| Author | Message | ||
     Siloan Side Hero Username: Siloan Post Number: 5608 Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 155.201.35.54 Rating: N/A |
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| Rasputin Comedian Username: Rasputin Post Number: 1243 Registered: 02-2008 Posted From: 192.146.101.71 Rating: N/A |
Nannenduku address chesthoo vesaaro artham kaaledu. Inthakee Sindhi Hindus ante Aryans aaa? Dawn newspaper ante, edo peshawari cuisine untundemo ani vacha  Coolpix: Kacchitamayina stand leni GOPI's ee desanaki anavasram.. | ||
| Siloan Side Hero Username: Siloan Post Number: 5603 Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 155.201.35.54 Rating: N/A |
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| Telugu_times Side Hero Username: Telugu_times Post Number: 9207 Registered: 02-2008 Posted From: 40.0.40.10 Rating: N/A |
THIS is with reference to Bina Shah’s article, ‘Burning Bridges in Sindh’ (Oct 24). Much has been written on the exodus of Sindhi Hindus from Sindh in the aftermath of partition in 1947, mostly castigating the Muslim majority of Sindh at that time for the divide that forced Hindus to migrate to India. The fact remains that Sindhi Hindus, as a class, had alienated themselves from majority the Muslim population of Sindh long before the partition. The movement of two communities in opposite direction came on the eve of British conquest of Sindh in 1843, when Muslim majority was left alone to defend Sindh. These separate paths continued after the British conquest when the Hindu minority adopted whole-heartedly the new educational system introduced by the British, while Muslims were still mourning the death of the indigenous academic structure. In due course of time, the Hindu minority emerged as a thriving middle class with doors wide open for them to the public and private employment. Coupled with their almost complete hold on trade and commerce and their increasing interest in acquiring and holding agricultural lands, the Hindus in Sindh, by last quarter of nineteenth century, were a force to be reckoned with. The Muslims in Sindh at that time, on the other hand, were mostly on the receiving end. Their prejudice against the system made them stand aloof and soon it dawned on them that as a class they were losing their ground everywhere: whether it was trade, commerce, services or politics. Having no education or technical training of the sort, they could not resort to anything that could rescue them from this plight. Intellectually, the first parting of ways came in the 1880s, when ‘Sindh Sabha’, a common academic and intellectual platform of Sindh’s Hindus and Muslims, broke down, with Muslims under the leadership of Hassanally Effendi opting for the cause of establishing Sindh Madressatul Islam, while Hindus with Dayaram Jethmal (DJ) in lead insisting on establishment of D.J. Sindh College, then called Sindh Arts College. There were very valid reasons forwarded by the intellectual leaders of both the communities to justify their insistence on their respective standpoints. For instance, the Hindus were of the view that establishment of a college was of utmost importance as there was no college in the province at that time where the school graduates could go. The Muslims thought that they needed the madressah more as they had not many school graduates to send to a college! Both the communities insisted on their plans, which created such acrimony that the viceroy of India had to lay foundation of both the institution on the same day in 1887. Subsequent developments only widened the gulf between the two communities in Sindh, Hindus further advancing and Muslims lurking behind in the webs of ignorance and poverty. In sspite of sharing the same language and culture, this disharmony in economic realities of the two communities culminated in majority Muslims driving minority Hindus from Sindh in the aftermath of partition. The lesson learnt here is that there should be even development across all segments of a society: whenever one community monopolises the advancement, the result is always a break-up! DR. someone |
