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 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism