Author: Vasantha Arora
Publication: News India
Date: November 22, 2002
URL: http://www.newsindia-times.com/2002/11/22/usa-top10.html
The sense of alienation and suffering
of Sindhis, living as a minority in Pakistan, has prompted demands for
their right to self-determination at a day-long conference organized by
the World Sindhi Institute (WSI) on Nov. 9 to discuss 'Sindh, the Water
Crisis and the Future of Pakistan.'
The Sindhis, who have a distinct
language, culture, tradition and history, have been subjected to so much
discrimination, denial and deprivation in their own land that today not
only their language, but their cultural identity and way of life were endangered,
said participants at the conference. They said that after years of economic
hardship, Sindhis were now being denied a fair share of the Indus river
waters by Pakistan's military rulers.
Many participants demanded Sindh's
secession from Pakistan, drawing parallels with the creation of Bangladesh,
since they have had been denied economic, cultural and political rights,
reducing their status to second-class citizens in their own country.
The right to self-determination,
the hurt Sindhi psyche and the task of preserving Sindhiyat ---- the music,
language, arts, food and other cultural aspects of the Sindhis ---- were
discussed at the conference. Some activists also brought into focus the
disunity among Sindhis that has prevented the community from finding solutions
to its problems.
The participants appealed to the
international community, especially the United States, to take note of
the voice of minorities in Pakistan and to exert pressure on Islamabad
to redress their grievances. Pakistan should be asked to restore democracy
and educational reforms to save Sindhis and other minorities from economic
and political ruin, they said.
The Sindhis have had limited access
to political power as the Punjabis have dominated the political arena in
Pakistan, the participants said, adding it was the main reason behind the
Sindh region being denied adequate water.
The severe draught conditions in
Sindh was a fallout of the construction of 16 barrages and 17 canals along
the Indus river in the Punjab region, the activists said, pointing out
that while Punjab was cultivating 25 million acres of land, only seven
million acres of land was cultivable in Sindh. The proposed Thal canal,
the latest Indus river project, will make life harsher in the Sindh region,
they added.
In his opening address to the conference,
which was attended by Sindhis from Canada, Pakistan, Britain and the U.S.,
Dr. Jamal Hassan, a Bangladeshi professor who had fled East Pakistan and
now lives in the U.S., compared the similarities between Sindh today and
East Pakistan prior to the creation of Bangladesh.
He said the Pakistan army had unleashed
a war of terror on students, teachers and those who opposed military rule
in 1971. "The past mistakes of Bangladesh are being made in Sindh today,
and the day will not be far off for Sindh to break away from Pakistan,"
he said.
WSI president, Sohail Ansari, expressed
concern that elections in Pakistan had not brought about a change. He said
unless the government listened to the concerns of the Sindhis and acted
to alleviate their grievances, there could be no hope for the future of
Pakistan.
The conference was dedicated to
the memory of Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died on Oct. 25 in an air crash.
Paying a tribute to the late Senator, Ansari said Wellstone gave a lot
of moral support for the cause of Sindhis and raised their issues in Congress
on several occasions. "Wellstone was a vocal supporter of the Sindhis,"
he said.
Dr. Maqbool Aliani, a participant,
said the other face of the Pakistani military and Punjabi colonialism was
Islamic fundamentalism and pan-Islamism, which constitute the biggest threat
to peace and stability in South Asia and in the U.S.
Pakistan is known today for encouraging
religious extremists, unprecedented diversion of resources to military,
suspected terrorist links, military adventurism and an unending conflict
with India, he said. "This instability does not bode well for the region
and has a potential of engulfing South Asia and parts of Central Asia and
the Middle East," Aliani said.
Dr. Altaf Memon, another participant,
said political maneuvering in Pakistan by the dominant Punjabis has ignored
the needs of Sindhis and Baluchis.
The denial of an equal share of
the Indus river waters has created ecological, social and economic problems
in Sindh, he said, adding that there had been a 250-percent rise in waterborne
diseases in the region due to scarcity of drinking water.
He demanded fair Indus river water
policies based on the Sindh-Punjab agreement of 1945; ban on construction
of any structures, including the Kalabagh Dam or similar dams; an end to
water piracy by Punjab and obstruction of free flow of Indus River to lower
riparian Sindh; and speedier implementation of policies to ensure the ecology
of the Indus river.