean business.
True, the Sindhis do not fight pitched battles; they did not fight any even when
Sindh was free. They used to engage the Baluchis to fight for them --- whether
the enemy was Nadir Shah or Napier. But even the single tribe of Hurs gave the
British enough hell in 1943, to necessitate Martial Law in half of Sindh for a
whole year. Of late all Sindh has been up in arms--even though these arms
consist mostly of lathis and axes. Rasul Bux Palejo, the Sindh farmers’ leader, has
been in detention since 1979. Even the Sindh Graduates’ Association has been
banned. No government can keep down a people, once they are roused. So even
if Government of India does not act, the people of Pakistan shall prevail against
their rootless government. It will only mean some delay --- and some more
suffering. That is all.
Nor need anybody be surprised by the four provinces of Pakistan coming into
their own under a benign Indian umbrella. Bharat Mata takes care even of her
truant children. After all, even Jinnah had not visualized a permanent Indo-Pak
hostility. He had said that against any foreign threat, India and Pakistan would
stand together. Khaliquzzaman, a pillar of the Partition movement, said after
1971 that the Partition scheme had failed, and that a new arrangement needed to
be worked out. And even Bhutto of “one-thousand-year-war” fame had thought
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