Sindhis keep their lost land in their hearts
Sindhis in Ajmer celebrating the Sindhi New Year Day
The recent attack on the Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru belonging to a Sindhi group displayed not only the deep-rooted prejudice of sections of our society but also their gross ignorance of the history and culture of other sections.
The Sindhi language finds mention in the list of India's national languages in the constitution. There are about 2.77 million Sindhi-speaking people in India now. They are spread across the country and there is no state or region they can call their own. Our National Anthem refers to their place of origin but it is part of Pakistan.
Enterprising Sindhis began migration in the 18th or 19th century and established themselves in business in other parts of the subcontinent as also in foreign lands. The Kishinchand Chellaram group, one of the oldest Sindhi business houses, began with a textile shop in Madras nearly one and a half centuries ago. By the early part of the last century it had outlets in Japan and Hawaii.
In the elections held in British India under the Act of 1935, the Congress came to power in Sindh. As the Pakistan movement gained ground, the Congress' influence waned, and the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha formed a coalition government.
Following Partition about 776,000 Sindhi Hindus came to India as refugees. Their descendants live with nostalgia for the land of their forebears which few of them have seen.
In New Delhi, the person I hd to deal with in the bank from which I bought foreign exchange for my travels was a young Sindhi. One day in1972 I went to him with an exchange permit and told him I had to take a flight to Karchi that night. As he was arranging my travellers cheques, he asked me, "Will you do me a favour?"
"What favour can I do for you," I asked.
"Please bring me a little bit of the soil of Sindh."
While we were talking, one of his colleagues joined us. He too was a Sindhi, and he too wanted a bit of Sindh's soil.
My return flight to Delhi was also from Karachi. On my lasy day there, after dinner I went into the lawn of my hotel with two empty match-boxes and filled them with the soil of Sindh.
At the Delhi airport the customs officer became a little susicious when he saw two match=boxes in my suitcase. "Do they contain match-sticks?" he asked. "No," "I said. "They cotain soil I scooped up in Karachi for two Sindhi friends who has asked for it."
The two friends told me later they were keeping the sacred soil of Sindh in the prayer room.
I had the privilege of having Harikant Jethwani (1935-1994), a leading Sindhi writer of our time, as my colleague. Hewas in the night shift all the time as he had a day job elsewhere. His family had moved from Sindh to Ajmer in Rajasthan at the time of Partition. From there he came to Delhi to work as a journalist.
He wrote poems, short stories and plays in Sindhi. He received the Sahitya Akademi award in 1991.
Harikant was a very quiet and unassuming person. Few who worked with him knew that he was a well-known writer in his language.
Sindhis in Ajmer celebrating the Sindhi New Year Day
The recent attack on the Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru belonging to a Sindhi group displayed not only the deep-rooted prejudice of sections of our society but also their gross ignorance of the history and culture of other sections.
The Sindhi language finds mention in the list of India's national languages in the constitution. There are about 2.77 million Sindhi-speaking people in India now. They are spread across the country and there is no state or region they can call their own. Our National Anthem refers to their place of origin but it is part of Pakistan.
Enterprising Sindhis began migration in the 18th or 19th century and established themselves in business in other parts of the subcontinent as also in foreign lands. The Kishinchand Chellaram group, one of the oldest Sindhi business houses, began with a textile shop in Madras nearly one and a half centuries ago. By the early part of the last century it had outlets in Japan and Hawaii.
In the elections held in British India under the Act of 1935, the Congress came to power in Sindh. As the Pakistan movement gained ground, the Congress' influence waned, and the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha formed a coalition government.
Following Partition about 776,000 Sindhi Hindus came to India as refugees. Their descendants live with nostalgia for the land of their forebears which few of them have seen.
In New Delhi, the person I hd to deal with in the bank from which I bought foreign exchange for my travels was a young Sindhi. One day in1972 I went to him with an exchange permit and told him I had to take a flight to Karchi that night. As he was arranging my travellers cheques, he asked me, "Will you do me a favour?"
"What favour can I do for you," I asked.
"Please bring me a little bit of the soil of Sindh."
While we were talking, one of his colleagues joined us. He too was a Sindhi, and he too wanted a bit of Sindh's soil.
My return flight to Delhi was also from Karachi. On my lasy day there, after dinner I went into the lawn of my hotel with two empty match-boxes and filled them with the soil of Sindh.
At the Delhi airport the customs officer became a little susicious when he saw two match=boxes in my suitcase. "Do they contain match-sticks?" he asked. "No," "I said. "They cotain soil I scooped up in Karachi for two Sindhi friends who has asked for it."
The two friends told me later they were keeping the sacred soil of Sindh in the prayer room.
I had the privilege of having Harikant Jethwani (1935-1994), a leading Sindhi writer of our time, as my colleague. Hewas in the night shift all the time as he had a day job elsewhere. His family had moved from Sindh to Ajmer in Rajasthan at the time of Partition. From there he came to Delhi to work as a journalist. He wrote poems, short stories and plays in Sindhi. He received the Sahitya Akademi award in 1991.
Harikant was a very quiet and unassuming person. Few who worked with him knew that he was a well-known writer in his language.
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