Category Archives: Sindhi
For first time Nationalists parties of Sindh demanded ‘no-right-to vote’ for people of other provinces in Sindh, fearing indigenous Sindhis turning into minority
..Joint declaration passed at a conference entitled “National Consultative Conference” held in Hyderabad by Sindh Veteran Politician Rasool Bux Palijo, Cheif of Awami Tahreek, some 200 delegates participated in the conference, Sunday May 10, 2009. Two things were interesting to note in this declaration: 1. US and Western democracies were accused of condoning and supporting urban terrorism in Karachi. 2. Nationalist parties (for first time in Sindh) demanded ‘no-right-to vote for people of other provinces in Sindh, and in forth coming census, people hailing from other provinces should not be counted and registered as citizens of Sindh (fearing indigenous Sindhis turning into minority in their own motherland) .. Ruling coalition in Sindh government was invited in the conference… Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mehaz (JSQM) and Asif Baladi did not sign the charter (they said: nothing less than sovereignty)
This seemed to be first anti-PPP alignment (if not an alliance) mostly by nationalist parties of Sindh joined and supported by PML N and Jamaat-e-Islami.
LK Advani – Perfect Icon of Harmony
by TANVEER AHMED, Ex-Chairman Haj Committee of India
I am pleased and honored to forward this on behalf of a great writer about L. K. Adavani Jee. Please go through the following link and have a look on the personality of a Ever Great man in History of Indian politics and please let the people decide their views about this great man so far they have. Please spend your valuable 10 minutes on it because its time to take a decision and know about the person who is going to lead and make us feel proud.
Please read my views regarding Advani ji and BJP in the forum click subject Social Justice and Social Harmony and then read my opinion on LK ADVANI: A PERFECT ICON OF HARMONY and mail your comments.
Noted Sindhi writer, poet and educationist Qamar Shahbaz passes away
Qamar Shahbaz Dies at 70 in Karachi
“A giant,” of Sindhi language and Literate Qamar Shahbaz has passed away on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 at 7 am at his residence in Karachi, Sindh due to cardiac failure.
Qamar Shahbaz has great contribution in Drama, fiction, poetry, actor, performer, writer, and in a way journalist, a real columnist (without mixing intellectual theorizations) with sarcastic and satiric. He was an outstanding speaker, the way he rendered the words of Sindhi, Urdu and English was very impressive.
His old friend, Agha Saleem, was telling me that he recently had started collecting his works, he went to Sindhiology and Sindhi Adabi Board for the collection of his short stories in magazines and articles from Newspapers. Agha Saleem believes Qamar Shahbaz lived movement to movement in our lives.
Qamar Shahbaz had strong leadership qualities, superfluous expressions with courageous ideas and he attracted people by his writings and speeches. He was a class fellow and close friend of great Sindhi story writer, Amar Jalil, both hail from Nawab Shah.
The last time I saw him was at Arts Council Karachi’s Culture Department’s program of ‘Birth day of Shaikh Ayaz’.
OPEN LETTER TO PROGRESSIVE PAKISTANIS
By: Iqbal Tareen, Washington, DC
– May 1, 2009
Ethnic violence in Karachi-MQM’s broken moral compass
I was thrilled to see a joint press conference held by Pakistan People’s Party home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Farooq Sattar and Awami National Party leader Amin Khattak in which they declared not to side with the perpetrators of ethnic violence in Karachi. I should have known it was too good to be true. Within a few hours another press conference called by MQM demanded a selective enforcement of the law.
SINDH CULTURE DEPARTMENT NEGLECTED SASUI PUNHOON GRAVE
By Dr Ali AKbar Dhakan, Karachi, Sindh
The Persian poet Hafiz says, “the pen lacks the tongue or the power to reproduce the story of love.In fact even the craving for union is beyond expression”. For Sasui, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai says, ” At appearance got griefs, at maturity lost happiness, these both events of sourceless girl met with misfortunes”. Sasui was a daughter of Brihman of Rohri side who was thrown in the Indus on some prediction of having unfortunate fate girl but God, the creator saved her life and was picked up from the ocean by the washerman (Dhobi) of Bhambhore near Gharo distt. Thatta. God gifted her a beautiful and cheerful structure of body and was as white as snow and sun . She got maturity in the washerman`s (Dhobi’s) house who reared her as his own daughter. At last a man namely Punhoon of Baloch tribe from Balochistan married her but his father namely Ari, the King of Ketch Balochistan did not agree with this marriage of his son with some girl of low caste and instructed his other sons to go to Bhambhore and get Punhoon back home at any cost and trick.
Continue reading SINDH CULTURE DEPARTMENT NEGLECTED SASUI PUNHOON GRAVE
Sindhis Beyond South East Sindh
Searching the World for Sindhis comes natural to every Sindhi. Everyone knows that partition brought untold miseries to hundereds of thousands of Sindhis. Sindh may not have been divided territorially but the psycholigical wounds have been so intense that they will continue to hurt. Thinking of partition for many of us only brings the plight of Hindus who were displaced but the fact now is that it was not only Hindu Families who were displaced but many Sindhi Muslims, Sindhi Christians, Sindhi Parsees and Sindhi Jews were cut off psychologically from their territory. On the left we give an extract of Sindhi Muslims now in Gugrat and above a short history of Ahmad Bukhash Sindhi of Bekanir Rajisthan.
CBC Report – The other Bhutto
We are proud on Jami Chandio
by Sarfraz Memon, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
We in Washington are fortunate to have SaeeN Jami Chandio in our area as he periodically has Kachahries with us. We all Sindhis should be proud of his work and contributions he has made in the cause of Sindh, and he has rightfully achieved prestigious and high status on the international arena. Someone to be followed as role model.
———-
Mr. Jami Chandio is executive director of the Center for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS), a think tank based in Pakistan’s Sindh province. He edits CPCS’ quarterly journal Freedom and oversees seminars on democracy that target civil society, especially young journalists. One of Pakistan’s most celebrated columnists, Mr. Chandio is the former editor of Ibrat, Pakistan’s largest Sindhi-language daily newspaper, a former anchor on Sindh TV and KTN, and former chair of the Liberal Forum of Pakistan. The only two-time winner of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society Award (in 2000 and 2001), he has authored more than a dozen books in Sindhi, Urdu, and English, including Beyond Headlines and Sound-bites: A Handbook for Reporting on Democracy and Good Governance (published by the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan). He has worked with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Pakistan as a political expert since 2004. During his fellowship, Mr. Chandio is studying the problems of federalism and prospects for provincial autonomy, including constitutional mechanisms that can be used to prevent, manage, and resolve intra-state conflict in Pakistan.
Calgary Sindhis Gather to Celebrate their Culture & Values of Peace & Tolerance
By Ali Memon
CALGARY: Several dozen Sindhis from Alberta gathered in a local community hall in Calgary this Saturday, April 18th, 2009 to celebrate their culture and heritage and to highlight the issues of Sindhi people in Sindh , Pakistan.
The first ever World Sindhi Congress (WSC) gathering in Calgary was a celebration of Sindhi culture and its values of tolerance and peace, and included an activism and human-rights education workshop.
Siraj Makhdoom, Organizer of the WSC Canada Chapter emphasized the importance of this gathering: “..we Sindhis must come together to emphasize tolerance, human rights and peace. These are Sindhi values that we must remember at this juncture of time.”
Ms. Janet Keeping, President of Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership of Calgary Chapter whose seminar titled “Mutual Understanding in a Highly Diverse Society” described her foundation’s work in promoting ethics in leadership in private and government sector. Ms. Keeping recognized that Canadian foreign policy is not always based on moral and ethical values, and she emphasized the need for Canadian Sindhis to reach out to government and civil society and highlight the situations in Pakistan.
Desmond Kary, a Human Rights Officer from the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission gave a detailed workshop on “Understanding Human Rights and Citizens Rights in Alberta”, in which he explained the procedures for filing and investigating citizens’ complaints on such issues as discrimination and denial of civil rights. Kerry distributed informative material among the audience regarding the Commissions’ scope and procedures.
In his opening speech, Dr. Saghir Shaikh, organizer of WSC USA Chapter and chief guest of the event, explained the importance of tolerance: “By understanding others we understand ourselves and by understanding ourselves we understand others.” He further added that “we must celebrate the hopeful aspects of our Nation by reaching out and getting involved in local community related activism.”
Asif Panhwar of WSC, highlighted the importance of seminars and activism in the WSC.
Other speakers include Zahid Makhdoom, a Judge in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Fayaz Shaikh of Atlanta, Georgia, whose Sindhi-language presentation titled “Reflecting on the Essence of Sindhiyat,” included references to Sindhi Sufi poetry and underlined the value of Sindhi identity and its incorporation into day to day life.
Ms. Diane Diazen, Program Coordinator of Project Ploughshares Calgary spoke about the “Value of Peace and Non-Violence.”
All the speakers were presented appreciation certificates and Sindhi traditional scarfs (Ajraks) by the WSC.
Asim Kaghzi, a prominent Calgarian Sindhi welcomed the WSC efforts and acknowledged the individuals who helped organize the meet-up. Certificates of appreciation were also presented to Maqsood Memon, Zulfiqar Khuwaja, Nadeem Memon, Sanjay Panjwani, Asim Kaghzi and Samad Shaikh for their efforts in organizing this event.
Other Sindhis who attended the meeting included Mazhar Memon, Zarina Memon, Farida Memon, Sanam Sahito, Nawaz Panhwar, Ghulam Hussain Jamro, of Sindhi Association of North America.
Speakers condemned the increasing Talibanization in Pakistan and atrocities in Balochistan, and highlighted the importance of political outreach and regional activism by Canadian Sindhis in stopping the increasing violence and persecution of Sindhi Hindus. A dinner concluded the meeting.
Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, 21st April 2009
IS IT FAIR PLAY? SINDH CHIEF MINISTER SHOULD RESIGN TO BECOME HERO
Entirely a Karachi Show- News Comment by G.N. Mughul
Courtesy: The Frontier Post
A high level meeting, held here in urgency on Monday under the chairmanship of President Asif Zardari to consider and approve development projects of Sindh, is being called by circles attached with Sindh Government as an “entirely a Karachi show” arranged to appease MQM – a coalition partner of PPP at Centre as well as Sindh Government. On interviewing some important “characters” attached with the said episode” some very interesting aspects have come to light, like: (a) even Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had no prior knowledge as to what issues were to be discussed at the said meeting, (b) a trio comprising Salman Farooqui, Secretary General to President, Chief Secretary Sindh and Karachi City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, was the real motivating force behind the said meeting and was silently making necessary preparations for the said meeting, and
(c) the holding of the said meeting and decisions taken at the said meeting are being called by legal and technical experts as in gross violation of the rules of the business of Sindh as well as Pakistan. It has been learnt that a day before i.e. on Sunday Syed Qaim Ali Shah had no information about the issues to be discussed at the said meeting to be presided over by the President on Monday. In the evening on Sunday somehow information was leaked to Sindh Chief Minister that a high level meeting was scheduled to be held in Karachi on Monday under the chairmanship of President and in this regard some preparations were going on in the office of Sindh Chief Secretary. On getting this information, Sindh Chief Minister is reported to have called Chief Secretary and asked him about the meeting and the issues likely to be discussed. In response, the Chief Secretary reportedly informed him that presentation to President was to be given on the issues of Sindh, including Karachi. Afterwards, the Sindh Chief Minister issued directives to high officials of Sindh Government of concerned departments to prepare a presentation on the issues of Sindh including those of Karachi. As the follow up of these directives the offices of the departments concerned were opened by midnight and presentation was prepared and presented to Sindh Chief Minister before the dawn of the next day. However, some other reports indicated that a separate presentation was being prepared in the office of City Nazim, Karachi. While, according to these reports Salman Farooqui, Secretary General to President was also presiding a meeting at State Guest House the same night and making preparations for the next day high level meeting. According to the experts, the approval of the projects at the said meting was in violation of the rules of business of Sindh as well as Pakistan. According to this opinion, all these projects were required to be processed and mooted out by Sindh Government. Besides, for the approval, these projects were also required to have been examined by Planning Commission and discussed at the relevant forums. As against that from Sindh only City Nazim and Chief Secretary were on board and as for Federal Government/ Planning Commission, only Secretary General to the President and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Sardar Asef Ahmad Ali were said to be on board as the latter was called from Islamabad for this purpose and he was also present in Monday meeting. The experts are of the view that the meetings of the forums like ECNEC or Cabinet needed to be presided over by Prime Minister but nor the President. These circles have drawn attention that actually a precedent to this effect was set by former military dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf who used to preside special meetings to approve development projects as was done particularly in water sector. According to details of the proceedings of the high level meeting, it continued for three hours out of which 2 hours and 45 minutes were consumed on discussing the issues of Karachi and on taking decisions about the said issues while the issues of rest of Sindh were discussed and disposed off during the rest about 15 minutes. During post meeting press conference, Sindh Information Minister Mrs. Shazia Marri giving details about the decisions taken at the said meeting, announced that as many as six new huge development projects of Karachi requiring billions of rupees, were approved by the meeting. The details of these projects are: (i) Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Transit CNG Bus project for Karachi under which 500 environment-friendly CNG buses would be introduced. The scheme would be launched by City Nazim who would oversee the implementation, (ii) Karachi Mass Transit: GOP will provide sovereign guarantee for this project which would be built as a BOO scheme and international competitive bids would be invited soon, (iii) Karachi Circular Railway: This project is being revived with a cost of Rs. 1.6 billion with international assistance, (iv) Lyari Express Way: This project was approved and it was decided that the Planning Commission would finance this project, (v) Bus Rapid Transit System: This project was also approved and it was decided that this project would be implemented by City Nazim Karachi. And (vi) Karachi Sewerage Scheme was also approved. As for other projects particularly concerning interior Sindh, President directed that construction of Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway be in conformity with international standard. It was decided that work on Larkana-Khairpur bridge be accelerated, instructions were issued to NHA to complete work on priority basis on Sukkur-Shikarpur-Jacobabad express way and Rato Dero-Sehwan additional carriageway, instructions about LBOD and RBOD faulty projects were also issued. As for vital Thar Coal project, President desired to expedite the work on this project. The vital Ketty Bunder project was not discussed at all. According to reports leaked out from the meeting, it is said that on about two occasions when Sindh Chief Minister objected on making City Nazim responsible for the project on the ground that there was Provincial Government it has its Transport and other departments, but he over ruled when Salman Farooqui intervened and gave new direction to the discussion and decisions were taken without considering the stand taken by Provincial Chief Executive.
APRIL 22, 2009
We are proud of our ancient history, civilization and cultural heritage
By Humaira Rahman
By chance I saw Irfan Husain’s latest offering in daily dawn and was amazed at Irfan’s lack of understanding of the young population that inhabits the Pakistani states current territorial boundaries (in spite of being a resident of Sindh for 60+ yrs?):
Irfan Husain writes, and I quote:
In order to justify the partition of the subcontinent, rulers have resorted to bewildering mental contortions. Many have tried to move our roots to the Middle East from our true origins in South Asia. This confusion is reflected in school textbooks and the media. Thus, we have young people unsure of their past, and unable or unwilling to claim their rich cultural patrimony.
Please note that perhaps what Irfan says is true of the youth that hails from the sliver of the population that you come from/represent: immigrants from north India (7% of total population of Pakistan, max??)
However I can say with certitude that no Sindhi or Baloch young or old person (the two nations within which my own roots lie and that I have intimate knowledge of) is at all confused about their past, origin or history.
We, the Sindhi and Baloch indigenous nations that live within the state of Pakistan are, on the contrary, extremely rooted —— in spite of all the attempts by civil -military bureaucracy to “cleanse” us through education, militarization, extra judicial practices and other policies where we were/are deprived of opportunities to speak and study in our own languages or practice our culture in a way that free nations practice their cultures.
Please note that we are proud of our ancient history, civilization and cultural heritage and as well our robust abilities to carry on creating and reproducing our language, literature, music, journalism, dance and as well practice of our civilized culture under the direst conditions (mostly imposed by Urdu hegemony practioners)
Please note that we are neither unsure of our past nor unable/unwilling to claim our rich cultural matrimony/patrimony;
It is true that the vast military civilian bureaucracy (of which you remained an erstwhile part for decades) have attempted to “cleanse” us over the decades, but they have failed.
Reflections on life and works of M.H. Panhwar
(On his second anniversary being observed in Hyderabad)
(M.H.Panwhar 1925-2009)
Mohammad Hussain Panwhar (known as M.H. Panwhar) was born in 1925 in small village of Dadu district. He died two years ago in April 2007. By profession he was a Mechanical engineer but beside his job he had a deep interest in history of Sindh, its people, climate, archeology, agriculture, irrigation, water and anthropology. He is remembered for his outstanding and unmatching contribution in areas which were hardly explored prior to him.
Late Panhwar saheb was a very hard working men, despite retiring at age of 60, he did not stop working, he established small office in his residence in Clifton, hired staff and continued to research work. His innovative work in agriculture remains unmatched, the works that he and his wife jointly produced I doubt even a agricultural university produced.
A man who loved and lived with books, in his personal library he had 63,000 thousand books, which he during his life had donated to ‘M.H. Panhwar Trust’ that he along with his Scientist wife Farzana Panhwar established. Both donated their libraries, assets and agricultural form to the Trust. It is heartening to see his family now furthering his life’s dreams and planning to establish a ‘M.H. Panhwar Research Chair’ at University of Sindh, at Jamshoro, to be inaugurated soon.
Though government of Pakistan awarded him SITARA- E-IMTIAZ by the PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, in 1992 for outstanding work in ENGINEERING and AGRICULTURE but we as people are indebted, the right way to pay tribute him is to further the uncompleted works that he left. To promote research in agriculture, history and archeology, I recall his address at Seminar on ‘Exploring Fort of Rani Kot’ where he complained that technological tools could be hire and used to establish the origin of this fort, which has not been done yet, thus research papers and material regarding fort of Rani Kot heavily relies on speculation. Arbab Rahim’s previous government probably did that a good work by organizing a seminar on Rani Kot at the spot, but since then what has been done in follow up, hardly anyone knows. Cultural department can take up the research and realize the dream of late M.H. Panwhar.
Late Panwhar’s autobiography, which is to be inaugurated on his second anniversary, is a beautiful addition in Sindhi literature and greatly contributes in analyzing social history of Sindh during British period from a progressive and scientific perspective. He was interested in everything which was concerned with human beings. In his writings he has rejected religious bigotry, promoted reason based understanding of complex human relationships. He writes in his autobiography that “he hated those people who treated women with meanness” he was against all forms of exploitation.
In modern history of Sindh when reawakening movement started in pre-partition period M.H. Panhwar sahb searched for historical identify of Sindh, after receiving a degree in Anthropology in 1950s he collected source material on history of Sindh, and later in 1970s published a book in two volumes. He emerged as a Sindhologist and played active role in strengthening scope and role of Institute of Sindhology, established in Jamshoro.
Panhwar saheb, no doubt, continues to be source of knowledge and inspiration to new generation, we believe establishing a Research Chair, dedicated to his work, would prove to be an unusual seat of learning and research.
Children of Sindh Out of Schools
5 Mln Children of Sindh Out of Schools
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Courtesy: Pakistan News
ISLAMABAD: Some 7700 government schools are closed in the province, and 12,138 schools don’t have a roof. This means roughly five million children are not going to school even though school staff and teachers are being paid their salaries.
Tharparkar is the district left most behind – 1,555 schools are closed there. Landlords have taken over some schools as their personal gathering space. In Badin, 1,149 schools are closed and in Karachi only 84 schools are closed in the city.
Shah Abdul Latif of Sindh
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752) (Sindhi: شاھ عبدالطيف ڀٽائيِ) was a Sufi scholar and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language.
Where there is no heaven and no trace of earth,
Where the moon and the sun don’t rise, nor descend,
That far the yogis have set their destination
they shall perceive the Lord in Nothingness.
(Shah Abdul Latif)
echoes of Sufi Chanting- Sohrab Fakir
Sindhi Film “Vaisara Ee Gum وائيسر ئي گم” being released in Mumbai
Sindhi Film “Vaisara Ee Gum وائيسر ئي گم” being released in Mumbai on 24th April 2009
An out and out comedy film “Vaeesara Ee Gum وائيسر ئي گم” after running successfully in Nagpur, Raipur, Ulhasnagar is being released in Mumbai on 24th April 2009. The schedule of the shows is as follows-
1. Fame Raghuleela ,Vashe, daily one show 9.30 p.m. 2.Fame (Andheri)daily one show 9.30 p.m.
The film is written by Kishor Lalwani and Directed by Mohand Sachdev. It is being distributed by Shringar films limited of Mumbai. The details of the film can bee seen on – www.sindhifilm.com
Real Test
Real Test: Supreme Court, High courts non-Shariah institutions: Maulana Sufi Mohammad
by Iqbal Tareen, USA
The writer can be reached at iqbal.tareen@gmail.com
Here is a real test of everyone on the left, right, center, in the government, in opposition, in judiciary, members of civil society, men in black, human rights advocates, and Pakistani Diaspora. Either you are against this kind of madness or you are part of it. There is no high road to heaven.
Very soon all those who are undecided or they are on the periphery of this issue will be forced into retirements. When the battle between Millat and Umma heats up the lines will be drawn in the sand. We just can’t stick to our wish lists. These guys are forcing people of Pakistan to choose between Pakistan zinda abad and Islam zinda abad.
“Taliban” a threat to sufi society
by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia, USA
I agree with the observations and inferences about so called inability of security forces to defeat few thousand Taliban. Indeed, the rulers of Pakistan think that this game lets them secure much-needed “big bugs”. However, the menace of “Taliban” and its threat to sufi Islam in the long run cannot be under-estimated.
Three Cups of Tea
Talibanization is not a mere threat. It is a clear and present danger that has already hit our cities and villages alike.
by Mohammad Ali Mahar, Austin, TX, USA
The writer can be reached at mamahar@hotmail.com
I was reading a book, “Three Cups of Tea”, which is based on the true story of a mountaineer who got lost in the wilderness of Himalayas in the early 1990s and ended up being in a small village named Khorpe – the last Pakistani settlement at the feet of the mighty mountain range . I am not going to repeat the whole biographic account of Greg Mortenson, the mountaineer, here. However, it was at that time that he saw the scourge of Talibanization worming its way into the Pakistani society. If a complete stranger could see it coming, and predicting the outcome, was it merely an intelligence failure that Pakistani security agencies could not see Taliban building a strong foothold in the country?
Drive from Karachi to Rohri on any given day and you will see busloads of Afghanis with turbans and beards, and who knows what in their luggage, driving into Sindhi cities. Go to Sohrab Goth area and you would think you were in Kabul. Sometime back, a Pukhtun (an Afghan refugee, and, who knows, a Taliban?) even tried to grab a previous piece of land on the Gorakh Hill!
Also, please read Dr. Manzur Ijaz’s column to see how these Taliban are making inroad to even the far flung areas of Thar.
I would be blind if I could not see Taliban’s intentions of taking over Sindh, and the rest of the country, authorities permitting.
Sindhiyat is under attack
by Nazia Junejo, Salt lake city, USA
The writer can be reached at najunejo@yahoo.com
I do not think this could be regarded as a warning sign any more. It seems like the dreaded is already here. Our Sindhiyat was already under attack from MQM, feudals and the government (regardless of the rulers), now this new monster seems determined to engulf whatever pieces of culture and civilization we are left with. The rule of the world is to move forward ie time and tide wait for no one. The nations which got independence with us like China or India have been advancing steadily to the extent of becoming leading economies of the world. Where are we and why? Unfortuantely our nation being in the grip of so called Maulvis in one form or the other have been persistent in slowing us down. Now the recent wave of Talibanization seems to drive us even backwards to the pre historic era. I agree ,as any reasonable woman/man would. It has nothing to do with Islam or Shariah. It has to do with gaining a dangerous coercive power to satisfy murderous and barbaric instincts of a bunch of illiterate losers. We can no longer afford to sit as silent spectators in the hope of a miracle.We can also not afford to let a revolution arise from inside Sindh. The people there, as I take it are too pre occupied with efforts to combat daily life disruptions with power failures, mobile phone snatching, broken roads, corruptions in every field…. They are already overwhelmed and hence unable to deal with this new crisis-like situation. Some of them may not even see it as a crisis. I am sure SANA could at least spread awareness regarding this impending disaster. It is ironic that the so called bill to surrender the population of Swat to the mercy of bunch of lunatics was not opposed by one sensible individual in the parliament.I am actually grateful to those Maulvis for not asking for the entire country YET. Unless they revoke the ‘peace deal’and bring the area under a humane law,this infiltration of maulvis must be stopped. One way to do it might be to declare tribal areas including Swat as an independent state with strict visa rules. After all, an organ with cancer sometimes has to be removed to save the entire body.
I have different opinion on the Talibanization of Sindh
I have different view point on the matter
by K.M.KOLACHI, Toronto, Canada
Present issue of Talibization has been raised by a ethnic group as defensive move to retain control on the area. They see danger to Sindh on the migration of pashtuns but they cover the illegal immigration from India till to date. They also used their influence to get the Bengali population in Karachi regularized.
Continue reading I have different opinion on the Talibanization of Sindh
The eye witness account of Taliban phenomenon in Sindh
by Saifullah Shaikh, USA
Recently I have seen this so called (Phenomenon of Talibization) while visiting my Khairpur Mirs during the last 3 years–I visit Khairpur every year——What I witnessed was beyond imagination!! Extremists with Green Turbons i.e; PugHree on their heads controlling Buisness of Mosques/Madressas and creating disturbances inside school and colleges particularly Girls’ schools and there were many street Gunfights between Sunni and Shia Groups in Khairpur Mirs during the last few years (Remember that Khairpur means City of Peace) and this is a new change in our Sindh particularly in this city of Peace. Another noticeable thing was that urdu-speakings were resisting these Green Pughree Mullahs and local police and rangers only arrived at scenes when a lot of damage has already been done! This is true that we are still in Denial and few political parties have already raised voice against this spreading cancer of extremism in Sindh except PPP, ANP and Sindhi Nationalists progressive-liberal forces…
Sindhi song – Titir Tez Uddaar – a mesmerizing performance by Anila Sunder
Did I see Pretty Zinta?
by Altaf Shaikh, Marine Engineer/ Travelogue Writer
Pakistani seems to be crazy for Bollywood film actresses. Some of them think that on reaching Mumbai you can see them all around & every where. On return from Mumbai everyone at home asks me whether I saw Pretty Zinta on the roads of Mumbai? Could I see Rakhee Sawant, Bipasaw Basu, Neha Dopiya, Pirayanka Chopra, Riya Sen Or other bollywood beauties in Chowpatty, Colaba, Churchgate, worli, Bandra, or on the Curry road of Mumbai??
No, I could not see Pretty Zinta, Qatrina Kaif, Samera Reby, Amirta Rao, Celina Jetly, Depika Pardicone etc but I saw cows and cows and cows on the roads of Mumbai …. fat cows, skinny cows, lazy cows, holy cows, hungry cows, lethargic cows and even one pretty cow I saw on Jagannath Bhosle road, Colaba (the southern part of Mumbai).
To see more pictures of India taken by Altaf Shaikh, please click here
MQM and Sindhis
by Prof. Nadeem Jamali, Canada
..Mohajirs live in Sindh. MQM has significant muscle on Sindh’s streets. They have the deciding votes in Sindh’s parliament. There are a number of reasons why Sindhis may feel that they have to engage with them…
Opinion- Balochs are natural allies of Sindhis in their struggle
by Nadeem Jamali, Canada
Sindh is a confused mess. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that Sindhi elites do not trust Sindhi people. Different groups in Sindh rely on Sindh’s adversaries to keep a type of balance that helps them stay relevant to the twisted reality of Pakistan. Many do not want Sindh to be governed by Sindhis. Many make opportunistic alliances with adversaries of Sindh for short term goals.
This is the key problem. Should they be ridiculed for that? Probably yes! Ridicule is an important motivator for action in Sindhi and Baloch societies. People of Sindh are broken and exhausted. So exhausted that they can let opportunities pass by.
Baloch mindset is not hostile toward Sindhis. Baloch mindset is hostile toward murderers of Baloch people.
Continue reading Opinion- Balochs are natural allies of Sindhis in their struggle
Opinion- Let’s not forget that Sindhis are friends of Balouchs
Balouch Mindset..
by Zulfiqar Halepoto, Hyderabad, Sindh
The writer can be reached at zhalepoto@yahoo.com
.. I would like to draw an attention to some facts, which are important to understand at the time when we claim that both Sindhi and Balouchs are coming closer to each other but the mindset of Balouch intellectuals are still hostile towards Sindhis… In post Benazir Bhutto Pakistan, the political complications to run the state as a viable polity, are increasing day by day. The internal contradictions of the state are reached at a point where no adhoc remedy or daily wages approach to run the affairs, are further widening the contradictions.
In this situation any kind of rift between any suppressed nation and especially between Sindhis and Balouchs will harm the cause of the right of political and fiscal sovereignty of the oppressed nations within Pakistani territories… and Sindhi politician, nationalist, writer, intellectual and pressman always support the cause of Balouch. The Quetta based Sindhi media friends of Kawish, KTN, daily Ibrat, Sindh TV and other media houses used to support the just cause of downtrodden people of Balochistan. Many of us know that during Musharraf’s naked fascist regime there were curbs on media and ISPR used to directly monitor media coverage especially during Akbar Bugti Shaheed’s fight with the establishment. Lot of pressure came on the shoulders of those brave Sindhi journalists who were working in Balochistan at that time. But they refused to carry out the dictation of agencies. They were on good terms with Shaheed Bugti, Mir Balach and others.
Continue reading Opinion- Let’s not forget that Sindhis are friends of Balouchs
Aziz Jan: A dynamic Sindhi journalist
Profile of a departed journalists
– Desk report
It was mid night of April 3 and 4, 2009 that Aziz Jan Baloch died due to a fatal accident on Hyderabad-Karachi Super Highway. He was in his 30s. Aziz Jan was Senior News producer to an upcoming news channel “Awaz TV”.
Aziz, a very loving, caring and always in happy and pleasant mood is missed by everyone who worked with him. His close friends cherished his company, he was an easy going person.
Aziz’s true professional life had began afterwards, he had moved from Sanghar to Hyderabad and then to Karachi to seek an career in Journalism.
He was news caster for PTV and latter was associated with KTN, as narrated by Jami.
He was an ambitious person, sky was limit to him, he left KTN and joined City News, a local channel owned by ARY One World group, he rejoined KTN but again when Sindh TV was launched he joined it as news caster.
His voice was clear and loud, the way he used to read news stories people liked it very much, he became a model news caster and popular. He also hosted some talks shows on current affairs. He was deeply involved and interested in the currents of politics. That actually made him not only news caster but someone who would think independently and decide with regarding to planning the news bulletin, seeking telephonic interviews of top leaders, he interacted from top Baloch politicians to Kashmiri leaders. He had earned a say and was known in the political circles, MQM leader Altaf Hussain would know him with his name. When he launched his second book based on articles in Karachi’s Mehran Hotel, PML Q leader Syed Mushahid Hussain was to be the chief guest of the program. He would not shy away using his media contacts to establish that he is a well-connected person. True he was very resourceful person, he was like a directory of contacts, and that is actually works a lot in journalism.
Due to his ambitious aims, he would keep make entries and exists from Channels knowing his worth. He left twice Sindh TV and rejoined it and latter on eventually left it and started working on a new project the “Awaz TV”, owned by a noted Sindhi businessmen Sikandar Jatoi. “Awaz TV” is in pipe line, experienced Sindhi folks of electronic journalism was working to launch it. Aziz, Altaf Memon, Maheen Hisbani and Zariyab Khaskheli, to name few people were working for launching this new channel.
Aziz was very happy that he finally would be working freely in a channel which would be free from control of owners. Though funded by a businessmen but this channel is largely seen as franchise of journalists.
Aziz Jan was enjoying working in Awaz, he had both freedom to work and better remuneration package. He had reached to place which was striving for and dream for, but life did not give him chance to live a dreamed life. It’s a loss not only of his family (two wives and few children) but of Sindhi electronic media, he had emerged a well-trained and professional media guy.
Lala Qadir, district reporter of Sindh TV wrote “All is lost with his death”. It was not time for him to die, it was time to grow and make achievements in life and let society know what its youth has to offer.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Let’s Learn Sindhi through Interactive Multimedia- Sindhi Sangat
Sindhi Sangat and the Indian Institute of Sindhology, take pleasure and pride in presenting this “LET’S LEARN SINDHI CD-ROM” an interactive multimedia CD-ROM.
Click here for details
Continue reading Let’s Learn Sindhi through Interactive Multimedia- Sindhi Sangat
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page)