Sindhis: Hardening of Identities after Partition

Author(s): Rita Kothari

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 35 (Aug. 28 - Sep. 3, 2004), pp. 3885-3888
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 bin Qasim)andtherebycauseda transfer
Sindhis: Hardeningof of power from Muslim to non-Musim
Secondly,iteffectedthemerger
authorities.
of Sindh with the Bombay Presidency
Identities after Partition shatteringtherebySindh's geographical,
culturalandpoliticalisolationfromIndia.
So far Sindh's relationshipwith 'India
Over two million Hindu Sindhis (whoformed a religious proper'was somewhatepisodicandit had
minorityin Sindh,now in Pakistan) migratedto India during therefore,for betteror worse,evolvedits
own polity.Withthe convergence,Sindh
partition. Theirpsychic wounds and rupturesremainunknown ceased to be isolatedfrom maincurrents
to most. Of these ruptures,the most serious one has been the inIndiaduringthe 19thcentury.Theemer-
community'smove towards hardenedidentities. Yetless than a gence of modernsocial and politicalin-
hundredyears ago, the Sindhispractised a very non-textualised stitutionsin Sindh establishedby both
form of Hinduism. Hindus and Muslimsare largely an out-
come of thisphenomenon.Theproximity
RITA KOTHARI interpretationsprevailon why the British with pan-Indianmovementsleft neither
neededSindhin the 19thcentury,a land- the Hindusnor the Muslims untouched
rT he discussionherehingeson those lord-dominated backward ruralsector.Ac- althoughthe manifestationsvaried.
years in colonial Sindh when the cordingto ClaudeMarkovits(2000), the
Hindus and Muslims were moving opiumtradecarriedout from Rajasthan Occupational Economy
from fluid and porous religious identities throughSindhon its way to Chinaled the
to more segmented ones. This shift in Bombay government's interest in the As mentionedearlier, the Hindus of
identities did not take place overnight, province. Sindh also provided a com- Sindh (who form the chief focus of my
nor was it a uniform phenomenon, but it mercialand politicalgatewayto central study) were a religious minority in a
undoubtedly has it roots in the tumultuous Asia. This combinationof commercial Muslimprovince.However,this had not
years from 1920 to 1947 during which and military interest made the British preventedthemfrombeing Sindh'smost
Sindh became an autonomous province make several (abortive) attempts to wealthy class. On visiting Sindh, the
and was eventually lost to Pakistan. Iden- captureSindhresultingin its annexation famoustravellerRichardBurtonremarked
tities that had hitherto been blurred and fromthe TalpurMirsin 1843. Sindhwas that "throughoutSindh, the Hindu ele-
intertwined stood out as distinct 'and one of the last provincesto be annexed mentpreponderates inthecitiesandtowns,
communal during that period. It it regret- and it seemed that once the Bombay the Moslem in the country: the former
table for this researcherthat a tradition of government'sinterests were served, it everywhererepresentscapital,the latter
communal harmony and sufi-syncretism caredlittlefor Sindh'sdevelopment.The labour"(1993:298).Thetwopredominant
should have turned into a cesspool, leav- region of Sindh was largely a hunting communities,amilsandbhaibandsamong
ing a legacy of hatredamong HinduSindhis ground for English officials and the Hindu Sindhis controlledthe economy.
who contribute substantially today to the Bombaygovernment'sattitudeto Sindh The amils (literally meaning,the 'edu-
upsurge of religious fundamentalism in remainedindifferent makingtheprovince's cated ones') operatedas revenuecollec-
India.This is not to suggest thatthe Hindu- transition from feudalism to colonial tors and consultantsto the TalpurMirs.
Muslim relationshipin pre-colonial Sindh modernityconsiderablyslow. According The bhaibands(traders,moneylenders,
did not have imperfections, nor to re- to Hamida Khuhro,the Sindh that the shopkeepers) dominatedeconomyoutside
inforce the common cliche about 'divide Britishencounteredwas "likethe rest of the court.In some sense every non-amil
and rule policy' so easily attributedto the Indiaat thetimeof theconquest,a peasant HinduSindhiwas a merchantand histo-
British. However, colonialism and its society ruled by despots of either the riographyon Sindh refersto the 'Hindu
attendant institutions caused serious im- imperialor localvariety.It was likeIndia, bania'or 'Hindusethia'to denoteits all-
balances in the socio-economic life of essentiallya 'medieval'society with no embracingmercantileclass. It must be
Sindh and this paper links up imbalances inklingof democraticpractice.Therewas mentionedthatthese economicdivisions
with emerging self-images. however a very significant difference among Hindu Sindhis determinedtheir
This paper is neither a history of Sindh between Sindh and the rest of India. socialhierarchy.The Hindusof Sindhare
nor what Gyan Pandey terms as the 'the Sindhwas the only provinceof the sub- exceptionalin being free of the caste-
communal riot narrative' dominant in continent which was overwhelmingly system.However,it is beyondour scope
colonial historiography (1990:23). It is a Muslim in population.In Sindh 75 per to contextualisethis phenomenon.
narrative built of multiple, official and cent of the population was Muslim, As for the Muslims of Sindh, a very
unofficial, biased and not-so-biased whereasin the Punjaband Bengal,their large class (approximately24 per cent)
sources written on both sides of the bor- majorityprovinces,littleover 50 percent wasformedby agriculturalists ortheharis
der. At best, it provides a historical context were Muslim"(1981:170). who tilled lands for Muslim and Hindu
for a study on the Sindhis of India. Britishcolonialismbroughttwo imme- zamindars.The Muslim zamindaror a
Borderingthe Indian states of Rajasthan diateandfar-reaching changesin Sindh's respectedelderlyinvillageswascalledthe
in the west and Gujarat in the north, history:firstly,it brokean uninterrupted waderoandheoperatedasthefeudalmaster
Sindh had barely drawn colonial attention Islamicrule(datingbackto 712 AD when for bothHindusandMuslims.In political
until the mid-19th century. Multiple Sindhfirstfell to thearmyof Muhammad terms,all HinduSindhis(no matterhow

Economic and Political Weekly August 28, 2004 3885

rich) were under the religio-political au-
thority of the Mirs or the royalty, the pirs
or the religious elite and the wadero or
feudal chiefs - the three power centres that
characterised the Muslims. The Muslims
of Sindh, although a numerical majority,
were poor, uneducated and lived mostly
in villages. The paradox of an affluent
religious minority and a politically-strong
but poor majority was on4y one of the
paradoxes of Sindh, its most unique fea-
ture was the religious eclecticism shared
by both communities. Before we move
over to the socio-religious practices in
Sindh, it must be mentioned unequivo-
cally that Sindh's most vulnerable class
were the haris. Both Hindus and Muslims
were engaged in exploiting this ruralland-
tilling class although from the late 1930s,
the Muslim League made false claims to
safeguard its interests.1
Socio-Religious Dynamics
It is evident in the section above that
economic and political relationships be-
tween Hindus and Muslims in Sindh were
farfrom symmetrical.The economic power
among the Hindus found its complement
in political power of the Muslims. Except
for the peasant class which remained
exploited by all, Sindh had evolved its own
networks of understanding between the
Hindus aind Muslims. None of the eco-
nomic and political asymmetries damaged
a sufi-indoctrinated way of life in Sindh.
Modes of religious worship in Sindh were
fairly eclectic and it involved a widespread
participation of the two major religious
communities in the worship of saints
beloiiging to the other community
[Markovits 2000:48]. Not idyllic, but a
relatively harmonious world view charac-
terised religious matters in Sindh. This
may be explained by Sindh's long expo-
sure to Sufism and Sikhism, as well its
culturaldistance from the rest of India. The
Hindus of Sindh practised a very atypical
form of Hinduism which precluded the
caste system but included the worship of
dargahs and pirs.
Religious boundaries in Sindh were so
porous that Motiram Ramwani notes, "the
Hindu of Sindh ceased to be a Hindu, and
the Muslim ceased to be a Muslim. Islam
came to Sindh in the form of Sufism,
Guru Nanak's Sikhism came without its
Khalsa element, all forms of religious
though changed their nature in Sindh"
(1987:136). The names of Shah Abdul
Latif, Shaikh Ayaz and Sachai Sarnast
3886
leave little room for substantiating
Sindh's long tradition of sufi syncretism.
On the whole, indistinct identities that
could not be attributed to any single
factor and may be accounted by several
historical reasons (such as large-scale
conversions, influences of Sikhism and
Sufism, a non-brahminicaland mercantile
culture) made Sindhi's socio-religious life
fairly unique.
to Colonialism
Responses
Coming back to colonialism and the
responses it evoked from Sindhi Hindus
and Muslims, it is possible to agree with
K R Malkani who notes that the Hindus
were far more enthusiastic than Muslims
(1984:61). The merger with the Bombay
Presidency proved to be psychologically
reassuring for the Hindus who were then
no more a religious minority in an isolated
province. It also gave them the confidence
to use their capitalistic power and allowed
them to own land. It is a matter of debate
whether Hindus could own land in pre-
colonial Sindh. K R Malkani's view that
Hindus suffered from Muslim tyrannyand
could not neitherown land, nor hold public
functions betrays an uncritical perception
of the times (1984:79). At the same time,
even an ideologically divergent historian
like Hamida Khuhro admits of a 'large-
scale transferof agriculturalland from the
Muslim hari to the Hindu bania in colonial
Sindh' (1981, 1991:171). Khuhro's study
of colonial Sindhclearly implies thatBritish
land reforms enabled the Hindus to charge
rampantly high rates of interest upon the
haris and increased the exploitative
tendencies among Hindus. It is believed
that on the eve of partition,Hindu Sindhis
owned 40 per cent of the cultivable land
in Sindh. According to Markovits these
figures are exaggerated, and need not be
attributed to the myth about 'usurious'
Hindus, the capital accumulated by the
Hindusmay have come fromtheirdiasporic
trade (2000:44). The differences between
various historical perspectives notwith-
standing, it does seem clear that British
rule proved economically beneficial for
the capitalistic Hindu. It is possible to see
the benign effects of colonialism even on
the arnilsection of Hindu Sindhis. Like the
kayasths from north India, the amils had
the wit to learn British administrative
techniques and from being indispensable
in the mirs' courts, they became indispens-
able governmentemployees in the Bombay
Presidency.Inthe meanwhilethe shikarpuri
Economic and Political Weekly
tradersalso carried on with their diasporic
trade despite the British presence, while
the bhaibands (another trading section)
began selling Sindhi embroidery and craft
to British colonies.
Unlike the Hindus, the Muslims of Sindh
did not gain direct benefits from the new
dispensation. The transfer of power from
the pirs and mirs to the British authorities
created tremendous sense of displacement
among Muslims. Secondly, the Muslims
largely lived in rural Sindh and could not
therefore easily create an urban, well-
heeled middle class that existed among
the Hindus. According to G M Syed (the
doyen of Sindhi nationalism) English co-
lonialism was indifferent to villages, its
benefits went only to urban Sindh
(1982:25). The new schools were in urban
centres while the Muslirns were in rural
Sindh and the new education policy was
not the kind of education Muslims were
used to [Khuhro 1981:171]. The census
figures for 1921 point to a sharp discre-
pancy (to the ration of 10:1) in the levels
of literacy between Hindus and Muslims.
Over the three decades of British rule in
the 19thcentury, the Muslims found them-
selves at a disadvantage, politically and
financially, vis-a-vis Hindus and other
communities.
Emergence of New Organisations
The economic unrest among Muslims
led to the formation of important
organisations such as the Sind Moham-
medan Association (1885), Sind Zamindar
Assocation (1886) and Sind Madrassah
Board (1885). Formed by leading and
educated Muslims such as Hassanally
Effendi and G M Bhurgri, these organi-
sations would play significant roles in
charting a political course for Sindh in the
20th century. Although the politics of these
organisations were not revolutionary or
nationalist' in the sense which came to
be accepted later, they "'safeguardedthe
interests of the Muslim community as a
whole whether these were agricultural
interests or the demand for adequate rep-
resentationin politics" [Khuhro1981:172].
According to Khuhro, such modern politi-
cal organisations by Muslims formed
pressure groups of their own and sought
the separation of Sindh from Bombay
Presidency. However, during their incep-
tion in the 19th century, they saw them-
selves as representing a particular class,
ratherthan a religious community.The
samenon-communalnotiongovernedthe
August 28, 2004
establishment of early Sindhi Hindu The 'Sindh Story' by K R Malkani,the autonomous province, a process that
organisations (such as the Sindh sabha, autobiographical accountby Narayandas consumed the energy of two generations
later named as Sukhi sabha and built along Malkani,andthe biographicalaccountof of Sindhi leaders. The demand to separate
the lines of the Brahmo Samaj).2 In fact ChoithramGidwani- leadingfiguresfrom Sindh from the Bombay Presidency was
the trajectory of modern organisations in Sindh's public life - refer to the Hindu a local, administrative issue at the begin-
Sindhrevealsthatexcept in cases of Muslim Sindhis'admiration forLokmanyaTilak's ning of the century and in which both
League and the Hindu Mahasabha in the revolutionaryactivities [Malkani 1984; HindusandMuslims participated.The issue
years before partition, membership in- N Malkani 1973; Behrwani 1994]. It is was first brought to a platform by Ghulam
cluded both communities. However, a sig- difficultto assess whetherMuslimsparti- Muhammed Bhurgri and Harchandrai
nificant difference lay in the organising cipatedinthesepre-Gandhian movements. Vishindas representing both Muslim and
principles of both communities which also However,Gandhi'svisit to Sindhin 1928 Hindu opinion in 1913. It seemed then to
reflect their respective concerns: organi- provedto be a landmarkevent for both both Hindus andMuslims thatSindh would
sations by Hindu Sindhis had the thrustof communities.G M Syed movingly de- develop better without the autocratic
social reform, while the Muslim organi- scribes his visit to Larkanofor the first governance of the Bombay Presidency
sations aimed at economic justice and Khilafat conference in Sindh and his [Mateke 1998:131]. Ever since the British
distribution of resources. decision to join the Congress in the captured Punjab, suggestions were made
followingwords:
At this point, it is useful to mention that about absorbing Sindh in the Punjabprov-
social reform activities among Hindu "Bornin Muslimfamily,havingits own ince. It was admitted even by the British
Sindhis inspired by the progressive ideals traditionsandsentimentsas well as itsown officials that Sindh was a self-contained,
of the Brahmo Samaj during the 1860s past history...I hadcome to an early age territorial unit that did not stand to gain
tapered into revivalistic reforms of the undersufisticinfluenceandI wasmentally much from the Bombay government.
Arya Samaj by the end of the 19th cen- in receptivemood to welcome the Con- However, the subject of separation as-
tury.3 The presence of the Arya Samaj was gress"(1996:30).In the 1940s, the same sumed a different complexion once Hindu
a response to a plea made by a leading G M Syed would turn into a bitterand and Muslims were represented by the
reformer Dayaram Gidoomal (who was unhappyopponentof the Congressand Hindu Mahasabhaandthe Muslim League.
also one of the founding fathers of the join the Muslim League. Writing to Sindh seemed like a foundation on which
Sindh Brahmo Samaj) to Arya Samaj in ChoithramGidwani,(a well knownCon- to build the edifice of a Muslim nation,
Punjab.The plea followed a feeling among gress leader)duringthat period, Syed's while the Hindu Sindhis feared that they
a certain section of the Hindu reformers letteris a sign of the times:We areat the would be reduced to a religious minority
thatthe Hinduconversions to Islam needed partingof ways.Timealonewilldetermine in a separate Sindh. From the Muslim
to be stopped. Consequently, Pandit who followed the path of righteousness point of view, the Hindu minority was
Lekhraj and Pandit Puran Anand reached and who went afterthe shadowof com- fortified against any kind of damage as
Sindh and made concerted efforts to stop munalism"(1996:33).Muchhadchanged they were much too affluent and politically
Hindus from converting to Islam. They in Syed's life, and in the life of Sindh.It organised to suffer at the hands of local
also introduced the shuddhi ceremony or is difficult to summarisethe transitional government in Sindh. The withdrawal of
the purification drive by which converted momentsin Sindhafterthe Khilafatand Hindu community's support to the
Hindus could be brought back into the Non-Cooperation,both of which were separation movement generated a lot of
Hindu fold [Chellani nd:56]. This link abandonedby 1923-24. Commentingon bitterness among Muslims and as debates
with 'pure' Hinduism would foster, as we that period,Khuhronotes, "In Indiathe became intense in the 1930s, the relation-
shall see later, new ones in future and ugly head of communalism reared ship between the two communities under-
prove decisive in reshaping a Hindu itself...the high passions aroused by went severe tests. It is not possible to go
Sindhi's identity. mass movements resulted in turning further through the tortuous path of
those movementsinto religiousfrenzy... Sindh's separation and its emergence as
the communal bitterness and strife an autonomous province in 1936 because
Changing Contours
spreadthroughout India in the 20s and myriad motives and implications underlie
As we move from the 19th to the 20th its effects were felt in the peaceful, the issue. When Sindh acquired autonomy
century, the luxury of neat divisions be- tolerantatmosphereof Sindh as well" on April 1, 1937 (by the government act
tween politico-economical and social lives [1982: Introduction]. of 1935), an "unhealable rift had occurred
cease to be available for historicisation. The efforts to forge a 'proper'Vedic between Muslims and Hindus" [Khuhro
Political developments in the 20th century Hinduidentity(as opposedto a nebulous 1982: Introduction].
Sindh, like anywhere else in India of that one that had hithertoprevailed)thathad Writing in 1947, Syed says, "Duringpast
time, are much closely intertwined with begunin the late 19thcentury,intensified dozen years or so events have taken place
the socio-economic concerns to allow overtheyears.WhileHindusweremoving with such breathless succession that even
separate treatment. Hence, the following awayfromblurredreligiouslines,theSindh landmarks stand exposed to oblivion and
discussion attempts to capture (however, MuslimLeaguewas wooingtheMuslims. obliteration" [1993: Introduction]. Sepa-
inadequately) the flux that characterised The polarisationin the religio-political ration from Bombay Presidency did not
Sindh in the 20th century. For the first two affiliationsof the two communitieshard- bring Sindh peace, in the ten years from
and a half decades, from about 1900s to ened furtherwith the issue of Sindh's 1937 to 1948 Sindh suffered from frequent
mid-1920s, intellectuals from both com- separationfrom the BombayPresidency. ethnic strife. Among the first incidents
munities opened themselves up to anti- The neglect of Sindh by the Bombay thatrockedthe Hinduconfidencewas the
imperialisticactivitiesledbytheCongress. Presidencyled to Sindh'sdemandfor an masjidManzilgahepisode.Respondingto

Economic and Political Weekly August 28, 2004 3887

a mass demand by the Muslims, the
MuslimLeaguetookuponitself to restore
a 15thcenturymosquethathad gone out
of use duringtheBritishrule.The mosque
stood next to a Sadh Belo, a place of
Hindupilgrimage.The Hinducommunity
registeredstrongprotestwhen thousands
of Muslimsin thesummerof 1939entered
the Manzilgahto offer prayers.Whatfol-
lowed were the Sukker riots in which
Hindussuffereda greatdeal. In the early
1940s,therewere moreinstancesof spo-
radic murdersof the Hindus. Gandhi's
exchange of letters with the Congress
leadersduringtheSukkerriotsandgeneral
lawlessnessin the 1940srevealanequally
strainedrelationship,a developmentthat
would lead HinduSindhisto reposetrust
in more 'effective' organisations.Mean-
while, the Muslim League had planted
itself firmlyon the soil of Sindh. It was
in Sindhthatthequestionof partitionwas
first raisedinformallyin 1938 and even-
tuallya resolutionsupportingthe demand
for Pakistanmadein 1942. Supportedby
MuhammadAli Jinnah,G M Syed, the
most sensitive and secular leader from
Sindh,was the primemoverof the reso-
lution. Syed had hoped that a Muslim
governmentwould finally give Sindh's
Muslimpoorduejustice,a dreamthatwas
never to be fulfiled.
Meanwhile,some questionscontinueto
bemarkedbyambivalence: DidtheMuslim
Sindhiswantan Islamicstateor did they
wanta betterlife for its poor?Was there
resentmentagainstall Hindusor only a
minoritythatformedthe'exploitativeupper
class?' Was the upsurge of communal
feelings in Sindh universaland deep? It
is verydifficultforthisresearcherto access
answersto these questions,but it is clear
thatdynamicsbetween70 percentMuslims
andthe27 percentHinduSindhiswhofelt
unwelcomeandinsecureareverycomplex
andno singlefactorcan 'explain'whytwo
millionHinduSindhisleft Sindhin 1947.4
In the last 10 yearsof theirlife in Sindh,
theHinduSindhiunderwentmanyrealand
imagined fears. At a time like this, a
differentorganisationwas bothassuaging
andcreatinganxietiesinthem.Thememory
of this organisationcontinues to live,
especially in the minds of many Sindhi
men.It wouldbe one amongmanymemo-
ries that the HinduSindhis would bring
with them. Burieddeep in their subter-
raneanpsyche,to be revivedsome other
time,in some context,this wouldbe their
associationwith the RashtriyaSwayam-
sewak Sangh.B3l
3888
Notes their history in the 20th century escape
documentation.
[This researchwas assisted by a fellowship from
the South Asia Programmeof the Social Science References
ResearchCouncilwith fundsprovidedby the Ford
Foundation.] Behrwani,Assandas(1994): ChoithramGidwani,
I Incidentally,a muchresented,Jewish-likefigure Bombay.
of a Hindumoneylenderwho allegedly thrived Burton,Richard(reviseded 1993):SindRevisited,
on the blood of the haris began to recurin the Vols I and II, Department of Culture and
late 19th and 20th century historiographyon Tourism, Governmentof Sind, Karachi.
Sindh. Khuhro, Hamida (1981): 'Muslim Political
2 After Sindh's merger with the Bombay Organisationsin Sindh, 1843-1937' in Sindh
Presidency, the Hindu Sindhi came in touch ThroughCenturies,Oxford UniversityPress,
with reformorganisationsin India.Among the Karachi, pp 170-79.
first developmentsin this regardwas Navalrai - (1982): 'Introduction',Separationof Sind.fro
Sevakram'smeetingwith KeshubChanderSen BombayPresidencyHistoryof IslamicCulture
thatled to the establishmentof the SukhiSabha
and Civilisation in Hamida Khuhro (1999)
in 1866. At the same time, reform in Sindh (ed), Islamabad,TheMakingof ModernSindh:
acquireda localslantandwomen'sissues(except British Policy and Social Change in the
in the case of dowry) hardly ever figured in NineteenthCentury,OxfordUniversityPress,
Sindh.For the early periodof social reformsee Karachi.
Motiram Ramwani's Sindh Asanjo Vaarso. Malkani, K R (1984): The Sindh Story, Sindhi
3 From this period on, it becomes difficult to Academy, Delhi,
describe the intersticesbetween contradictory Malkani, Narayandas (1973): Nirali Zindagi
world views of Sufism on one hand and Arya (Unusual Life), NavrashtraPress, Mumbai.
Samaj on the other.The anxiety of conversion Markovits,Claude (2000): The Global Worldof
in Sindh of the 19th century certainly served Indian Merchants 1750-1947: Traders of
as the bedrock of certain 'back to the Vedas' Sindhfrom Bukhara to Panama, Cambridge
movementsandshuddhisangathans.It is useful
University Press, UK.
to contextualise the Hindu Sindhi's intense Mateke, Philemon (1998): 'The Separation of
resentmenttowardsconversions (in a hitherto Sindh from Bombay Presidency' in Mughul
fluidsociety) againstSindh'sincreasingcontact Yakub (ed), Studies on Sind, PakistanStudy
withpan-Indianmovements,andalso a response Centre,Universityof Sind,Jamshoro,pp 131-60.
to missionaryactivity in India. For the history Pandey, Gyanendra(1990): The Constructionof
and reach of the Arya Samaj in Sindh, see Communalismin ColonialNorthIndia,Oxford
Gobind Chellani's Sindh ail Arya Sanlaj.
University Press, New Delhi.
4 Since Sindhhasremainedmarginalto historical Ramwani, Motiram (1987): Sindh ain Asaanjo
andacademicdiscourse,sourceson thisprovince Varso (Sindh and our Inheritance)Mumbai.
are few and farbetween.The historiographyon Syed, G M (1982): Sindhuajee Saanya (Under-
HinduSindhishasa special problem;it no more standingSindh) introducedand publishedby
formsa partof scholarshipin Pakistan.In India, Kirat Babani, Mumbai.
the Sindhis are a scattered, stateless and -(1996): StruggleforNew Sildh, Sain Publishers,
mercantilecommunity- all of which has made Sehwan Sharif, first edition 1949.
Madras Institute of Development Studies
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