by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia

On the evening of Friday (April 2, 2010), several Sindhis living in Washington DC area hosted Adi Zubeda Birwani and exchanged candid views about Sindhi Rights. The event was held at a restaurant in Washington DC a downtown and was attended by several several Sindhi-American and mainstream Americans including Imtiaz Bhatti, Javaid Bhutto, Janne Bursch, Erica Cohan, Khalid Hashmani, Ali Nawaz Memon, Iqbal Tareen, and Zara Tareen…

Before the remarks by the guest of honor, three Sindhi-Americans, who recently visited Sindh, shared their observations and impressions from their visit.

Iqbal Tareen said he spent one full month visiting large cities, small and big towns, and villages in Sindh and exchanged views with people at all levels. He said that Sindh certainly has changed over last 30-40 years…

Javaid Bhutto visited many communities and friends from Karachi to Quetta and beyond. He said that one major change that he observed was the hardening of attitude of Baluch youth towards Pakistan. In past the older Baluch generation was willing to settle for provincial autonomy but the new generation seem not to be ready to settle on anything less than full independence. Mr. Bhutto said that he was surprised that there was a free flow of people and goods on the western borders of Pakistan Mr. Bhutto said that although Sindhis feel they have got some relief after years of dictatorship and Nawaz Sharif rule, their attitude towards Pakistan would change if Balochistan became an independent country.

Ali Nawaz Memon said that although much of his trip was occupied with his business activities that involved assessing and advising Government and private energy sector on the matters of energy crisis, he was able to visit some cities and towns in Sindh. He said that in his view the key problems of Sindhis were of economic nature. His assessment was that Sindhis have awakened and ready to put of their best but are being held back by bad Sindhi leaders. He added that he was not hopeful of a quick and comprehensive change unless either the present leaders changed their ways or a new honest, smart, and hardworking Sindhi leaders emerged.

Adi Zubeda Birwani gave a detailed account of the positive role played by Sindhi NGOs and Sindhi media in protecting Sindhi Rights…

The session was moderated by Khalid Hashmani who raised the question whether sufficient progress have been achieved that Sindhis now feel comfortable with the notion that their rights can be achieved within the frame work of Pakistan. The consensus was that in spite of the short coming of the present PPP regime, people feel that this regime is far better than some of the past regimes and that they may succeed in receiving equitable rights in Pakistan. However, the situation is quite tense and precarious with bulk of funds consumed by military where Sindhis have very little presence and the Balochistan crisis, anything can change at any time!

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