- Sindhudesh
Sindhudesh ( _sd. سنڌو ديش, literally 'Sindhi Land') is a concept floated around by Sindhi nationalists in
Pakistan , for the creation of a Sindhi state. It was conceived by senior Sindhi political leaderG. M. Syed . A Sindhi literary movement emerged in 1967 under the leadership of Syed and Pir Ali Mohammed Rashdi, in opposition to theOne Unit policy and imposition ofUrdu by the central government. During the 1970 national election campaign, Syed proposed the formation of an autonomous Sindhudesh within a loosely federated Pakistan. The movement for Sindhi language and identity led by Syed drew inspiration from the Bengalilanguage movement , but the emerging Sindhi nationalism was marginalized as the populist agenda ofZulfikar Ali Bhutto 'sIslamic socialism drew mass support amongst Sindhi people opposed to the previous regimes. [Wright, Theodore P., Jr. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-4159%28199104%2923%3A3%3C299%3ACRAECI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B Center-Periphery Relations and Ethnic Conflict in Pakistan: Sindhis, Muhajirs, and Punjabis] ", in Comparative Politics, Vol. 23, No. 3. (Apr., 1991), pp. 299-312.] [Rahman, Tariq. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687%28199709%2937%3A9%3C833%3ALAEIP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Language and Ethnicity in Pakistan] ", in Asian Survey, Vol. 37, No. 9. (Sep., 1997), pp. 833-839.]With his political base largely weakened, Syed later advanced his position, towards openly demanding separation from Pakistan and build-up of an independent Sindhudesh in his books "Heenyar Pakistan khey tuttan khappey" (Now Pakistan Should Disintegrate) and "Sindhu Desh - A Nation in Chains". [Jalal, Ayesha. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7438%28199502%2927%3A1%3C73%3ACPHAOI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 Conjuring Pakistan: History as Official Imagining"] , in International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Feb., 1995), pp. 73-89.]
However, the
Sindhudesh concept does not enjoy a widespread support among the Sindhi people, and is confined mainly to a small band of dissident activists and students.Background
Despite the fact that Sindh was the very first region of British India to support the Pakistan Resolution, Jinnah had problems uniting all Sindhis to form a Pakistan. [ P. 28, "The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan" By Ayesha Jalal ] In 1936, Jinnah tried to create a League Parliamentary Board in Sindh but failed. [ P. 28, "The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan" By Ayesha Jalal ] School textbooks of Pakistan that
Raja Dahir , the last Hindu ruler of Sindh was cruel and evil [ [http://www.sdpi.org/whats_new/reporton/State%20of%20Curr&TextBooks.pdf "The Subtle Subversion", "The State of Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan"] ] and although most Sindhis are Muslims, many nationalists, especially Hindus, treat Raja Dahir as a nationalist who fought Arab imperialists. [http://yangtze.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali/sindh/story/node22.html]See also
*
Sindh
*Indus Valley References
External links
* [http://www.sindhudesh.com/gmsyed/nation/saeen-book5.htm G. M. Syed. "A Nation in Chains"]
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