Breaking the silence

The month of August saw an increased number of abductions of political activists, and some well-known civil society activists and writers. Some of them seemed to have been ‘disappeared’ only for speaking about missing persons. For example, Punhal Sario and Inam Abbasi. Over 160 people are reportedly missing in Sindh, but Sindh’s political forces have not only remained silent but also rather unconcerned about these disappearances. Three people abducted from Mithi have been released, but two key people still remain missing.

The Sindh Progressive Committee, an alliance of Sindh’s progressive political parties, mainly the Awami Jamhoori Party (AJP) led by Amanullah Shah, the Awami Workers Party led by Yousuf Masti Khan, the Communist Party of Pakistan and the Jeay Sindh Mahaz led by Khaliq Junejo have broken the silence and come out on the streets in protest and demanding rule of law and justice for the abducted activists.

With the other parties in the province mum over the issue, the fear of being abducted is a reality these days. People do not know why and for what crime they are going ‘missing’. Some parties consider it risky to speak for the missing persons.

There is neither a terrorist movement nor an armed insurgency in Sindh. A small group led by a leader in exile in Germany has been making noise and inviting trouble not only for his workers but for the rest of the nationalist movement in Sindh, a movement that G M Syed started back in the 1970s based on non-violent means. Now this whole movement is caught in the path chosen by one small faction. Action against the exiled leader’s followers is understandable, but raids and abduction and harassment are not and are a sheer violation of human rights and the law of the land. Tactics like these only reinforce the widely-held view of ‘a state within a state’, something that only ends up alienating our own citizens.

The Sindhi discontent has roots in Pakistan’s unjust political history. G M Syed, the founder of the modern nationalist movement in Sindh, was also a key leader of the All India Muslim League. He was the man who presented the Pakistan Resolution in the Sindh Assembly much before the resolution was passed in Lahore. It is undeniable history now that he was among the founders of Pakistan; it was only in the later years of the Pakistan movement that he parted ways with the Muslim League over issuance of election tickets in Sindh.

Many perhaps do not realise his intellectual and literary role in the awakening of modern Sindh. Pakistan’s first 23 years under dictatorships, instable political governments, and later the imposition of One-Unit by Gen Ayub Khan, sowed the seeds for discontent not just in Sindh but in Bangladesh as well. In the 1950s and 1960s, G M Syed wrote a political history of Sindh, reinterpreted Shah Abdul Latif’s poetry and reflected on the ‘Sindhian spirit’, its core values and Sufi character. It is hard to imagine a single Sindhi writer, poet and intellectual who was not influenced by G M Syed in that era. Up until he launched his Jeay Sindh Tehreek, his politics was all about the politico-economic rights of Sindh. Although he himself came from a feudal family, his core followers were mainly students from the lower middle class.

Pakistan’s creation had promised autonomy to federating units, unlike Congress’ centrist politics, but dictator Ayub deprived Sindh even of a provincial status. Sindhis had struggled for a provincial status for decades when under British rule, calling for separation from Bombay presidency. This was granted to it in 1935. Imagine: had Sindh not been a province, how would it have passed a resolution in support of Pakistan. However, dictators threw Sindh back to the same status of dependency, deprived it of its identity. When Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, the resource distribution among provinces was on multiple criteria and not just on the basis of population, but soon after Bangladesh’s separation, financial resources were distributed under a new formula of population, which definitely favoured one province in country. Consequently, Sindh felt exploited.

G M Syed was inspired by Gandhi’s peaceful political movement and never encouraged his workers to take up arms. He lost the election in the 1970s. Although he was Z A Bhutto’s arch rival, when the PPP government introduced the Sindhi language bill in the Sindh Assembly he supported the policy. Syed was imprisoned for his most of life after the creation of Pakistan and his house arrests continued till his death. And for what? He had never even thrown a stone at someone all his life.

We need to understand these historic reasons behind the political struggle of his followers. In his life he had lost control over his party and different groups had emerged and continue to operate under divided platforms. Had G M Syed’s politics been a threat to Pakistan, Gen Ziaul Haq would not have released him from jail nor would the establishment-backed provincial government led by Jam Sadiq and the MQM have attended his birthday celebrations.

Dictatorships and a lack of political and democratic processes in the country have weakened the socio-political fabric of Pakistan. Had there been justice and prosperity, such movements would have weakened and evaporated. Bhutto’s politics integrated Sindhis into Pakistan. He developed their stakes in Pakistan and helped create a Sindhi middle class. All his work was reversed when Gen Zia took over, breeding another longer phase of political resentment in the shape of the MRD.

The recent abductions of workers will further radicalise the youth and alienate society at large. Such unconstitutional means of suppression must stop. If there are valid reasons for action against such people, then let the law of the land address these concerns.

It is also unfortunate to see the silence of the Sindh Assembly and mainstream political parties on the issue of forced disappearances in Sindh. Only smaller progressive parties are showing some courage of speaking up, but does anyone listens to their voices?

Email: mush.rajpar@gmail.com

Twitter: @MushRajpar