THE%20SINDH%20STORY

Muslims responsible --- including Khuhro, who later rose to be Premier of Sindh.
All of them were acquitted. But the bitterness grew.
Bawa Harnamdas of Sadhbela, Sukkur, described the Situation aptly to Mr.
Jinnah when the latter called on him at that island temple in 1930 and made an
offering of Rs. 100. Mr. Jinnah asked him why there was communal tension in
Sindh. And the Bawa said in Sindhi: “Shaikh putt shaitan jo; na Hindu, na
Musalman” (the new convert Sheikh is the son of satan; he is neither Hindu nor
Muslim).
Tension further grew with polemics. One Nathuram wrote Islam jo itihas
(History of Islam) in reply to the mulla attacks on Hindudharma. He was
sentenced to eighteen months jail and 1,000 rupees fine. He appealed to the Chief
Court of Sindh. Some Muslims feared he might be acquitted. And so, one Abdul
Qayum stabbed him to death in open court. When Judge O’Sullivan asked
Qayum why he had done it, the later said that punishment for insulting Islam
must be death, not just jail. Qayum was hanged. The Government refused to
hand over his body to the Muslims who, nevertheless, dug it up and took it out
in procession. Those were the times --- 1934 --- when the British did not tolerate
any trifling with authority. And so the outraged Commissioner of Sindh, Gibson,
ordered machine- gun fire, killing sixty-four Muslims, further souring Hindu-
Muslim relations.
Another complicating factor was the status of Sindh. It was part of Bombay
Presidency. In those days there were only a few huge provinces. But being a
distinct geographical and linguistic unit, Sindh felt neglected as a remote area. In
1913, Harchandrai Vishindas, as chairman of the Reception Committee to the
Karachi session of the Congress, first raised the issue of separation of Sindh.’ But
when the issue was raised at the Aligarh session of the Muslim League in 1925, it
was transformed from a Sindhi demand into a Muslim demand. When, however,
it was suggested that the Muslim-majority Sindh may be separated from the
distant Hindu-majority Bombay, and then attached to the adjoining Muslimmajority
Punjab, even the Sindhi Muslims refused; they had no intention of
living under the shadow of a “big brother”.
The majority of the Muslims --- led by Sheikh Abdul Majid --- favoured
separation. But important leaders such as Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto (father of Z.A.
Bhutto) and Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah opposed it. And so, for long, did
the Sindh Muslim Association, representing the Muslim elite. They were not sure
of the solvency of the province; the area had a deficit of two crore rupees. And
they liked being part of a big and prosperous Bombay Presidency.
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