Preaching nonviolence: Sindh’s writers search for lost glory

They claim that before partition, the region was a hub of harmony.

KARACHI: Disheartened with the perpetual violence that plagues Sindh, the province’s intellectuals and writers have gone back to their roots to locate the specific epoch during which things went awry. At a lecture organised on Thursday by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology’s Sindh Abyas Academy, some of them agreed that Partition was to blame.

“The philosophy in Sindh used to be nonviolence,” said Agha Khalid Saleem, a Sindhi writer known particularly for his work Shah jo Risalo (Poetry of Bhittai). “The philosophers of Sindh were Sufi poets. Sami, Sacchal and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai spread the message of peace and were proponents of nonviolence.”

Saleem added that teachings of peace were sidelined after Partition. “Unruliness came to the fore instead of harmony and tolerance. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs used to live together in Amritsar.”

Prof. KS Nagpal, a renowned academic, writer and philosopher, said, “My heart is bleeding. Sindh is no longer the land of peace and harmony. People from different regions used to visit the province to learn about peace. The violence is a reflection of society.”

He also spoke in favour of secularism, saying that it allowed people to live their lives more freely. “I feel like I am in jail. If people know your identity, they don’t treat you like a human being.” He said that minority groups can feel stifled when living among a majority with a distinct and separate identity. Hundreds of books on Sindh published by different publishers were displayed at the ‘Books on Sindh’ organised at SZABIST.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2012.