Sindh Case: Shah Adam
“For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.”
Concise historic case of Sindh.
There are three main civilizations in the history of mankind. Indus, Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization. Sindh is from those countries who had glorious and prosperous past.
The Sindhi’s feel that they are a separate and full-fledged nation, according to the recognized political, social as well as cultural principles. They are proud of their past, their language, their culture, their literature and their folklore. Sindh is a littoral country, strategically placed and its near to the strait of Homruz ; that is a important sea route on the other hand mighty Indus river had fertile Sindh since centuries. Resource rich Sindh and strategically placed Sindh have always attracted occupiers, conquerors, invaders and colonizers due to its productive wealth. Therefore in the evolutionary process of Sindhi nation it had confronted many ups and downs. They are proud of the resistance movements of their forefathers against the Greeks (Alexander the Great), the Achaemenids (Darius-I), the Arabs, the Taghlaks, the Mughals and the Arghuns, Nadir Shah and the Afghan marauders like Shah Shuja and lastly the British.
Sindhi nation have always staked their life for the sake of their nation to protect their liberty and existence. One defining period in the history of Sindh came during the 17th century when modern boundaries of Sindh were demarcated by Kalhora ruler. After that reigns had got into the hand of Talpur rulers ultimately Sindh was annexed by British in 1843.
The battles of Miani and Dabo against the British which resulted in the enslavement of Sindhis have a central place in their folklore and poetry, especially the bravery and sacrifices of heroes like Hoshu. Language and literature play a very vital part in the building blocks of nationalism. The fact is that Sindh has an extremely rich literature which has inspired its people for centuries to fight for their freedom and liberty.
When we will have glance at the history of Sindh we will know that Indigenous Dravidians Rai dynasty have ruled Sindh from 323 to 415. After that from 645 to 712 Sindh was ruled by Raja Dahir he was martyred while defending his country from Arab Imperialism. Sindh was occupied by Arabs in 712 to 854 AD. Sindhi nation re-gained their independence from Arab imperialist in 854 and indigenous Soomro family ruled Sindh till 1051 once again indigenous Samma family ruled Sindh from 1051 till 1350. Sindh was attacked by Turks in 1351 who genocides and plundered Sindhi nation and they occupied Sindh till 1560. Mughals ruled Sindh for 200 years and eventually ceaseless struggle of 200 of Sindhi nation gave fruitful results and we regained independence new modern boundaries of Sindh were demarcated in the 17th century.
Sindh currently a colony of Pakistan (Punjab) has maintained the status of an independent state till it was conquered in 1843 and merged into British India. In the aftermath of partition of sub-continent in 1947 the then Sindh assembly voted by a tiny majority and by sheer manipulation of the ruling establishment to join the to-be-created state of Pakistan. The British conquered Sindh as an independent country but did not restore its independent status. Therefore, Sindh joined Pakistan but on the basis of Pakistan resolution 1940, according to which the constituents units were supposed to be “autonomous and sovereign” due to the unfair power structure in federation of Pakistan the promise of autonomy and sovereignty is never achieved. This has resulted in incredible status of economical, political and social hegemony and a terrible human rights situation after partition of India in 1947 most of the time Pakistan have been under military rule. All federal and provincial assemblies are working under the military imposed `legal frame work order`. The crisis and the instability in Pakistan is mainly derived from country’s present composition in which one province namely Punjab has an over whelming domination in all spheres of power. Peoples of smaller provinces especially Sindh and Balochistan are being denied their due political, economical, social and cultural rights.
Colonialism could end but perilous settlers-colonialism rarely ends so Zulifkarabad is the new game by Pakistani-occupiers to change the demography of Sindh.
Sindhi nation is suffering and in deprived condition and Pakistani-colonizers want to sow the seeds of settlers-colonialism again as that happened in 1947 when this rogue state came into being, there was state-sponsored-pogrom of Sindhi-Hindus in Karachi in 1948 and they were forced to flee away to India and Sindhi people were left in minority in Karachi.
“Zulifkarabad will be the new city on the coastal belt of Sindh on the Indus delta, its 150 km away from Karachi, it will be like Shenzhen (China’s boomtown) that city is situated on the Pearl river delta till 1979 it was city of poor fishermen and its population was 6 million and after Chinese started working there and invested now it’s population is 11m it’s the Special economic zone but the indigenous people were converted in minority before 1980 language spoken there was Cantonese and now it’s Mandarin like-wise Sindhi people will be in minority on their own land.” Zulifkarabad will be new economic zone and it is planned with the help of Chinese which will contain manufacturing and industrial units.
Sindhi nation already have suffered the Pakistani-occupation and colonialism by which Sindh’s resources and masses are being exploited. Land of Guddu and Sukkur Barrage in Sindh were allotted to Punjabi-Bureaucrats, Punjabi fascist army generals and Punjabi landlord’s even advertisement for sale of land was not published in Sindh, it was published in Punjab.
Local people talk with Dawn Newspaper, We have only heard about Zulifkarabad in newspapers. We are worried we will be thrown out of our land. We don’t want to get swindled. Indigenous people are not taken in confidence, whose future belong to that land. Indigenous people living there are confronting poverty, illiteracy, mortality rate is high, recent flood and massive rains have devastated southern Sindh and now Pakistan want to saddle Sindhi people by Zulifkarabad. Demography of Sindh will change. That is the tact of Pakistani-occupiers and colonizers as Chinese were doing in Tibet to convert the Tibetans in minority even same happened in Balochistan for Gawadar project but Baloch people resist and saved their land from changing demography.
Sindhi nation deny that enslavement and bondage in the name of development, Sindhi nation will resist that. Every development on occupied and colonized land looks like a torch and happiness for oppressed nation in fact it’s the way to sow the seeds of settlers-colonialism more deeply. Settler colonization is an ultimate colonizing act where settlers envisage no return, settler colonialism still tells a story of either total victory or total failure.
Zulifkarbad Map and the coastal area of Sindh
Zulfqar Abad
China is mostly interested in this region as China firstly started Gawadar port but resistance of Baloch people made them tripped now they are shifting towards coastal areas of Sindh but Chinese will confront resistance in Sindh also. Balochistan and Sindh are littoral States so China wants to form their hegemony on Arabian sea by getting control of coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan. “An independent Sindh will serve as a natural conduit for oil and gas pipelines from energy rich Central Asia to energy starved South Asia. Without an entrenched bureaucracy, Sindh will rapidly lead the way to economic expansion in South Asia. Most significantly for the rest of the world, given its long peaceful Sufi tradition, an independent Sindh will provide a bulwark against fanaticism and promote peace and prosperity.” (2) We can see the interest of China in Sindh and Balochistan by his energy needs in future: “China whose demand for crude oil doubled between 1995 and 2005 and will double again in the coming decade or two as it imports 7.3 million barrels of crude daily by 2020—half of Saudi Arabia’s planned output. More than 85 percent of the that China-bound oil will pass across the span of Indian ocean through strait of Malacca: the reason china is desperate for alternative energy routes to the Pacific, as well as overland ones into China from Central Asia, Pakistan and Burma.” (3) As well as “China seeking Gawadar and 75 miles away Pasni, China is active in Chittagong for container facility and also for naval base constructing roads, waterways and pipelines from Bay of Bengal to China Yunnan province.” (4)
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