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POLITICS IN SINDH AND PAKISTAN MOVEMENT (1940-1947)

The topic of my talk today is Politics in Sindh and Pakistan Movement. It aims more at throwing light on the relationship of power politics in Sind and the Muslim League in order to attempt to understand the factors that contributed to the phenomenan of rise of Muslim nationalism in all Indian context.

INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND:

Indus Valley civilization in which the present province of Sind situated in is one the oldest civilizations of the world. Muhammad b Qasim conquered it in 712 and made it a part of Ummayad empire. Akbar made it permanent province of Mughal empire in 1592 but during Aurengzeb’s rule the grip of Mughal control became weak and Sindh became free from Mughal control in 1736. British Gen Napier conquered in in 1843 and as the army came from Bombay, so Sind became the part of the Bombay presidency in 1847 after the departure of Sir Charles Napier. The British encouraged Hindu traders and businessmen to settle in Sind to reduce the balance of population in their favour which was predominantly Muslim. The Sindhi Muslim leadership had been making a constant demand for the separation of Sind from Bombay which it actually became in 1936 after the enforcement of Govt of India Act, 1935.

Developed Hindu Minority and Backward Muslim Majority:

It is necessary to have some idea of socio-economic conditions of Sindh to appreciate the politics was going on there. The first signs of Hindu-Muslim conflict appeared in 1866 when Hindu money lenders were allowed to take possession of Muslim lands in exchange for debts and loans given to the Muslims. The interest rate was 18% and sometimes it exceeded to 36%. In 1824, there was not a single Hindu landowner. In 1892, the number of Hindu landowners possessing 200 acres was 1771. But in 1896, the Muslim gave 22% of their land to Hindus either in selling or in mortgaging.

Ref: Zahid Choudhry, Pakistan ki Siyasi Tarikh.

Hindus dominated the Urban centres of Sindh. Muslims represented only 42% of the total population of Karachi in 1941.

REF: Tariq Rehman LANGUAGE AND POLITICS IN A PAKISTAN PROVINCE :The Sindhi Language Movement AsianSurvey,Vol.35,No.11.(Nov.,1995),pp.1005-1016.

Hindu constituted 23% of the Sindh population and 75% were Muslims. Almost all of Hindu male population was literate while 92% of Sindhi population was illiterate. Hindus contolled grains produced bythe Sindhi Haris. All High government posts were held by the Hindus. The Hindu propaganda was so sharp and active that any Muslim who tried to alleviate the misery of

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the Muslim Haris was termed as anti Hindu and communalist and the British protected them. Mostly Hindus were money-lenders, merchants and capitalist who have entangled the Muslims in the unending net of debts with interest. The 16 ICS officers were Hindu as compared to only one Muslim ICS. The feudal owned 1.9 million acre of land on which they did not pay taxes, land or irrigation. Most of acquired land being the members of past ruling family, or due to showing loyalty to the British or due being the chief of a tribe or by being pir, or sajjada nashin.

Sindh consumed 12% of the tobacco consumed in the whole of India and feudal elite addict to hashis, opium and bhang. The Middle class was very small and even that was exploited. When the British conqured the Sind in 1843, the Hindu made only 15% of pop but in 1940 they were 27% because of the British policy of encouragement of Hindu settlement in Sindh. Only 3 lack living in cities out 32 lakh Sinhis lived in cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Sukkar Khairpur and 28 million lived in villages and out of 28 lakh half had no permanent residence and forced to live a nomadic life. Except for a few thousand the most of the Muslims living in cities did a small job of labourers and worker. It is interesting to note that few non Muslim labourers or worker could be found in big cities. 8% of the non Muslims cultivated the land and they belonged to scheduled castes. Landlords , Pirs, Mirs Waderas were very corrupt and the pirs exploited the ignorance and illiteracy of the poor superstitious Sindhis. Hindus exploited the backwardness of feudal and haris for their material advantage. Hindus became the owners of 30 % land and Muslim land was lying mortgaged with them because of the loans they took from Hindu money lenders.

REF: Syed Ghulam Mustafa Towards Understanding the Muslims of Sind Sindh observer press Karachi 1944 pages from 8-30.

BEGINNING OF MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS:

President of Muhammadan Association Ameer Ali came to Karachi in 1882 and founded

Muhammadan National Associatioin. Hasan Ali Afindi, a lawyer, became its president. The

objective of this organization were to promote Muslims educationally, culturally and

economically while promoting loyalty to the British. Hasan Afindi set up Sinh madrassa in 1885.

Muslim League in Sindh:

G M Syed in his book Junumb Guzaraim jin sain vol 2 p 49 writes:

Rais Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bhurgari was the first to found the Muslim League in Sindh.

The Congress and the Muslim League held their session together. Seth Abdullah Haroon was

appointed the president of Sindh Muslim League. He started al wahid in 1920 from Khilafat

Committee. Its first editor was Qazi Abdul Rehman.

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But formally the Sindh Muslim League was established on Oct 8, 1938 under the presidents hip

of the Quaid-i-Azam.

Tarikh Sind vol 3 by Ijaz ul Haq Qadussi Lahore: Urdu Science Board, 1984), 213.

SEPARATION OF SINDH

The first factor made British to take tough attitude in granting further concessions and the second factor was to cause differences between two major communities Hindus and Muslims on future constitutional issues, behavior was clearly be seen of Hindus and Muslims of Sindh towards separation of Sindh from Bombay presidency. Another complicating factor was the status of Sindh. It was part of Bombay Presidency. In those days there were only a few huge provinces. But being a distinct geographical and linguistic unit, Sindh felt neglected as a remote area. In 1913, Harchandrai Vishindas, as chairman of the Reception Committee to the Karachi session of the Congress, first raised the issue of separation of Sindh. His call was couched in the usual nationalistic jargon of "Sindh's distinctive cultural and geographical character," but in actual terms it was the voice of a compar- atively fragile commercial class of Sindh that felt threatened by the more prosperous Bombay tradex4 Vishindas was soon joined by a Sindhi Muslim politician, Ghulam Mohammad Bhurgri, who, though originally a wadero (landlord), was a successful London-educated lawyer representing the Mus- lim urban interests. The campaign for the separation of Sindh was based on the belief that Sindh had lost its distinct identity under the Presidency, but the underlying reason was the step-motherly treatment that Sindh was subjected to by the Presidency's administration. That Hindus had a majority in the Presidency and Sindhi Hindus grew more prosperous during that period helped to create a communal wedge between Hindus and Muslims.

REF: ' Pakistan's Sindhi Ethnic Nationalism: Migration, Marginalization, and the Threat of "Indianization" Adeel Khan Asian Survey, Vol. 42, No. 2. (Mar. -Apr., 2002), pp. 213-229.

But when the issue was raised at the Aligarh session of the Muslim League in 1925, it was transformed from a Sindhi demand into a Muslim demand. When, however, it was suggested that the Muslim-majority Sindh may be separated from the distant Hindu-majority Bombay, and then attached to the adjoining Muslim-majority Punjab, even the Sindhi Muslims refused; they had no intention of living under the shadow of a ``big brother''.

The majority of the Muslims --- led by Sheikh Abdul Majid --- favoured separation. But important leaders such as Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto (father of Z.A. Bhutto) and Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah opposed it. And so, for long, did the Sindh Muslim Association, representing the Muslim elite. They were not sure of the solvency of the province; the area had a

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deficit of two crore rupees. And they liked being part of a big and prosperous Bombay Presidency.

Hindus were, if anything, even more divided --- with Jethmal always favouring separation, Jairamdas always opposing it, and others changing sides with time and circumstance. A separate Sindh would mean full provincial set-up and a consequential job increase, most of which would inevitably go to the Hindus because of their education. An autonomous Sindh would come into its own --- economically, culturally, and otherwise. But they were also afraid of the Muslim majority --- and what that might mean for their security.

Interestingly enough, the rest of Bombay was also in two minds on the subject: they liked it bigger --- from Jacobabad to Hubli-Dharwar; but they thoroughly disliked the block of Sindhi Muslim MLAs who always danced to the British official tune. The Nehru report of 1928 favoured separation.

After much argument, thirty leaders from both sides signed the Sindh Hindu-Muslim pact in 1928. It laid down:

1. Sindh shall be separated. 2. Hindus will have 10 per cent weightage.

3. There will be joint electorates in Sindh.

4. There will be justice and equality for all.

It is sad to say that the Sindh Hindu Conference in Sukkur failed to ratify the Agreement. Bawa Harnamdas of Sadhbela Mandir of Sukkur was too apprehensive of Muslim aggressiveness to agree to a separate Sindh. (Had the Conference met in Karachi or Hyderabad, it would very probably have confirmed the Pact.) The Hindus now said they would accept separate Sindh only if joint electorates were introduced all over the country --- which was very high-minded, but hardly realistic.

This going back of the Hindus on their word was a disaster. In the Simon Commission there was a tie on this issue, but the chairman cast his vote for separation in 1930. At the Ottawa Imperial Trade Conference in 1932, Sir Abdullah Haroon of Sindh went along with the British business interests --- and the latter promised to separate Sindh. And so Sindh was born as a separate province on I April, 1936 as an act of favour to the Muslims by the British.

ECONOMY OF SUKUER BARRAGE

Sukkur Barrage was opened on January 1932 when the governor Loyad George

inaugurated it.The canal system of this barrage consisted of 4 canals on the right

side and 3 canals on the left side. It increased the area of irrigated land from

3286000 to 4142000 acres. The Muslim elite like G H Hidyatullah, Abdul Majd Sindhi

, Ayub Khuro and others feared that Hindu money lenders, landowners, capiltalists

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and educated middle class will be benfit most from the economic fruits of the

barrage. For them the Communal Award August 1932 was not satisfactory as it

awarded 24 seats to 25 % Hinudus on the basis of weightage or overreprestantation

to minorities for the protection of minority rights and now ministry would be statble

without their support. The Muslim majority situation in Sind resembled that of

Bengal and Punjab where non-Muslim minorities could influence any government.

And

The economic repercussion of Sukkher barrage were felt within next two years.

After 1934 large number of Muslim students from rural areas turned up to towns, for

education. In pre-Barrage days out of every five years crops, two would be below

the annual average, two about the average and only one above the average.  It was

not separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency that brought awakening in Sindh.

It was Sukkur Barrage, followed by Kotri and Guddu Barrages.

MUSLIM DEMAND OF SEPARATION OF SIND FROM BOMBAY: After the failure of the Khilafat Movement, All India Muslim League in its Aligarh session passed a resolution demanding speation of Sind from Bombay Presidency the basis of ethnic, geographic, and other dissimilarities. The demand was repeated in 1927 All Parties Conference of 30 l\ Muslim leaders called by Quaid I Azam. One of Jinnah’s 14 points again called for the separation of Sind from Bomaby and impelementation constitutional reforms to make it a separate province. Syed Meeran Shah and Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidyatullah argued in Bombay legislative assembly for the sepation of Sindh as Bombay and Sindh shared on similarities in terms of ethnicity, geography and economy. Finally in the light of the recommendation of Round Table confercnes , Govt of India Act, 1935 was approved by British houses of Lords and Commons and Sind was given the status of separate province.

The Quiad returned to India in October 1935 and organized AIML in the provinces of UP, Punjab, NWFP, Sindh.

Politics in Sindh: 1937 ELECTIONS IN SINDH AND AFTERMATH

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After the separation, while the communal feeling did not disappear, it undoubtedly lost intensity.

Muslims now enjoyed a solid majority in the province and therefore they had little reason to

worry about the dominance of a Hindu minority, however prosperous and influential it might be.

This Muslim majority status would also later shape the Sindh Muslim community's attitude

toward Mus- lim League (ML) politics. Sindhi politics during the decade prior to Partition were

marred by inter- personal and factional squabbling between waderos. But these issues would

take a backseat to a more overarching one: whether Sindh should become part of Pakistan or not.

Within a few months after the separation of Sindh, a non-communal party, Sindh Ittehad Party

(SIP), was formed on the pattern of Punjab's Unionist party. Its sole objective was to protect the

in~erests of Sindhi rural elite, both Muslim and Hindu. During the 1937 elections, the SIP won

the largest number of seats in the provincial a~sembly.~ At that time, the ML was virtually non-

existent in Sindh and could not even win a single seat there.

REF: Sarah Ansari, "Partition, Migration and Refugees: Responses to the Arrival of Muhajirs in

Sindh during 1947-48" in Freedom, Trauma, Continuities: Northern India and Independence,

eds. D. A. Low and Howard Brasted (Delhi: Sage Publications, 1998), p. 186

The elections were announced to be held in the province under new Act. On July, 1936, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidyatullah , Sir Sha Nawaz Bhutto, and Seth Abdullah Haroon formed a Sindh United Party on the lines of Punjab Unionist Party non-communal in character. In the October, Ghulam Hussain Hidyatullah fell out with Seth Abdullha Haroon on the matter of awarding tickets to the candidates.

Sir G H Hidayatullah formed another Party Sindh Muslim Party with the involvement of Khan Bahadur Ayub Khuro and Mir Banday Ali Talpur to participate in 1937 elections. Sindh united Party won 18 seats and Sind Muslim Party won 4 seats out of total 60 seats. League did not win any seat.

Sindh United Party (Muslim) 18, Sindh Hindu sabha 11, Independent Muslim 9, Congress 8, Sindh Muslim Party 4 Sindh Azad party (pro-congress) 3, Independent Hindu 2 Labour independent 1 Azad or independent 4. Total 60 seats. The Party position in 1937 elections was as follows: Muslim

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GH Hidayatullah of SMP formed coalition ministry with Hindu and independent members of the assembly. SUP was in opposition. Hidyatullah accepted the conditions of Hindu members to execmpt the jugnle pastures from taxes. After the death of Hindu speaker Bhoon singh, Syed Meeran Shah was elected the speaker , a move disliked by the Hindus and they withdrew their support from the coalition.

New Ministry was formed in March 1938 by Khan Bahdur Allah Baksh with the Congress and Independent Hindus. Only 7 out 36 Muslim members supported it. The supporters included G M Syed, Pir Illahi Baksh and Pir Ali Muhammad Rashdi.

Sindh Muslims considered Allah Baksh ministry as the puppet of the Congress

REF: GM Syed Struggle for the New Sind ( Karachi: Sindh Observer Press, 1949), p 8

Sindh Muslim League Conference 1938:

The 1st session of All India Muslim League was held on 29th December, 1907 in Karachi under the chairmanship of Sir Adamjee Pirbhai after its formation in Dacca in 1906. Sindh Provincial League conference was called on 8-10 Oct 1938 at Karachi by Haji Abdullah Haroon. Leading Muslim leaders like Fazlul Haq, Sadullah Khan, Liaqat Ali and ch.Khaliq uz Zaman attended it. Quaid Azam presided over it. From Sind The leadership had veteran leadersof the Khilafat movement like Sir Abdoola Haroon,Shaikh Abdul Majid and the younger leadership ofMohammad Ayub Khuhro, G.M.Syed, Hatim Alavi and M.H.Gazdar in the forefrontJamal Khan Legahi participated in it. The chairman reception committee Adbullha Harron in his welcome address stressed the need for independenet Muslim federation for Indian Muslims. The Quaid accused the Congress of trying to destroy League and Muslims culture.In the Subjects Comitte of the Conference a resolution was passed which urged the solution of Indian problem lay in self-determination and the social betterment of Muslims and Hindus being the two nations of the subcontinent. The confrecnes recommended to the AIML to devise a schemce of constitution under which Muslim majority provinces may attain full independence.

The draft of the resolution was clearer and more specifid than the Lahore Resolution 1940 as it clearly envisaged an independent federation of Muslims states. But the ML did not accept this resolution as the was not ripe.

Sindh Provincial League conference revived the Sind Muslim League and nominated Abdullah Haroon to Pir Muhmmad Rashdi and Sir Ghulam H Hidayatullah as President, vice president, and Gen secretary. 27 Muslim members of assembly formed Sindh Muslim League assembly party.

The Quiad held meeting with members of assembly to form Sind Muslim League assembly Party. Ghulam Hussain and Mir Bande Ali talpur were made leader and deputy leader of the of the Muslim League assembly Party. G M Syed wanted to remove Allah Baksh soomro

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ministry but G Hussain and Bande Ali crossed the floors and the no-confidence motion was failed.

MANZILGAH MASJI QUESTION 1939

The Masjid was built during the reign of the great Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar in the 10th century Hijri by the governor of Sukkur, Mir Masoom Shah Bukhari. But it was not until 1940 that it almost overnight became the focal point of Hindu-Muslim conflictThis Mosque since 1939 had been concerted into Military camp was claimed by Muslims. Hindus wars opposing simply because it happen to exist in Hindu majority residential and commercial area. As soon as the freedom struggle gained momentum, the Muslims of Sukkur began worship at this mosque, situated as it was in close proximity to the Hindu Teerath Mandir "Sadhu Belo" in mid-stream of the river Indus.

Though the Muslims were justified in their re-use of the abandoned mosque, there can be no doubt that their timing was politically motivated.

In order to mobilize the mass support and weaken Soomro ministry, working committee of Sind Muslim league in its meeting of March 1939 decided to take up manzilgah mosque issue. The longstanding demand of the Muslims of Sukkur to restore the historic mosque and serai to the community had been resisted by the rich and powerful Hindu communityof Sukkur. The mosque had been in possession of Hindus since the British conquest of Sind in 1843. ON a similar issue of Masjid shaheed ganj Unionist pary neutralized the Ahrar and won the elections in Punjab. Muslim League called on Muslim to celeberate 18th august 1939 as Manzilgah day a Civil disobedience movement was launched. The movement led to riot and 151 Hindus and 14 Muslims were killed. Hindu Panchayat prepared 21 points to safeguard their interests but Allah Baksh could not accept them . Muslim League accepted 21 demands to look for the office and ignored the Muslim League Assembly Party.Allah Baksh soomro ministry fell and Mir Bande Ali formed the ministry on 18 Mar 1940. The new ministry included the Nechaladas Vazrini, Ayub kHuro Sh. Abdul Majeed Sindhi G M Syed and Gokaldas Rai.

Support for Pakistan

The decade before partition saw Sindh as a politically unstable province where the making and breaking

of governments and ministries had become routine. The task of exploring Sindhis' aspirations became

even more difficult because Sindhi Muslims consisted of mainly two classes, the waderos

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and the Haris (landless tenants). The middle classes were insignificant in number. Yet another source of

repression was the pirs, who not only were some of the largest landlords in the province but also held

sway over the spiritual life of Sindhis, as religious guides and messiahs. Such almost total control over

the temporal and spiritual beings of the majority of Sindhi Muslims, coupled with the lack of

communication and education facilities, made it difficult to know their real desires and preferences. In

the 1940s, there were only two political forces who had a presence throughout India: the Indian

National Congress and the Muslim League. De- spite the growth of regional political forces, Sindhis had

to choose between the two main national political parties. domi- nance of the Hindu minority over the

economic and administrative sectors of Sindh remained an unhappy feature that from the Sindhi

Muslims' point of view could become even worse under Hindu-dominated Congress rule. Fur- thermore,

at least two of the Congress's professed objectives appeared omi- nously threatening to the interests of

Sindhi elite. First, there was the Congress's promise of land reforms, which the Sindhi elite, whose

numbersincluded some of India's largest landowners, did not even like to be men- tioned, let alone

implemented. Second, there was the Congress's plan for a strong central government, which allowed

little autonomy to the provinces. Also appealing was the League's demand for autonomous Muslim

states within the Indian union. Therefore, in 1943, ML members in the Sindh Assembly passed a

resolution demanding "independent national states" on the basis that "no constitution shall be

acceptable . . . that will place Muslims under a Central Government dominated by another nation."~

REF: G. M. Sayed, The Case of Sir~dh: G. M. Sayed's Depos~tion for the Court (Karachi: Naeen Sindh

Academy, 1995), pp. 18-19.

However, this did not mean that Sindhi politicians were in favor of the ML's demand for Pakistan.

Ayesha Jalal has argued that one of the most influential ML politicians, Ghulam Hussain, was "an

outspoken enemy of the Lahore resolution [later called Pakistan Resolution]" and "all against Pakistan."

According to Jalal, Ghulam Hussain believed that even Mohammad Ali Jinnah himself (Pakistan's

founder) did not have his "heart in the propo- sal at all."8 For the Sindhi elite, the situation was a careful

balancing act; they feared Hindu domination under India's rule and Punjabi domination in case of the

formation of Pakistan.

REF: Ayesha Jalal, The Sole Spokesmnn: Jinlznh, the Muslim League ar7d the Dernarzd for Paki-

stnrl (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1992), p. 110.

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LAHORE RESOLUTION AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SIND:

On March, 23, 1940, All India Muslim League formally declared the independent homeland for Muslims as its final destination. The Quaid presided over this 27th annual session held at Minto Park Lhr. Bengali nationalist later interpreted the Lahore Resolution to mean two federations as the word states was used. Sir Abdullah Haroon, Ayub Khuro and G M Syed participated in the Lahore session. All branches of Sind Muslim League held meetings and adoptd resolution endorsing the Pakistan demand . The Muslim Press of Sind also showed enthusiasm. The daily al Wahid, Karchi became the organ of Sind Muslim League and proved to be instruemental in mass mobilization. G M Syed started mass contact campaign in his province and formed an organzing committee. The leadership of the Provincial Muslim League was least interested in the organization of the party. Their objective was to form ministry.

Rivals of Muslim Leagues: Governor Graham, Soomro and Congress, and independent Hindus tried to divide the Sind Muslim league. In saving Allah Baksh, and serve Hindu money-lenders, the Congres forgot its socialist programme.

REVOLT OF HURS: In the Nov. 1940, the Hurs of Pir Sabghat ullah Shah revolted against the British, Pir Subghat Shah had spent some years in goal and he received revolutionary influences of anti imperialist radical activists. The British government suppressed the revolt ruthlessly. Allah Baksh during this revolt renounced his title of Khan Bahdur and accused the British of divide and rule policy and hence he was dismissed on October 10, 1942.

Sir Abdullah Haroon died on May 26, 1942.

G M Syed’s Rise and Fall: G M Syed was an egotist politicians who was interested in making and unmaking ministries at will. He was using Muslim League to establish his own hold over the political affairs of Sind. His rivals were strong feudals and waderas of Sind. He even suggested to Jinnah in his letter of Feb 1940 to strengthen the Congress which the Qauid rejected. G M Syed also formed Sind Nationalist Party. His nationalism was imbued with selfishness and opportunism. He was more concerned with his local politics which was one of the main source of friction with the Quaid who wanted to settle the question at all India level.

After Soomro, Bandy Ali Talpur became Cheif Minister with the support of pro Hindu congress. He also formed a non-communal Sind peoples association to couter the Congress and indepedenet Hindu. It was a time when the Congress in its Ramgarh session of 12 March, 1940 had launched a disobedience movement for full independence but the AIML replied to the Congress move by its Pakistan demand embodied in Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940.

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Jinnah tried to bring order into mess of provincial muslim league affairs by instructing that cabinet must be responsible to the Muslim Leage assembly party. Bandy Ali Talpur joined muslim League but Allah Baksh did not like this suggestion and crossed the floors.

The British government dismissed Allah Baksh from office and called on Ghulam Hussain to form a new ministry. At that time Ghulam Hussain did not command the supportof a single member. He started negotiations with the Muslim League Assembly Party and offered them someministries, provided they supported him in the assembly. The Muslim League was divided on the issue.Ayub Khuhro and G.M. Sayed groups were in favour ofjoining the ministry whereas Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhigroup opposed the move. Khuhro and Sayed succeeded ingetting their opinion endorsed by the working committee and the council of the Provincial League despite the instructions of M.A. Jinnah. Sheikh AbdulMajid who strongly opposed joining the ministryresigned from the post of general secretary. Soon Ghulam Hussain and Pir Elahi Baksh joined the MuslimLeague.

However, the working committee of the All India Muslim League in its Delhi session on 8th November 1942,deplored the act of Sindh Provincial League but in view of Ghulam Hussain’s joining the League allowed the arrangements to continue.

This proved a wise decision. During this period, the Muslim League expanded its organization and political work. By 1943, most of the Muslim members had ralliedunder the League banner and the League Assembly partywas able to muster support of 29 members out of 35Muslim members. At the budget session of Sindh Legislative Assembly on 3 March 1943, G.M. Sayed moved a resolution supporting the cause of Pakistan. Theresolution declared that.

“It is necessary for them (Indian Muslims) to haveindependent national states of their own and hence anyattempt to subject the Muslims of India under onecentral government is bound to result in civil warwith grave and unhappy consequences.”

The resolution, supported by 24 out of 35 Muslim members was approved. Thus Sindh assembly was the first legislature which supported the PakistanResolution. On 14 March, 1943, Allah Baksh was murdered and Ayub khuro was implicated in the case. The Quaid during his visist in June 1947 advised that that no minister should hold the post of the President of the Provincial league which favoured Syed. He was elected President by the council meeting of sind provincial muslim league.The Provincial League elections were to be held inJune 1943. With the Muslim League gaining roots amongthe Muslims of Sindh there started a tussle between

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Khuhro and Sayed groups for the control of theorganization.

Jinnah visited Karachi in early June 1943 to study the situation. He advised that no minister should hold the post of the president of the Provincial League. AyubKhuhro had to withdraw, hence the name of Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi was suggested for the post but on theinsistence of Jinnah and supported by Ghulam HussainHidayatullah, G.M. Sayed was elected president by thecouncil of the Provincial League. The annual session of All India Muslim League was heldat Karachi on 24 December 1943. G.M. Sayed and Yusuf Haroon acted during the session as chairman and secretary of the reception committee, respectively.

The holding of the Muslim League annual session in Karachi, gave impetus to the propaganda and organizational activity of Sindh Muslim League. But the struggle for power between the ministers and the League’s president was also increasing bitterly with a shadow of traditional tussle between Mirs and Sayeds.Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah enjoyed the support of Khuhro, Yousuf Haroon and the Mir Group. Whereas the Sayed group was well entrenched in the ProvincialLeague Committee. It was also supported by HashimGazdar, traditional rival of Haroons, and Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi. Sayed was not content with the post of the president of the Provincial League and intended to control the Muslim League government as well. To the disappointment of ministerial group, Sayedstrengthened his control of the League organization by getting himself re-elected as its president on 14 March 1944. Another Sayed, Ghulam Haider Shah was appointed general secretary. The working committee was also dominated by Sayed group. It is worth noting that during the tenure of G.M. Sayed the membership of the League was raised to nearly 3 lakhs. The branches were formed all over Sindh.

Sayed found himself in a better position to attack theministry. On 7 July 1944, the working committee of Sindh Provincial League criticized the ministry on its failure to redress the problems of people and resolved that the ministry should resign. The issue was placedbefore the working committee of the All India Muslim League which preferred not to take any decision but referred to the Sindh Muslim League Assembly party on technical grounds. During the meeting of the working committee where Sayed tried to denounce the ministry,Jinnah expressed his anger and contested Sayed’s claims. He opined that Sayed was prone tounconstitutional methods, unworthy intrigues and had precipitated a crisis in the ranks of Sindh Muslim League.

The two by-elections at Shikarpur and Tando Muhammad Khan constituencies also witnessed a fight between the two factions. The crisis was further precipitated bythe sudden and arbitrary dismissal of M.H. Gazdar, a supporter of G.M. Sayed group, from the ministry.

Now infighting entered the final round. In February 1945, Sayed retaliated and with the support of Maula Baksh and the Hindu leaders, defeated the ministry by

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25 votes against 19 on a one rupee cut motion sponsored by Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi.

The Governor deemed fit to give Ghulam Hussain some more time to consolidate his position by reshuffling, or expanding his cabinet. He out-maneuvered Sayed andappointed Maula Baksh as minister in order to win over Azad Muslim Party of late Allah Baksh.

At this point, Jinnah reacted sharply and held G.M. Sayed responsible for causing a split, breaking party discipline, shaking the solidarity of Sindhi Muslims and undermining the basic structure of the League organization and its aims and objects. The strong reaction by the president of Muslim League compelled G.M. Sayed to surrender and assure complete support to Sir Ghulam Hussain. The tables were turned and Ghulam Hussain who joined the Muslim League in order to save his ministry, had won the confidence of Mr. Jinnah and the person who made Sindh Muslim League a mass organization had become a persona-non-grata for the central leadership.

G.M. Sayed, over-run by the negative feelings of reaction decided to topple the Muslim League ministry. It was the second turning point in the political life of G.M. Sayed, the first being the joining of Muslim League to oust the Allah Baksh ministry. For theensuing battle, G.M. Sayed tried to strengthen hisgroup in the Muslim League and persuaded Sheikh AbdulMajid, Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi and G.M. Bhurgari tojoin the League. Ayub Khuro was arrested on charge of murdering allah Baksh on 26 sept, 1944.Rajgopalacharian formula and Desail-Liaqat secret talks may have encouraged Sindh Muslim league leaders to reach accommodation with the congress leadership on their own. Syed was in favour of league-congress rapprochement at Simla conference.

The final and bitter round in the war between the provincial and central League leadership, took place in the working committee meeting of the All India Muslim League held in 1945. Wherein G.M. Sayed and Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi opposed the attitude of the central leadership, and stressed the need for agreement with Congress for joint pressure on British government. Jinnah attacked them bitterly, and refused to make concessions to the Congress. The workingcommittee despite opposition from G.M. Sayed group decided to increase the powers of the Central Parliamentary Board and to completely centralize the parliamentary machinery functioning in various provinces.

For the 1946 elections, there emerged a three waystruggle for League tickets between Sayed, Ghulam Hussain (supported by Mir Group) and Khuhro groups. Soon after his return from Simla, Jinnah visited Sindhand tried to forge unity between the rival factions. On his advice, a Provincial Parliamentary Board was formed consisting of all the leaders of warring groups. The selection of the Sindh parliamentary Board by M.A. Jinnah placed the Sayed group in a minority of one against four ministerial groups though also opposed to each other but united against Sayed.

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Having realized his inability to get his supporters allotted Muslim League tickets, G. M. Sayed suspended the proceedings and adjourned the meeting of the Parliamentary Board. At this, Jinnah referred the matter to the Central Parliamentary Board and sent in Nawabzada Liaquat Ali, Nawab Ismail Khan and Hussain Imam to sort out the matter. They held G.M. Sayedresponsible for the crisis.

Differences within the Sindh Parliamentary Board persisted in 10 constituencies. Except for G.M. Bhurgari and Sheikh Abdul Majid sindhi, all the disputed candidates for whom Sayed had kicked up the row were Sayeds. The Central Parliamentary Board agreed to give3 tickets to Sayed nominees. Syed’s revolt against the ML central leadership:

Sayed refused to accept the authority of Central Parliamentary Board and resigned from the membership of the working committee of the All India MuslimLeague. He was, therefore, expelled from the post of president Sindh Muslim League and the membership of All India Muslim League. His comrade Hashim Gazdar left SayedGroup and was made president of the Provincial League.

The Sayed group decided to contest the election at itsown under the banner of Progressive League.RESULTS OF 1946 ELECTIONS

The elections were held in Jan 1946. Sind Muslim league won 27 out of 35 Muslim seats. One independent Muslim joined the League later. Three seats went to the Nationalist Muslims headed by Maula Baksh soomro and 4 to G M Syed Progessive League ..

Sayed group joined forces with the Congress and theNationalist Muslims and formed a coalition party comprising 29 members, thereby preventing a Muslim League ministry. The Muslim League Assembly Party, through Hashim Gazdar, tried to form unity with the Congress, but Congress refused and proposed an all-parties government. But Jinnah rejected any truck with the Sayed group unless Sayed apologized and surrendered unconditionally.

The Governor Francis Mudie dissolved the assembly and appointed a, caretaker Muslim League government. The fresh elections were held in December 1946 at a time when all was set for partition of India. The 1946 elections provided opportunity to the aMuslim League to mobizlie and rally muslim masses around its message of independence from alien rule whether the British or the Hindu congress rule. The momentum of Pakistan demand was so intense that even the non-leaguer Muslimc could not dare to oppose the Pakistan scheme to save their seats. The League had won all Muslim seats 30 in the central legislature. Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi was defeated by the Yusuf Haroon.The convention of Muslim League legislators, central and provincial was held in Delhi on April7-9 1946. Sind was respresented in the Subjects Committee by Haji Akbvar Saheb, Agha

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Badruddin and Mahmud Haroon. Open session of the Convention adopted a resolutionwhich clearly indicated tht Pakistan was intended to be asingle sovereign state. The amendment to the Lahore Resolution of AIML council was made by the Convention of the legislators.. Delhi Resolution deleted the pharse the ‘costituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign. The elections were held in December 1946.

In order to ensure a decisive victory in the December elections against the rival Sayed Group, the Muslim League leadership used all tactics including the Bihar issue to appeal to the religious sentiments. The Sajjada Nashins and Pirs were attracted on religious slogansin such a manner that the majority of them left their ‘mentor’ G.M. Sayed. The Central High Command provided funds and transport and advised to win all the Muslimseats especially the G.M. Sayed seat at any cost. It arranged election meetings which were addressed by Pirs and ulema brought from the Punjab and students from Aligarh and the Punjab. Influential landlords associated with Sayed were won over by awarding Muslim League tickets.

The elections were contested on Pakistan demand andthe Muslim League won 33 out of the 35 contested Muslim seats. Sayed group was defeated on all but one seat which went to K.S. Khoso.

This was a grand success for the Muslim League reflecting its strength and popularity among theMuslim masses. Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah once again became the premier of Sindh on 23 January 1947. Khuhro having support of 25 members was left high and dry asJinnah interfered and saw to it personally that the “Grand Old Man” formed the ministry. Ghulam Hussain who headed the first provincial ministry of British Sindh formed the last one also. In pursuance of the ,partition plan of the subcontinent announced on 3 June1947, the Sindh Legislative Assembly convened a special meeting on 26 June 1947, which resolved to opt for Pakistan. Thus the province of Sindh was the first among the majority Muslim provinces to opt for Pakistan. 3 June Plan declared that the Legislative Assembly of Sind excluding its Europeans members at a special meeting decide between joinging the existing constituent assembly and joining the new one. The Sind legislatve assembly met on June 26 and decided by 30 votes to 20 join a new constituent assembly.

CRITICAL ASSESMENT OF G M SYED’S ROLE: G M Syed appeared right in his claim that G H Hidayatullah was the puppet of the British and represented the regresseive feudal mind set. He joined his rule to perpetuate his rule. But he could not appreciate that Jinnah’s compromise with the Congress would have left the League much weaker and ultimately threaten the interests of Indian Muslims Syed was seeing the politics from his narrow localized angle while Jinnah was seeing it at all Indian level. Secondly Syed accused Jinnah of concentrating all powers in his hands and leadership of ML that came from Muslim minority places like Madras, Bombay, UP Meerut Allahabad who are exploiting the name of Islam and Pakistan to save their estates. He could not appreciate that the delicate political situation required a man with strong resolve and power. He could have seen Gandhi who despite the claim of the Congress of being democratic in its working, was responsible for the Congress involvement in Non cooperation movement during Khilafat Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and then Quit India Revolt in 1942. He became Bapu or Mahatama much earlier than Jinnah became the Quaid

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I azam of the Muslim in dec 1938. There were no grounds were accusing Jinnah of being dictatorial and authoritarian especially When the Congress was not enjoying ideal democracy in any sense.Furthermore , Syed’s claim to represent the poor Haris of Sind was hollow and without any evidence. He did not choose Haris for the tickets. None of his candidates were Haris or belonging to the poor class. Syed could not understand that Gulf after 1921 Hindu riots and congress ministries rule 1937-39 had widened so much that it was almost impossible to bridge.The Quaid’s policies were base on realisn. He took AIML to heights. The leaders like Sir skindar Hyat, Sir Saadullah and Maulvi Fazlul Haq had to surrender befor him not because he was very powerful in wealth or influence or connections but because he had mobilized Indian Muslims who were fearful being subjugated by the Hindu money-lenders and capitalists. Jinnah did not budge in Simla conference from his position to give Muslim seat to non leaguer Muslim because that could threaten Muslim League claim to represent Muslims. He was keen to prove his claims in the elections so that he could argue with the rival parties on equal footing.Two Hindu newspapers namely, Sind Observer, and Daily Gazette also encouraged Syed’s dissention by projecting him as the leader of the oppressed and the poor Sindhis.

CONCLUSION:

After British had granted Sind a status of province at par with other provinces in 1936, it witnessed the worst kind of politcal instability and oppurtunism. The politicians were not sufficiently trained. They were prepared to sacrifice the collective interest of the community for their short term self-interest.

Feudal culture and loyalty to the British also gave place to intrigues.

Being more educated, hindu money lenders, bigbussinessmen,and capitalists dominated economy , education and government services. Natually they were influential and eaily make or unmake any ministry through temptations and inducement. The Muslim feudal and landlords were rival of each other and bound loosely when their whole integrity and existence were threatened.

The success of Pakistan Demand in the feudal mileu of Sind in the face of strong opposition was the result of far-sighted and charismatic leaderhisp of the Quaid-i-Azam. He proved his claim that the Muslim League was the sole representative of Indian Muslims.

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The size of the non-Muslim minorities in a Pakistan comprising the whole of the six Provinces enumerated above would be very considerable as the following figures show:-

  Muslim   Non-MuslimNorth-Western Area                  Punjab 16,21,242   12,201,577            North-West Frontier Province 2,788,797   249,270            Sind 3,208,325   1,326,683            Br. Baluchistan 438,930   62,701  22,653,294   13,840,231  62.07%   37.93%North-Eastern Area                  Bengal 33,005,434   27,301,091            Assam 3,442,479   6,762,254  36,447,913   34,063,345  51.69%   48.31%

Statement by the Cabinet Delegation and His Excellency the Viceroy (as issued in New Delhi on 16 May 1946).

18. In forming any Assembly to decide a new Constitutional structure the first problem is to obtain as broad-based and accurate a representation of the whole population as is possible. The most satisfactory method obviously would be by election based on adult franchise; but any attempt to introduce such a step now would lead to a wholly unacceptable delay in the formulation of the new Constitution. The only practicable alternative is to utilize the recently elected Provincial Legislative Assemblies as the electing bodies. There are, however, two factors in their composition which make this difficult. First, the numerical strengths of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies do not bear the same proportion to the total population in each Province. Thus, Assam with a population of 10 millions has a Legislative Assembly of 108 members, while Bengal, with a population six times as large, has an Assembly of only 250. Secondly, owing to the weightage given to minorities by the Communal Award, the strengths of the several communities in each Provincial Legislative Assembly are not in proportion to their numbers in the Province. Thus the number of seats reserved for Muslims in the Bengal Legislative Assembly is only 48% of the total, although they form of the Provincial population. After a most careful consideration of the various methods by which these inequalities might be corrected, we have come to the conclusion that the fairest and most practicable plan would be:-

(a)  to allot to each Province a total number of seats proportional to its population, roughly in the ratio of one to a million, as the nearest substitute for representation by adult suffrage.

(b) to divide this provincial allocation of seats between the main communities in each Province in proportion to their population.

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(c) to provide that the representatives allotted to each community in a Province shall be elected by the members of that community in its Legislative Assembly.

We think that for these purposes it is sufficient to recognise only three main communities in India: General, Muslim, and Sikh, the “General” community including all persons who are not Muslims or Sikhs. As the smaller minorities would, upon the population basis, have little or no representation since they would lose the weightage which assures them seats in the Provincial Legislatures, we have made the arrangements set out in paragraph 20 below to give them a full representation upon all matters of special interest to the minorities.

19.(i) We therefore propose that there shall be elected by each Provincial Legislative Assembly the following numbers of representatives, each part of the Legislature (General, Muslim or Sikh) electing its own representatives by the method of proportional representation with the single transferable vote:-

Eminenent Sindhi Polticians

SIR ABDULLAH HAROON

Abdullah was member of the Karachi Municipality from May 1913 to September 1916. Muslim League branch in Sindh was established by Ghullam Muhammad Bhurgari in 1918 Abdullah Haroon, who joined it in 1918 was elected the president of the province at Muslim League in 1920. . He also established and published Sindhi news paper Alwahid in 1920. He encouraged Din Muhammed Wafai to publish in 1921 “Tawhid” a monthly journal which started crusade against Syedism, Pirism and Mulla-ism and continued for next 30 years. In 1939, he was elected president of the Sindh Muslim League, and also became chairman, All-India Muslim League (AIML) foreign sub-committee.

213.

Allah Bux (1900--43) was the finest Premier Sindh ever had. Though a

zamindar and government contractor, he habitually wore Khadi. He withdrew the magisterial

powers from the Waderas. He followed the Congress line and fixed 500 rupees as minister's salary He

lifted externment orders of Obaidullah Sindhi (1872--1944), a Sialkot Sikh

AYUBK KHURO

Khuhro who came from a Zamindari family of Larkana, had developed a sense of public service from an

early age. He had joined politics as Member of Larkana District Board and by the age of 22 was elected

Member of the Bombay Legislative Council. Khuhro led the case for separation in front of the Simon

Commission and was opposed by Sindh Hindus. Mr Hidayatullah1878--1948),

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remained on the political horizon of Sindh for about half a century. His forefathers hailed from Kashmir

and had settled in Shikarpur in the late 19th century. Born in 1878, he had early schooling at Shikarpur

and then at Sindh Madressah and D. J. College, Karachi. .

Pir Illahi Bakhsh

. Pir Illahi Bakhsh was the man who served people without distinction, hated hypocrisy, brought reforms

and sanity to politics. Pir sahib contributed to the welfare of Sindh to a great extent. As a lawyer he

Sindh Students role in Pakistan Movement

Inauguration of Sind Muslim College . The Quiad inaugurated the college on 21 June, 1943..

He appreciated the efforts of Pir Illahi Baksh who played an importat role in establishing the

college. Hidyatullah, Ayub Khuro, Hatim Alavi, Hashim Gazdar were the members of the Sindh

Muslim College Board. Pir Illahi Baksh was the the first president of the college. Its students

played an important role in mobilizing Muslims support against the GM Syed groups in the 1946

elections.

Tarikh Sind vol 3 by Ijaz ul Haq Qadussi Lahore: Urdu Science Board, 1984), 224