These were the apt assessments of Valeed Shaikh, who is the chairman of the Sindhi Association of North America (Sana) in whose honour the chief of Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, held a reception on Wednesday.
“Sindhi society will have to develop a middle class and a responsible one too,” said Shaikh. “It also needs to realign its emotional and spiritual bonding with its political leadership a little rationally.”
Shaikh questioned the claim of the “paradigm shift” made by the politicians who themselves stayed the same. “The people should notice who is delivering and who is not,” he said. “The blind following of Mirs, Pirs and dynasties will lead nowhere.”
He said that the Sindhis required a “genuine paradigm shift, an overarching one, to offset the march towards the morass”.
He expressed shock over the murder of the director of student affairs at Sindh University, Prof. Bashir Chanur. He particularly criticised a medical university in Jamshoro for spending money on the construction of buildings but falling behind in research which should be the hallmark of an institute for higher education.
An eminent poet, Agha Saleem, compared a feudal and an industrial society. According to him, feudal lords hampered development while the latter led to it. “Feudals make strongholds and industrialist markets,” he said. Saleem went on to ascribe the French Revolution to the country’s commercial class and hoped that he saw a similar uprising in Sindh.
Another speaker found the overblown nationalism in Sindh’s intellectual class to be the culprit behind the current situation. “They [intellectuals] cave in to this sentiment and in doing so end up alienating Sindhis with other nationalities,” said Manzoor Aijaz, an American of Punjabi origin. He advised the intellectuals to work on educating society and interacting with other people as well.
However, Aijaz praised the unity among the Sindhis of North America. He said that although people from Punjab are 50 times higher in number they couldn’t form an organisation like Sana.
Aijaz Turk of Sana expressed disappointment in the youth’s shrinking interest in Sindhi language. He regretted that they were unable to read and understand the work of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. “A nation can live as long as its language can,” he said. Turk asked the government to make serious efforts for the revival of Sindhi by teaching it to students in schools.
Sarfaraz Abbasi, also from Sana, thought that the visible disillusionment of the people of Sindh with their leadership can be a defining moment for change. However, he hastened to add that there were no other options to choose from. “What we see in the form of nationalists and other political groups may result in the splitting of Sindh’s mandate if it was ever achieved.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.
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The leaders can show difference by showing difference in governance in the area were they govern. Unfortunately since you do not have a local government that allows for this farce to continue.
The nationalists cannot show they are any different until they have chance to govern;but since they resist local government, they are ensuring they have no chance!
and what have punjabis achieved ,everything was there
very well assessed!
As mentioned educating people is most important. Unless people do not elect honest and efficient leaders they will continue to suffer. People should open eyes, this is the only solution for a peaceful and prosperous country.