Sindhudesh

Sindhudesh (Sindhi: سنڌو ديش‎, literally "Sindhi Country") is an idea of a separate secular state for Sindhis[1][2][3] proposed by Sindhi nationalist parties for the creation of a Sindhi state, which would be either autonomous within Pakistan[4] or independent from it.[5][6] The movement is based in the Sindh region of Pakistan and was conceived by the Sindhi political leader G. M. Syed after the independence of Bangladesh. He gave a new direction to Sindhi nationalism, founded the Jeay Sindh Tehreek in 1972 and presented the idea of Sindhudesh.[7][8]

Flag of Sindhudesh
Map of Sindh
Districts of Sindh

In February 2020 Founder and leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain demanded complete and total independence of Sindh from Pakistan occupation and creation of Sindhudesh [9]

Sindhi separatists reject the parliamentary path of struggle for attaining freedom and rights.[10] No Sindhi nationalist party has been ever voted into power in Sindh at any level of government.[11][12] In recent years, several Sindhi nationalists have deserted the ideology and joined mainstream politics due to disillusionment within ranks, lack of public support, and crackdowns by law enforcement agencies.[13] Some nationalist parties and associations are banned for "terrorist, anti-state and sabotage" activities by the Pakistani government.[14]

Sindh is the member of the UNPO and it is represented in the UNPO by the World Sindhi Congress.[15]

Historical Kingdom
Main article: Sindhu Kingdom

According to the epic Mahabharata, Sindhudesh, translated as the Sindhu Kingdom, was the ancient name for modern Sindh.[16]

History of the Movement

In 1972 G. M. Syed proposed the formation of an independent nation for the Sindhis under the name Sindhudesh. He was the first nationalist politician in Pakistan to call for the independence of Sindh in a Pakistan.[8] The movement for Sindhi language and identity led by Syed drew inspiration from the Bengali language movement.[17] In post independence Pakistan, the strategy followed by the Pakistani state led Syed to come to a conclusion that the Sindhis would not be given due importance in the country.[8]

With his political base largely weakened after election, Syed later advanced his position towards openly demanding separation from Pakistan and the build-up of an independent Sindhudesh in his books Heenyar Pakistan khey tuttan khappey (Now Pakistan Should Disintegrate) and Sindhu Desh — A Nation in Chains.[18]

The concept of Sindhudesh is also supported mostly by[19] Sindhis in India,[20] most of whom had to be relocated out of Sindh after Partition, leaving behind their property as evacuee trusts under reciprocal government supervision.

Re-emergence of Sindhudesh Movement

After the death of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, the Sindhudesh movement has seen an increase in popularity. Sindhi nationalists judge that Sindh has been used to the advantage of people from non-Sindhi ethnic groups, citing the dominance of Muhajir people in key areas of Sindh including Karachi, large scale migration to Sindh from other regions of Pakistan, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alleged Punjabi dominance in the defence sector, and an increase in Taliban migrants moving to Sindh; as well as terrorist related attacks on the region.[21] and believe this to be the cause of recent troubles in Sindh (see Sindhi nationalism). Pro-Sindhudesh organisations such as the JSQM and World Sindhi Congress have gained a wider support base.[22]

Sindhu Desh Liberation Army
Main article: Sindhudesh Liberation Army

The Sindhu Desh Liberation Army or SDLA is a inactive militant group based in the Sindh province of Pakistan. A series of minor blasts[23] took place on railway lines — the attacks carried out between November 2010, and February 2011 were claimed by the SDLA, who left pamphlets on the scene that mentioned “atrocities” being carried out against Sindh and promising to continue their “struggle” till Sindh was granted “freedom”.[24] The attacks were condemned by fellow Sindhi nationalists such as Dr Qadir Magsi of the Jeay Sindh Tarraqi Passand Party, who warned of negative consequences from violence.[23][25]

The group is currently inactive.[26]

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz
Main article: Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz was a “merger/integration” of all the nationalist factions of Jeay Sindh or Sindhudesh movement which was functioning separately before the demise of veteran Sindhi nationalist ideologue GM Syed.[27]

Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz
Main article: Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz

JSMM is one of the major[28][29] separatist political party in Sindh, Pakistan, that believes in the separation of Sindhudesh from Pakistan. Founded in the year 2000, by the veteran Sindhi nationalists belonging to the Sindhudesh movement who left JSQM.[30] The founder and the current Chairman of party Shafi Muhammad Burfat is living in exile in Germany under political asylum.[31]

Jeay Sindh Students' Federation
Main article: Jeay Sindh Students' Federation

Jeay Sindh Students’ Federation is the student wing of various separatist organizations struggling for the freedom of Sindhudesh following the ideology of G. M. Syed, founded in 1969. JSSF was a nationalist outfit which emerged from Anti-Unitary System Struggle in the late 1960s and later joined G. M. Syed in his ideology of a separate homeland for Sindhis in 1972. Since then, it has been working as the students’ front of the Jeay Sindh or Sindhudesh movement.[32]

Sindh National Movement Party

A new left wing party for a politically, culturally, economically and geographically independent Sindh was formed in December 2011. It wants to see Sindh as it was in 1843 before the British conquered it and opposes the development of Zulfikarabad, referring to it as a new Israel.[33]

Muttahida Qaumi Movement

During the 42 foundation day speech of APMSO founder of MQM announced MQM's support for creation of Sindhudesh,[34]

On 20 January 2020, Sindhi leader Shafi Burfat announced that Altaf Hussain would be the head of Sindhu Desh Government in exile[35][36]

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See also

References
  1. Syed, G. M. Sindhudesh : A Study in its Separate Identity Through the Ages. G.M. Syed Academy. p. These days a pragmatic situation has become dynamically alive in Pakistan. It is the exhilarating political idea of creating a new independent state of Sindh. So the sons of the soil, in full cooperation should increase the momentum for the demand and efforts to create Sindhu Desh with the new Sindhis who have settled down in this land permanently. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  2. "Analysis: Sindhi nationalists stand divided". Dawn. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  3. "Here's The Untold Story Of Sindhudesh - A 'Country' Of Sindhi People Lost In Pakistan". indiatimes.com. 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  4. Ali Banuazizi; Myron Weiner (1988). The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan ; [this Vol. Had Its Origin in a Conference on "Islam, Ethnicity and the State in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan" ... Held in November 1982, in Tuxedo, New York]. Syracuse University Press. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-0-8156-2448-6. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29.
  5. "pakistan-day-jsqm-leader-demands-freedom-for-sindh-and-balochistan". Express Tribune. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  6. "JST demands Sindh's independence from Punjab's 'occupation'". Thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  7. Sohail, Sangi (4 December 2014). "Analysis: Sindhi nationalists stand divided". dawn.com. Dawn. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. Farhan Hanif Hanif Siddiqi (4 May 2012). The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements. Routledge. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-136-33696-6. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/we-demand-sindh-as-separate-sovereign-state-altaf-hussain20200612205116/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. "Turn Right: Sindhi Nationalism and Electoral Politics | Tanqeed". www.tanqeed.org. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. Wright, Jr., Theodore P. (1991). "Center-Periphery Relations and Ethnic Conflict in Pakistan: Sindhis, Muhajirs, and Punjabis". Comparative Politics. City University of New York. 23 (3): 299–312. doi:10.2307/422088. ISSN 0010-4159. JSTOR 422088.
  12. Rahman, Tariq (1997). "Language and Ethnicity in Pakistan". Asian Survey. University of California Press. 37 (9): 833–9. doi:10.2307/2645700. ISSN 1533-838X. JSTOR 2645700.
  13. "Romance of Sindhudesh fast fading away as workers desert nationalism". Dawn. 17 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  14. "Sindh govt orders police to crack down on nationalists - Bolan Times". www.bolantimes.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  15. "UNPO: Sindh". unpo.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  16. Sharma, Mahesh; Chaturvedi, B.K. (2006). Tales From the Mahabharat. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. p. 121. ISBN 978-81-288-1228-6. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21.
  17. Goulbourne, Harry (2001). Race and Ethnicity: Solidarities and communities. Taylor & Francis. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-415-22501-4. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29.
  18. Jalal, Ayesha (1995). "Conjuring Pakistan: History as Official Imagining". International Journal of Middle East Studies. Cambridge University Press. 27 (1): 73–89. doi:10.1017/S0020743800061596. ISSN 1471-6380. JSTOR 176188.
  19. Agha, Gul. "Should Pakistan be Broken up?" (PDF). http://www.worldsindhicongress.org/. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  20. Suranjan Das (2001). Kashmir and Sindh: Nation-building, Ethnicity and Regional Politics in South Asia. Anthem Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-898855-87-3. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29.
  21. Guerin, Orla (2010-06-22). "BBC News — Karachi faces growing Taliban menace". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  22. "PAKISTAN: Bhutto&#39s Murder Rekindles Ethnic Suspicions — IPS". Ipsnews.net. 2008-01-05. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  23. Tunio, Hafeez. "A case of exploding railway tracks – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Archived from the original on 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  24. "4 bombs go off, destroying railway tracks in Hyderabad - The Express Tribune". tribune.com.pk. 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  25. Sindhi separatists announce comeback (2012-02-26). "Sindhi separatists announce comeback | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia". Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  26. "Terrorist Groups". South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP). Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  27. "Analysis: Sindhi nationalists stand divided". DAWN.COM. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  28. "Pakistan govt, military perpetrating genocidal crackdown of Sindhis". Zee News. 14 February 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  29. "Here's The Untold Story Of Sindhudesh - A 'Country' Of Sindhi People Lost In Pakistan". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  30. "Nationalist Party JSMM Launched - JSMM". JSMM. Daily Dawn. 27 November 2000. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  31. "Exclusive: Interview with Shafi Burfat, JSMM Chairman fighting for Sindh separation". NewsGram. 18 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  32. "Jeay Sindh Students' Federation". Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  33. New left party launched; seeks a stronger Sindh. "New left party launched; seeks a stronger Sindh | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia". Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  34. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/we-demand-sindh-as-separate-sovereign-state-altaf-hussain20200612205116/
  35. https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/altaf-hussain-to-be-head-of-sindhu-desh-government-in-exile-says-shafi-burfat-120012001576_1.html
  36. "Altaf Hussain to be head of Sindhu Desh government in exile, says Shafi Burfat". ANI. 21 January 2020.
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