THIRD SINDH PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE HELD AT LARKANA ON THE

21 APRIL 1916 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF THE HONOURABLE

Mr. G.M. BHURGRI

Standard printing works, Hyderabad, Sindh

 

THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

 

Brother Delegates and Gentlemen

 

It is with no small difference that I have accepted the chair on this august occasion. It is, indeed, a proud privilege to preside over the deliberations of this important assembly, which represents the highest thought and aspiration in this Province. I cannot sufficiently esteem the great honour you have done me and can not help feeling that worthier shoulders than mine would have better sustained the burden of this great trust. While thanking you, therefore, for your kindness, I would at the same time crave your indulgence and forbearance for y many deficiencies and shortcomings. Of which I am only too painfully conscious. I do not for a moment take my election to the chair as a compliment to any personal merits of mine, which I am humbly aware, are at the best very slender indeed. I would fain have shrunk from this responsible and difficult. If honourable position, but the call of duty was insistent and I have humbly obeyed.

 

Our first and foremost duty is to give expression to our deep sense of loyalty and allegiance to the Crown. The British Crown is the embodiment of all that is good and great in human rule and is worthy of our deepest fealty and homage. However, I think it entirely superfluous for me a command to your attachment a rule for which no thinking person in India has anything but the profoundest love and devotion. At the present moment when England is engaged in a deadly conflict with the powers of human darkness, she is especially entitled to our loyal support and assistance, which she is happy to know and we are proud to feel, she possesses in boundless measures.

Our next duty is of a melancholy character. It is to express our deep sense of the incalculable loss sustained by India in the death of two of her noblest and greatest sons, Mr. Gokhale and Sir Pherozshah Mehta. Yielding to none in their consuming love for India. They devoted the untiring labours of their valuable lives to the service of their motherland. Their rare capacities their unequalled knowledge, their fearless independence of character, and their inflexible spirit compelled the respect even of those with whom they were brought into conflict. Men of broad minds and large hearts, patriots in the truest and highest sense, they will ever be an example and an inspiration to India’s coming generations.

Theirs was the proud if responsible, role of guide, philosopher and friend to aspiring India a role which they so abundantly fulfilled. Let us earnestly trust that the inspiring influence of their precept and example will ever abide with us, and fortify and sustain us in all our labours and trials in the cause of our country.

 

Another painful matter before us is to chronicle the profound sorrow of thaw whole people of India at the departure form office of the late Viceroy. Lord Hardinge Gentlemen, the inestimable qualities of Lord Hardinge are too well known and revered throughout the length and breadth of this country to make it necessary for me, much as I might wish it, to add any feeble words of mine in respectful and loving commendation. Lord Hardinge was statesman of the first rank, a statesman of the widest outlook and of the deepest insight, a stamen who won the unbounded esteem and the undying love and gratitude of the people of India by his evalted sense of justice, by his most wise and kind sympathy with the legitimate ideals and aspirations of the Indian people, and by his devoted labours in the cause of India. The bark of the state was committed to his care during high winds and troubled seas such as the world had not known before. But he guided it wisely and well despite the extreme difficulty and gravity of the situation. He handled the situation delicately, gently, yet with the most signal and conspicuous success. Now that he has been taken away from us, let us earnestly trust that his interest in the cause of the country for which be laboured so lovingly will continue, and that India will never cease to enlist his powerful and kindly exertions in her behalf.

 

This brings us to our next duty which is to extend to his successor, His Excellency the Viceroy Lord Chemlsford a most respectful and cordial welcome to our country. The mantle of Lord Hardinge has fallen on his shoulders, and we are humbly expectant that his governance of India will be characterized by the same qualities that made the frule of his revered predecessor, Lord Hardinge so loved and respected throughout the country.

 

The one grand theme of universal interest at the present moment is the Great War that is convulsing the entire civilized world. It is a Titanic conflict such as the world has never before seen in all her history dwindline all previous wars by the incomparable magnitude of its scale by the vital importance of the issues raised and by the momentous character of the effects and consequences it with …….. It is a fight of principles of right on the one side and of might on the other. And it is a matter for supreme and just pride to all of us that Britain stands in this conflict as she has ever stood, and we trust, will ever stand, for the cause of right as against the empire of might, for justice as against oppression, for freedom as against tyranny, for exalted principle as against sordid policy for the sanctity of moral obligation as against disregard for the demands of morality, for the inviolability of national integrity as against the destruction of national independence. Our profoundest gratitude is due to all those who have offered their lives or the lives of those they love as a holocaust with such generous abandonment on the altar of their nation’s cause; to all those boble sons who have shed their blood so unstintingly in this national sacrifice, and to all those boble mothers and wives who have borne the pangs of bereavement with so brave a heart. Our faith in the ultimate triumph of our cause is unfaltering, for we know and feel that he is thrice armed that hath his quarrel just. That Province grant success to our arms is the wish and prayer that lie deep in the hearts of every one of us.

The great part India has been called upon and has been able to play in the war is also a matter for honest pride to all her sons. Our soldiers and citizens alike have rallied round the imperial standard and have spontaneously and enthusiastically responded to the call of the Empire in her hour of supreme trial. India has given her blood, her treasure, her resources with ungrudging heart and in unstinted measure. Her grand spirit of heroism and sacrifice has evoked the admiration of even her enemies. She has established her reputation for loyalty and fidelity before the whole world and for all time. I speak in no high spirit of vain glory or proud vein of self complacency. I do not for a moment mean to imply that India has done anything more than her clear duty towards her rulers. I would emphasize the fact that India has only fulfilled the clear demands of allegiance and gratitude to the Crown in doing all she has does for the Empire a crisis. At the same time it must be recognized that she has discharged these difficult if high, obligations not with any bad will or with any bad grace, not in any selfish or calculating spirit, but voluntarily, cheerfully and is interestedly. Let us earnestly trust therefore that if ever there were any doubts of the loyalty of India to the British Crown, those doubts have been completely and for ever laid at rest by the present war.

 

 

Our goal

 

Gentlemen, let us come now to our goal, for this cannot be placed before our minds and those of our rulers too often or too insistently. Our clear and definite objective is the attainment by India, by constitutional means, under the aegis of the British Crown a system of self-government which should fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the people. Gentlemen, this is the ideal to which we are immutably committed. And it is an ideal which needs no apology or justification. For self government is on e of the fundamental facts of the physical and moral world. In the words of that great son of India, the Honorable Mr. Surendernath banerji, Self-Government is the order of nature the dispensation of divine Province. India must be master of its own destinies. That is the divine law, and the immutable order of the universe written in every line of universal history written in character by the inserutable hand of divine province. If there is to be a deviation or departure, it must be transitional and transient like the needle of a compass. But always pointing northward, steadily towards the goal which is self-government which ought to be the normal condition of things” and India’s grand old man, Mr. Dadabhai Nowroji also pressed this demand on the attention of our rules when he said than the peasants of Russia are fit for end obtained the Duma from the greatest autocrat in the world, and the leading statesman the Prime Minister of the free British Empire, proclaimed to the world, “The Duma is dead, long live the Duma. “Sarely the fellow citizens of that statesman, and the free citizens of that Empire by birthright and pledged righ5ts, are far more entitled to self-Government, a constitutional representative system, than the peasants of Russia. I do not despair. It is futile to tell me that we must wait till all the people are ready. The British people did not so wait for their parliament. We are not allowed to be fit for 150 years. We can never be fit till we actually undertake the work and the responsibility. While China in the east, and Persia in the West, of Asia are awakening, and Japan has already awakened and Russia is struggling for emancipation- and all of them despotisms- can the free citizens of the British Indian Empire continue to remain subject to despotism- the people who are among the first civilizers of the human race? Are the deseendants of the carliest civilizers to remain, in the present times of spreading emancipation, under the barbarous system of despotism, unworthy of British instinets, principles and civilizations”?

 

This ideal, gentlemen, has had the sanction of the British Government from the earliest days of her rule and the approval of the most eminent state men all ties. No less a statesman that the late viceroy, Lord Hardinge, impressed this ideal on the attention of his countrymen in India in words of sagest counsel to the present and future generations of English rules in India, and of stimulating encouragement to the people of this country. The words have echoes and re-echoed times without number but they are words which can still bear repetition. The words have been enclosed and re-echoed times without number but they are words which can still bear repetition. These are the words he spoke and I would comment them to your earnest attention. “England has instilled to this country the culture and civilization of the west with all its ideals of liberty and self-respect. It is not enough for her now to consider only the material outlook of India. It is necessary for her to cherish the asprations, of which she has herself sown the seed, and English official s are gradually awakening to the fact that, high as were the aims and remarkable the achievements of their predecessors, a still nobler task lies before them in the present and the future in guiding the uncertain and faltering steps of Indian development along sure and safe paths. The new role of guide, philosopher and friend is opening before you and it is worthy of your greatest efforts. It requires in you gifts of imagination and sympathy, and imposes upon you self-sacrifice, for it means that slowly but surely you must diverts yourselves of some of the power you have hitherto wielded. Let it be realized that great as has been England’s mission in the past, she has a far more glorious task to fulfill in the future. In encouraging and guiding the political self-development of the people.” And, again in his convocation Speech, his Lordship observed that it must be recognized that India cannot and will be not remain stationary, and that it is the task of the imperial Government to guide her development and to help her to at tain her just and legitimate aspirations.” Let us therefore, earnestly trust that British statesmanship will rise to the full height of its high responsibilities, and grant India what she has every right to expect at her hands.

 

It must not be supposed that, in making this demand, India is for a moment unmindful of her incalculable debt to England. No India is profoundly sensible of, and deeply grateful for, all that British rule has done for her, and has definitely and cheerfully accepted British Supremacy as the basis of her political evolution. But, at the same time, India feels that she is entitled to remind England that her greases good is still to come a good that is hers as much by right as by promise.

 

As much as to England’s duty by India. That India is fast realizing her duty to herself is clear from the growing spirit of inter-communal amity which she is doing her best to foster. And this brings me to the question of Hindu and Mahomedan relations.

 

HINDU AND MAHOMEDAN RELATIONS

 

One of the encouraging signs of the times is the increasing rapprochement between the two great communities in India, the Hindu and the Mahomedan. This is full of promise endures. That union is strength is indeed a truism, but it is a truism of such infinite value that it can never be sufficiently emphasized espeicallywhen counsels of separation threaten to prevail. It is in the cordial and whole-hearted co-operation between the various communities in India, in the subordination of communal interest to the national cause. And in the sinking of sectarian differences in a common Endeavour to promote the general good, that India’s salvation clearly lies. In this connection, it may not be out-of-place to refer to the open entente between the Indian national congress and the All-India Muslim League, which was long the pious wish of all true lovers of India, but which is now an accomplished fact. This is a very significant indication of the change for the better in the mutual relations of the two leading communities in India. Which was long foreshadowed by the advance of education and the increasing opportunities of mutual knowledge and contact. This union implies a common recognition of the fact that the time has come when the people of India must no longer be divided into hostile camps but must join hands and devote their concerted efforts to a common cause. Even in Sind, where racial differences were so pronounced in the past, there are observable pleasing indications of an increasing mutual understanding and good will between the various communities. This various communities. This very conference, in which Hindus and Mahomedans have met as members of one household for the promotion of its common interest, is a convincing proof of that inters communal good feeling that is the happiest augury for the future of this Province. And that a still closer union be yet affected is a consummation devoutly to be wished, and towards which it behaves every one who has the interests of this Province at heart to help to the full extent of his power.

 

While I am upon this subject, it may not be amiss to advert to the regrettable episode connected with the last session of the All-India Muslim League held in Bombay last year. I refer to the incident that led to the break-up of that meeting, and to the part alleged to have been played by the Police, particularly the Police Commissioner of Bombay, in the affair. The importance of the incident can scarely be exaggerated. It has exercised the minds of the whole thinking public of India, and has stirred the feelings of the people, particularly of the Mussalmans, to their very depths. Opinion, and feeling on the subject have found expression in almost every quarter. The press, representative of Indian opinion, has, voiced the people’s feelings in the matter in no uncertain accents, and seldom have the people at large been so affected by a single incidenet as by the incident in question.

 

Here was a meeting being held that was lawful in every sense of the word. A lawful assembly had met in a lawful manner for a lawful purpose. Clearly it was entitled to hold that meeting without any unlawful disturbance. The Police were in attendance in pursuance of their duty to maintain peace and order. The head of the Bombay Police and the head of the Presidency Magistracy were also on the scene. Yet the elements of disorder deliberately break loose, interrupt the proceedings and finally compel the assembly to dissolve its meeting. Clearly this was an occasion that called for the immediate action of the Police. That action was actually invoked, but was flatly denied.

 

This incident, you will see, clearly raises an important question of constitution. Indeed, the question transcends the bounds of purely communal politics, and is one of national moment. Hence the imperative necessity for a thorough and impartial enquiry into the matter by Government. That enquiry has been demanded by the general voice of public opinion in India, but I extremely regret that it has not yet been granted. The regret is all the greater as it is the reputation of Government that is undeservedly suffering. Let us, therefore, earnestly trust that enquiry will no long be withheld.

 

 

REFORM OF COUNCILS

 

I come now to the much-needed reform of the Legislative Councils. The Reform Scheme inaugurated by Lord Minto and Morley has worked very satisfactorily since its introduction. The time, I think, has come when the umber of Indians in the Executive Council should be increased. At present, we have only a nominal, and entirely ineffectual, representation in that important council, and I think it is time that a more real and substantial participation in the work of Government were granted to Indians. Again, I think we should press for an elected majority in Council instead of the present nominated majority. For a nominated Indian is virtually an official, an official in effect if not in name. At least, he is so to the people, whether be so in actual fact or not. To the public mind, he is generally identified with the official camp, and can never command the confidence of the people in anything like the same degree as an elected member. Hence it is idle to pretend that nominated members are, or can ever be, to the people what its own chosen representatives are, who are men of its own express selection, as against nominated members, who may not be, and often are not, men quite after its heart.

 

Another suggestion I should like to make is with regard to Resolutions. The most important right created by the Minto-Morley Reform Scheme was that which enabled the non-official members of the Legislative Councils to move resolutions on matters of public interest. Unfortunately, however, this right is able to be rendered quite nugatory by the absolute and unqualified powers of veto vested in His Excellency the President. Hence what is given by one hand is withdraw able by the other without any restriction whatever, such has actually been the case whenever resolutions that, for some reason or other, did not find favour with Government were sought to be moved by non-official members. Such dictatorial power practically renders the right in fructuous. I, therefore, think that if the right granted is to be of any use, the power to control its exercise must be subject to some condition or qualification.

 

Again, the resolutions themselves, when passed by the council are at present only allowed the force of recommendations, and stop short indecisions. This leaves Government free to give effect totem or not, just as it may choose to decide, and robs resolutions of their main value. I would therefore, submit that. If resolutions are to be of any practical worth, decisive effect should attach to them.

SEPARATION OF EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS.

One of the most important matters for reform is the time-honoured combination of judicial and executive functions in one officer of Government. The subject is as old as the time of Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, when attention was first called to the importance and urgency of this much needed reform. The system which allows the same officer of Government to collect the revenue, to control the police to institute prosecutions and , at the same time, to exercise large judicial powers has been condemned not only by the general voice of public opinion in India but also by some of the highest officers of Government and some of the greatest judicial authorities in this country, it has been perhaps, the most insistent subject of complaint and representation to Government by the Indian Press and by representative public bodies and individuals throughout a long series of year. It formed part of the subject matter of the famous memorial addressed to the secretary of State for India. The very names of the signatories to this memorial are such as spell unquestionable. They are:- The Right Honourable Lord Hothouse )late Legal member of the Viceroy’s Council, Member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council), the Right Honorable Sir Richard Garth (late Chief Justice of Bengal), the Right Honorable Sir Richard Couch (late Chief Justice of Bengal, Member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council), sir Charles Sergeant (late judge of the high court, Calcutta), Sir John Phear (late judge of the high court, Calcutta, and chief justice of Ceylon), Sir John Scott (late judge of the high court Bombay), Sir William Wedderburn (late Reader in Indian law at the University of Cambridge) and Mr. Herbert Reynolds (late member of the Bengal legislative council), surely, gentlemen these are names to conjure with and they impress a hall-mark, so to speak, on this scheme of reform. The memorial itself is most instructive reading. It shows that from the earliest them the Government of India have clearly recognized the evil of combination of functions, and have frankly approved the principle of separation. It would take me too long to place before youth opinions of all the high officers of government who have form time to time expressed themselves on this subject. But one passage may be quoted with advantage. Thus Sir Frederic Halliday (sometime Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal and member of the Council of the Secretary of State) said: – “The evil which this system produces is twofold; it affects the fair distribution of justice, and it impairs, at the same time, the efficiency of the Police. The union o f Magistrate with Collector has been stigmatized as incompatible, but the junction of thief-catcher with Judge Issue relies more anomalous in theory, and more mischievous in practice. So long as it lasts, the public confidence in our criminal tribunals must always be liable to injury, and the authority itself must often be a used and misapplied.

 

The memorial then summaries the arguments for the proposed reform. I could not do better than to quote its very language. The objectifies to the present system, the Memorial recites, are (1) that the combination of judicial with executive duties in the same officer violates the first principles of equity, (2) that while a judicial officer ought to be thoroughly impartial, and approach the consideration of any case without previous knowledge of the facts, an executive officer does not adequately discharge his duties unless his cars are open to all reports and information which he can in any degree employee for the benefit of his District, (3) that executive officers in India, being responsible for a large amount of miscellaneous business, have not time satisfactorily to dispose of judicial work in addition. (4) that, being keenly interested in carrying out particular measures they are apt to be brought more or less into conflict with individuals, and therefore, it is inexpedient that they should also be invested with judicial powers, (5) that under the existing system, Collector- Magistrates do in fact neglect judicial for executive work, (6) that appeals from revenue assessments are apt to be futile when they are heard be revenue officers, (7) that great inconvenience, expense and suffering are imposed upon suitors required to follow the camp of a judicial officer who, in the discharge of his executive duties, is making a tour of his District, and (8) that the existing system not only involves all whom it concerns in hardship and inconvenience but also, buy associating the judicial tribunal with the work of the police and of detectives, ad by diminishing the safeguards afforded by the rules of evidence, produces actual miscarriages of justice and creates although justice be done, opportunities of suspicion, distrust and discontent which are equally to be deplored.” The memorial appends summaries of various cases which illustrate in a striking way some of the damagers that arise form the present system, and then makes the following instructive observations. “These cases of themselves might well remove the necessity of argument a priori against the combinations theory. But the present system is not merely objectionable on the ground that, so long as it exists, the general administration of justice is subjected to suspicion and the strength and authority of the Government are seriously impaired. For this reason it is submitted that nothing short of complete separation of judicial form executive functions by legislation will remove the danger. Something, perhaps. Might e accomplished by purely executive measures. But such palliatives fall short of the only complete an satisfactory remedy, which is, by means of legislation, to make a clear line of division between the judicial and the executive duties now often combined in one an the same officer.”

This reform has received repeated endorsement from the highest quarters. Thus Lord Cross, secretary of State for India in council, refereed to the proposed separation of functions as “an excellent plan which would result in vast good to the Government of India, Lord Kimberley, a later Secretary of State, also approved the proposed reform. Finally, Lord Duffer in, Viceroy of India. Characterized the proposal for separation put forward by Indian opinion.

I trust I have sufficiently shown that the present system is vicious both in theory and in practice. In theory it offends against the most fundamental principle of justice, the principle which demands that the judge of any matter shall not be one who has any previous knowledge regarding it, or any interest in its adjudication in any particular way. In practice, the system has proved itself to be absolutely incompatible with the proper administration of justice. The mind of man being constituted as it is, it is almost impossible for an official to prevent knowledge or interest acquired by him when acting in one capacity from influencing him, when he is acting in an other. And even if this were possible, the public conviction of its impossibility would still be there to reckon with. And herein has the inherent and inevitable vice of the system. Hence I mean no reflection on the officers of Government who conscientiously Endeavour to discharge the conflicting duties developing upon them in the best way possible. The fault, I re-iterate, lies in the system, not in the men.

The traditional objections that have been urged against any departure from the present system are mainly two. It is either contended that the

Removal aft judicial powers farm an executive officer would impair his authority and prestige, thus detracting farms his executive efficiency,

Is that the proposed separation of the two? Functions would entail an increased expenditure, which is prohibitive in the present condition of Indian finances. The first contention is sufficiently met by the fact that the authority of executive officer is adequately protected by the powers he otherwise possesses. There is the Revenue Cadre which vests him with powers by which he can make his authority respected and feared throughout his District. Hence his authority does not need any support in the shape of judicial power. It is not as if the prestige of an officer necessarily depends a possession of judicial power. For, if this were so, we should expect the prestige of His Excellency the Viceroy Nat only to suffer by comparison with that of a District are Sessions Judges, but even to be in serious jeopardy. Besides, the reform in question does not propose to do away with judicial, power’s altogether, but only to sever the judicial function from the executive, and to vest them in separate officers. The present judicial powers, therefore, will be maintained in toot, but only their devolution will change.

This objection is, therefore, clearly untenable. It has ‘never even been seriously, or at least openly, urged by any responsible officer of Government, however much it any underlie, as it is, rightly lor wrongly, believed to underlie, the attitude of Government towards this question.

The other objection urged is equally unsustainable. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that this reform need notaccasion any increase of expenditure; that, even if it did, the additional expenditure could be met by a judicious diversion of the State revenues farm other purposes; and that, even if this were ‘not acceptable, the caddied expense would be cheerfully barne by the people. But, even if the above

Objections had any force or substance inihem, which they have not; it still behaves a Government that stands for justice to. Subardinate what “¬are after all comparatively petty considerations to the clear and force or substance in them, which they have nat, it still behaves a

Government that stands far justice to subordinate what are after all comparatively petty considerations to. The clear’ an admitted demands of right and fairness. If the present system is an evil, and a great evil, as it’s admitted to. Be an all hands, then it must be remedied, whatever be the cost or consequences entailed. For it is a question that is obviously momentous both in its scope and its effects, for it affects, and very gravely affects millions of men in their very liberties.

It is some satisfaction to. Knaw that the reform in question has already reached the stage ofpramise. For, a few years ago, Sir Harvey Adamsan, speaking in the Vuceregal Council, salemnly promised that, an experiment would be made. That premise, I regret ha snot yet fructified, and we owe it to ourselves to. Press with might and main far its performance. Government has charged itself with a clear duty in ‘this matter and ours is bathed the right and thy duty to. See to the fulfillment of this obligation by Government.

 

COMMISSIONS IN THE ARMY &c., &C.

Yet another direction in which, I think, reform has been long delayed, is that of the grant to. Indians of Commissians in the army, the grant of

Arms and the admission of Indians to volunteering. These have been long the hope and prayer after people of India, and I earnestly trust that England will no. Langer demurs to granting them. The present disabilities in these directions are bath inequitable and invidious. For has not India deserved well enough of England to receive better treatment than this at her hands? Has India nat earned England’s trust abundantly? Besides trust begets trust, and it is therefore, to be fervently happed that England will realize both the unfairness and the Unisom of her

Policy in this direction.

 

COMMISSIONER=IN-SINDH’S ACT

I now came nearer home, and propose to. Survey our Provincial situation. Here we have a Commissioner-in-Sindh who, by virtue of the Commissioner-in-Sand’s Act (Act V of 1868), practically constitutes the Local Government of the province. That Act enacts that¬

“1. It shall be lawful for the Governor a f Bombay in Council, by a notification published in the Bombay Government Gazette, to delegate to the Commissioner-in-Sindh all or any of theaters conferred on the said governor in Council, as the Local Government of the province of Sindh, by any of the Bombay Regulations, or by any Act of the Governor-General of India in Council solely applicable to the presidency of Bombay or by any Act passed heretofore or hereafter by the Governor of Bombay in Council, or by any of the Acts of the Governor General in Council in the schedule to this act. ‘

2. It shall be lawful far the Governor of Bombay in Council, with the consent of the Govern~-General in Council, to. Delegate to the Commissioner-in-Sindh all or any of the pawers heretofore are hereafter conferred by any Act of the Governor-General in Council are the

Governor of Bombay in Councilor the local government of the province of Sindh.

\

3. All Acts dane by the C6mmissioner~in-Sindh under the authority of any power so, delegated shall be as valid as if they had been done by the Governor of Bombay in council.”

This wide delegation of power makes the Commissioner-in-Sindh, without a council, supreme and sole arbiter in many matters that in anther parts of the presidency are decided by the Governor of Bombay in council, and often places the decision of questions of the first magnitude and importance in his sale hands. It entails all the evils of absolute authority, and freedom farm control witch are inherent in every farm of autocracy. It is one man’s rule, instead after rule by council, which the other parts after presidency enjoy. This is the root defect of

The administration of the province, and our interests ‘

Demand that Sindh be placed in the same position in this respect as the other part of the presidency. The Act was passed as long ago an s 1868, and, no. doubt awed its argon to. The primitive and undeveloped state of the province at ate time, which necessarily called for the

Existence of large and absolute powers within the province itself. By with the passage of time and the great progress and development of Sindh since them, these powers have entirely last their justification, and Cali far repeal.

Hence it is clear that we can no. longer remain, in this position. There are, it appears to. Me, two obvious courses open to us, either to demand a

. Repeal of this Act, are to demand that Send, go with the Punjab and be under a Governor in council. I need scarcely say that, in making this

Suggestion, I mean not the slightest reflection and the eminent officers who. Have filled this office with such credit to themselves and to

I

Government. I have nothing but the deepest respect and regard for their high qualities and character, and my suggestion is nat the least

Detraction farms their acknowledged merits. It is the system that is objectionable.

 

 

THE POLICE

 

Ingenuity or cruelty can suggest is brought to bear on supposed offenders for the purpose of ~extorting confessions. No doubt, confessions made to the police under any circumstances are inadmissible in evidence. But confessions made to private persons or to Magistrates are so admissible. And here is a field for Police oppression which that body never neglects. Resort to pressure soon impresses their victims with the advantages of confessing. Pain, or the fear of it, compels such confessions. And these are what are afterwards made to masquerade as voluntary confessions. Similar methods are also resorted to in the plausible restorations of property by supposed offenders that the Police

Sometimes fake. The cases that ~occasionally come to light vividly bring home to one the withering sway wielded by the all powerful Police in Sindh. Even Seminar of position and respectability are the victims of their oppression. And these instances are certainly too isolated occurrences by any means. They are only a few out of a very large number of similar cases, which are never brought or come to the notice of the authorities. Verily, their name is go ion, but it is seldom that the aggrieved parties have the hardihood of jeopardizing their interests by complaint to the authorities; a course which they know only too well will earn them the odium of the Police’ which is a terrible thing to them. But sheer desperation now and again drive s these Zemindar to throw all prudence to the winds and to bring their grievances to the notice of responsible officers of Governments. And the very fact that Zemindar of Sindh who are remarkable, if for nothing else, at least for their docility, patience and submissiveness- qualities they possess even to a fault should be goaded on to a course which they well know is full of peril is proof abundant and eloquent 0 the extent of the oppression practiced by the Police in Sindh. The reign of terror instituted by the Police in this province has no clearer index and no more powerful commentary that such occasionally desperate action on the part of their victims.

It will thus be seen that the present activities of the Sindh Police area regrettable diversion of their attention and energy from their legitimate and’ necessary duties, which are the real prevention and detection of crime, to a plausible make-believe of such activity, such as has been referred to above. The deplorable result of this misdirection of effort on their apart has been that crime, especially serious crime, has not received the attention it deserves at their hands.

 

 

AMENDMENT OF THE CRIMNAL PROCEDURE CODE

 

As the Bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Code is on the legislative anvil, I might venture to offer a few suggestions in regard to the more important provisions dfthe Bill. Much the most important matter for amendment is Chapter VIII of the Code, particularly Section 110. It is a matter of notoriety that the provisions of this, section are being abused in Sindh, and that there is a general outer against the oppressive working of this branch of the law in this Province. It is, unfortunately, a handy and powerful weapon of oppression in the hands of the Police and of all unscrupulous persons generally. As matters stand at present, there is nothing to prevent any ill-disposed person from ruining the object of his aversion by putting into operation the terrible and easily’ worked provisions of this section. The police, through a mistaken sense of duty and misdirected zeal, are only too ready to play into the hands of every unprincipled person who has a bone to pick with his fellow or a grudge to repay. The result is that innocent persons are being damned every day by the machinations of their private enemies, who make common cause with Police, or y the activities of the ‘Police themselves, who press into service every private means, whether fair or foul, to comtfa.ss the ruin of those who. Have had the misfortune to incur their disfavor. Things have gone so far that pressure is brought to bear even on respectable persons to damn men not only to whose discredit they know nothing, but of whose unimpeachable character they are fully persuaded. Instances of such oppression are innumerable, and are mutinying daily.

Now, unless earth blanche is to be given to the gratification of private malice or to Police oppression than which nothing could have been further form the intention or desire of the Legislature- something needs to be done very urgently in the mater. If the whole section is not to be abolished altogether- which, in my humble opinion, is much the best things that could be done, as it does on the whole more harm Than good to the people-let it at lest be so fended in by proper safeguards and restrictions as to ensure its working for the well-being of the people, and not to’ their harassment, as is unfortunately the case-at present. The state of things is painful and even alarming to a degree and. the need of reform ‘is imperative. . .

Some time ago, an official enquiry had been institute by Government into the working of this branch of the law in send. On that occasion, the public at large were not consulted in any way. I had therefore taken the opportunity of placing some material of facts, opinions and suggestions on the subject before the public and representative bodies and persons, with a view to a final representation on the matter to Government. That representation was postponed till the completion of the Government enquiry. But as we are yet, and will probably continue to be, in the dark as to the results of that enquire, the public representation in this important matte should no ‘longer be delayed.

It will be convenient to refer here to the Law of Confession, though strictly, it does not form a substantive part of the Procedure Code. This branch of the law too works, in actual proactive, under the best conditions, more harm than good, and I would therefore make bold to advocate its repeal in toto. There can never be, I will n to say absolute, but even marl, certainty of the voluntary character foamy confession owing to the fact that the accused are generally in the custody, and under the influence, of the Police prior to the confessions. And every reasonable inference, that inherent probability and practical experience suggest is against the voluntaries of confessions in general. For this reason, confessions do not deserve any evidentiary value being attached to them, and might well be excluded ‘form the law altogether.

Then there are several provisions of the Bill which propose to extend the already wide powers of the police in matters of procedure. My emphatic, if respectful, opinion is that these powers are wide enough in all conscience, in fact much too wide to be safe, and it behoves us to resist tooth and nail any proposal to still further enlarge those powers. For, human nature began what it is, large and all but irresponsible power is peculiarly liable to be abused, and power is only likely to be well used when duly restricted a controlled. And bitter experience has taught us how long a powerful the arm of the Police can be even today.

I am quite aware that some of the measures I have above ventured to suggest are somewhat heroic in character. But I feel, and strongly, that nothing short of such drastic remedies will cure evils for which palliatives can do but little.

 

 

 

PUBLIC SERVICE

 

The public service is another department in which I feel Sindh has a grievance. The Report of the Royal Public Service Commission is not yet out, and we therefore do not yet know what recommendations have been or will be made, and how their will affect Sindh. Let us, however, earnestly trust that when the Report does come out, it does not prove disappointing to the legitimate claims and aspirations of the people in this direction. Meanwhile, however, I may venture to suggest, with regard to tis province, that certain high appointments, such as those of collector, district judge, district superintendent of Police, etc. which are at present open to Indians in the Presidency, be thrown to Indians in this Province as well. For, in point of competency, Sindh does not, I think, compare unfavorably with the Presidency, and place that can be satisfactorily filled by the people of the Presidency can, I feel, be done justice to by the people of this Province as well. I would also urge that at lest one seat on the Court of the Judicial Commissioner in Sindh be allotted to the Provincial Bar, which. I am sure contains many men who could fill such a place with credit.

 

 

 

DECENNIAL SYSTEM OF SETTLEMENT

 

Perhaps the most important department of State activity is ‘the Land Revenue administration. On the one hand, it constitutes Government’s principal source of income, and, on the other, it affects the vast majority of the population. The most important matter for consideration in this branch of administration in Sindh is the term of settlement obtaining hirer. In this matter as in so many others, Sindh is dealt with in a measure different from that of the rest of India. For, whereas the rest of India enjoys either a permanent settlement or a settlement of 60 or 30 or 20 years- the last being the least period obtaining elsewhere- this Province is asked to be content with accordingly elsewhere- this Province is asked to be content a niggardly period of 10 years. Now the history of the decennial system of settlement in Sindh clearly shows that, originally, it was a provisional and experimental measure, adapted to the then primitive conditions: though it is remarkable that, even in those really days, the then highest opinion-that of the Commissioner-in-Sindh, the Governor of Bombay, and the Secretary of State for India – was in favor of an extended period. However, whatever justification there may have been for a short period at that early tie, there is no warrant whatever for the maintenance oath period in the present conditions. It has been repeatedly and conclusively shown that there is every reason, whether a priori or a posteriori, whether of experience, economy, justice or policy, against the short period, and every possible reason for a longer period. The resins advanced in support of the present term of settlement by the Government of India and by responsible officers of Government have been so often shown to be quite void of substance or force. On the other hands, the reasons against the present period have been proved to the hit both in theory and in practice. The stability of present conditions, warranting long settlement, the adverse effect of a short settlement on the value and on the improvement of the land. The speedier enhancements- for revisions are almost synonymous with enhancements-it brings in its train, and the countless other hardships and discouragements it entails on the Zemindar have been demonstrated by actual experience. It Was for Government to make out their case for an admitted exception. This type has failed to do; while, on the other hand, the people have succeeded in proving the applicability of the rule. Though the attitude of Government, therefore, in regard to this question has not been very encouraging in the past, it was some satisfaction to the people to know that the matter was finally to come before a Commission. That Commission has now completed its enquiry, and we are anxiously awaiting its Report, which 1 think, is overdue. And let us earnestly trust that that Report will not prove a disappointment to the people of Sindh, who has every reason to expect a recommendation for a longer period-30 years at the very least-in view of the vast mass of competent a responsible opinion in favor of an extended settlement.

 

REMISSIONS

Next in importance to the question of the term of settlement ‘in Sindh are the subject permissions. Remissions are a necessity born of the seasonal vagaries. The demands of Government are fixed and rigid, while agricultural conditions are as variable and indeterminate. Hence the call for remissions, which are abatements of the claims of Government, intended to afford relief Zemindar in seasons of agricultural depression. Remissions are, therefore, unquestionably a most equitable and benevolent idea. It is, however, a matter for deep regret that in practice they almost entirely fail of their just and kind purpose. The rules regarding remissions are open to the gravest exception, both in respect of their design and their manner of working. On the merits of the rules it is not possible for me to comment at any length, as by far The larger number of the are objectionable, and often on more than one ground. I shall therefore leave their fuller discussion to the mover of the resolution on the subject. One rul3e, however, I think, calls for special criticism. It is the rule that bass the claim for remissions on a certain proportion-less than-2: 1- between the value of the produce and the amount of assessment. But this value must in all fairness be the net value of the Seminar produce, and not its gross value, which is subject to considerable reduction by reason of the haris share, the expenses of cultivation, clearance, etc, and the other multitudinous drains on the Seminar’s finances in the shape of illicit exactions on the part of subordinates of the Revenue and irrigational Departments. These various charges are in much case known to reduce the net value of the Seminar’s share almost to zero. But in any case the net value falls considerably short of the gross. I would therefore suggest that the net value of the produce. Which is the real value, and not the gross value, which is a fictitious value, be the baris’s ofca\culation for remissions. Further, one ratio cannot properly be at once applicable to both flow and lift land, owing to the difference in the basis share of the produce in the two species of land the haris. Share being more in lift that in flow. All these considerations lead me to my final suggestion in this connection, which is, that the proportion between the net value of the produce and the amount of assessment, entitling the Seminar to remi9ssion be fixed at less than3: I in the case of flow and at less than 4:4 in the case of lift. Only then will something be left in bad seasons to the Zemindar, who at present gets next to nothing in most cases, and nothing at all in some.

I think it is also necessary for me to refer to the regrettable attitude occccasionaly taken by the higher officials in regard to remission work. Liberal recommendations have been know to rise suspicious regarding the integrity of the officer’s liberality. The deplorable result is vernal demoralization. For, if honest work by subordinates is to beget, the distrust of their superiors merely by reason of this result being unfavorable to Government there must soon be an end of all such hazardous integrity. This lamentable tendency, which has in the past resulted the breaking of a few Mukhtyarkars, has had its natural effect on all officers who have been subsequently entrusted with this responsible work.

Finally, in view of the fact that the assessment inn Sindh is demonstrably a high one, I think that people have every right to expect a more liberal grant of remissions that has hitherto been the case. So far, remissions have only been keeping the word of promise to the err and breaking it to the hope.

It is some satisfaction for the people to know that these rules are at present under the consideration of Government. However, they cannot but regret that they have not at all been consulted in the matter so far, and I therefore hope that Government will not any longer abstain from taking full and free counsel with the people to eb affected by the rules.

 

 

FALLOW RULES

Fallow Rules are yet another matter connected with the land revenue administration that urgently calls for reform. In an addition to being indefensible in principle. They are mischievous in practice. They are a clear violation of the proprietary rights of the Zemindar in his land of witch he cannot properly be divested under any circumstances. Hence the resumption of this right by the State is absolutely unwarranted. This proprietary right of the landowner in the soul was clearly re cognized by the old officers of government, and was even acknowledged by the Government of India. In their Resolution No. 2280, dated the 30th March 1874, the Supreme Government, in Sindh distinctly stated that they left the nature of the settlement to the decision of the Bombay Government, provided due regard was paid to the proprietary rights of the people in the soul. His Excellency the governor-General then observed that “he had little doubt but that proprietary rights of the people in ihe soul do crist throughout that province and that it only requires the application of knowledge and experience of the subject to develop and record the,.” But unfortunately that Bombay Government overlooked or overrode the orders of the Supreme Government in this connection, and disregarded the proprietary rights of the Zemindar. This matter was represented to Government at the time, but the whole question was closed by Bombay Government Resolution No. 1836, dated the e25th August 1884 which in intruding the temporary Settlement, held out the assurance that (1) Zemindar would always have at their dispersal all their waste, land without being charged anything, and (2) that Fallow Rules which charged assessment on time-expired fallow numbers ad resumed land in default would be done away with.

 

A year or two after the question of the Seminar’s proprietary rights in the soil was settled in this manner, the temporary settlement was converted into an irrigational one, and the Fallow Rules were introduced in clear breach of the above assurance on the strength on which the question of proprietary rights had been dropped. It is, perhaps, futile to revive that question now, but I think we are in justice entitled to hold Government to the solemn pledge given tat that time with regard to the abolition of the Fallow Rules, particularly Rule 4, and this irrespective of the merits or demerits of the Rules.

 

To come now to the merits of Rules 4 of the Fallow Rules which is the principal rule, I shall first take the case for the Rule. The reasons advanced in its support are (I) that the assessment is fixed on the assumption that a holding will be cultivated entire once in every 5 years and that, if the whole land is not brought under cultivation during that period, Government loses in assessment, and must make up the loss be charging assessment on that time-expected fallow numbers: (2) that it acts as a stimulus to the Zemindar, who is compelled to bring his whole land under cultivation at least once in 5 years on pain of its being forfeited or being charged fallow assessment, and (3) that is a cheek on the tendency of Zemindar to take up more land that they are able or willing t cultivate.

Now a little examination will show that these reasons are untenable. In the first place, Government receives not only the deficit of the full assessment, but unduly obtains a great de a] more as fallow assessment through there. Be no deficit at a]l. For Government charges assessment on time-expired fallow number even when the total area cultivated in the 5 years is equal to, or more than; the entire holding. For example, a Zemindar holding 1000 acres will in 5 years have paid the full assessment of his entire holding by cultivating 200 acres a year. But the effect of the present rule is that, even if the Zemindar in this case were to cultivate as much as 400 or 600 acres a year and thus pay Government in 5 years double or treble the full assessment, but were to fail to cultivate during the period any particular portion of is land, say about 100 acres. He would still be charge fallow assessment on those 100 acres. Surely, this is a most unfair exaction on uncultivated land, and I do not think that it was ever the intention of Government that the rule should have this effect. But that it does have this effect in the vast majority of cases is a demonstrable fact. Secondly the stimulus to energy, which, it appears. This rule is intended to be is, I think a stimulus with a vengeance a stimulus so strong that it paralyzes rather, that stimulates. Besides, why is any artificial stimulus necessary? Is not self interest by itself much the most powerful stimulus known to human nature?’ It is altogether fatuous to suppose that any Zemindar would fail to cultivate as much of his land as he possibly could if he could do so with advantage. If he leaves any survey numbers uncultivated for some time, we may be sure that he has the best reasons in the world for doing so, all at government should I think desire is that the Zemindar should cultivate a particular portion, say of his holding, every year. This most Zemindar can do, and actually do in point of fact. But I entirely fail to see why they should be compelled, on pain of fine or forfeiture, to cultivate even those portions of their land which they have good reasons to leave fallow for some time. These good ‘reasons may be (1) exhaustion of the soul which calls for longer rest (2) the land being overgrown with weed owing to excessive rain, a condition which necessitates a longer fallow to enable the land to become fit for cultivation (3) scarcity of water due to the unfavorable set of the river at the mouths of the canals, and a variety of other causes. These reasons clearly indicate a long fallow, which the Zemindar would, but for the rule, have allowed. But the fear of being charged full fallow assessment or having his land forfeited, compels the poor Zemindar to incur heavy expensive on excavation or clearance or reclamation of the soul, and to give it for cultivation to haris on nominal rent, which is often less that the government assessment. In such a case, the cultivator, on the one had, gets less for his time and trouble, and the Zemindar on the other, not withstanding his expense, gets nothing. So much for the effect of the stimulus in question. Were it not for this stimulus, other land in the same holding would have been cultivated, with advantage both to the Zemindar and to the cultivator, and without any loss to Government. Further if the expense of bringing any land under cultivation be excessive, the Zamindar prefers to let it lie fallow and pays the fallow assessment, rather than suffer the loss of his land.

 

Third]y, the tendency of the Zemindar to take up more land that hi Is able or willing to cultivate could, think, be easily checked by Government ruling that no land should be given to’ a seminar who ha s for 5 years failed to cultivate an area equal to his holding. To secure full assessment in 5 years, the fairest course, if any were needed at all, would, I think, be to make final settlement of assessment every 5 years. The number Shumari being kept for 5 years, the total area of cultivation of every khatedar during 5 years could be made out, and if that were less than the area of his hold, the deficit of the assessment could be charged him, and, in default, a proportionate area could be confiscated. However, as I have said before, such cases are quite exceptional.

 

Thus it is clear that the rule works most injuriously in practice on the poor seminars. The loss incurred in bringing under cultivation land under temporary unfavorable conditions, or otherwise, by the payment often unfair exaction, plunges the Zemindar into debt. This steadily accumulating year by year eventually compels the Zemindar to part with a portion of what is so dear to a Sindhi and what, to a Zemindar, is the only means of livelihood,- his land.

The futility of these. Rules were even admitted by the Commissioner-in-Sindh in his Circular letter, inviting the options of the various officers in Sindh on the subject. The Commissioner, Mr. .Muir Mackenzie, therein observes that “it has occurred to the Commissioner that the rule might be abolished altogether. In a bad year its operation is always suspended and in a good year. When all land is pretty certain to be cultivated for which water is available, there should ordinarily be little occasion to enforce it. The forfeiture of time expired fallow lands is, moreover, merely nominal since forfeited lands are almost always given back to the original proprietors. The amount of revenue realized in the shape of fallow assessment and the arrears of fallow assessment recovered when forfeited lands are restored to original occupants is not large compared with the total revenue of the province. The abolition of the rule too is likely to result in an appreciable saving of work all round.

 

In this connection, I may point out that the restoration of fallow-forfeited number to the original holders in the first instance is all very well in theory. But, in practice, great delay, inconvenience and expense are occasioned to these holders in getting back their forfeited land owing to the change of that a, and the consequents necessity for applying for restoration of name, etc. and the countless other practical difficulties in the way. Besides there is observable of late a tendency to disregard the preferential claims of the original holders to their forfeited land, which is occasionally given away to strangers.

 

Against, there is a clear difference between lift and Flow land in respect of fallows. Hence even if the rule is to be retained with regard to Flow land there is no case for its retention in respect of lift land. In this I am supported by the opinion of such an eminent and distinguished revenue officer as the late Sirdar Mahomed Yakub, who observes in this connection, as follows: – “Whereat Charkhi” number is fanged with “kallar” or in rather sandy or of any reason is of poor soil the Zemindar gets into serious difficulty. Cultivators do not agree to devote their labor and expense on land which will pay in sufficient; their whole year’s subsistence in “charki” tracts depends on “khrif’ cultivation only, and there is always more land than there are cultivators the “haris” refuse to cultivate inferior land. If the Zemindar gives u the Survey Number, he finds undesirable neighbors in the midst of his holding. He pays the follow assessment, or, in some cases, attempts to have it cultivated. The stimulus to energy in those cases compass the Zemindar to give the land for nominal rent; the cultivator gets less for his time an trouble and the Zemindar nearly nothing while remembering that the number of cultivator is shall had the stimulus not been at work, the cultivator would have cultivated a better piece of land in the same holding with advantage to all concerned. In other cases, when the set of the river is against the canal, and there is deep silt in certain bad “karias” and water ceases to flow in the midst of the season the expenses required are too excessive. But the stimulus to energy plunges the Zemindar into debt, the crops fail, his “haris” run away with large advances, and he is left involved ‘in the meshes of the money-lender. For these reasons, I am of opinion that the rule in question should not apply to “charkha” Survey Number.

 

It is, therefore to be hoped that these important considerations, and the decided opinions of its own most responsible and competent officers will weigh with Government, and induce Government to abolish the rule in toto, or at least with regard to lift land.

 

 

REDUCTION OF WATER SUPPLY

The reduction of water supply throughout Sindh by reduction of the size of the sluices which have existed from time immemorial has created great discontent among the Seminars of Sindh. The public works department would appear to have entered upon a veritable crusade. In 1908, they began with the Bagari canal, and within 20 miles of it, went on promiscuously pulling down the old sluices and building their own new ones. This created serious dissatisfaction, and various complaints were made to the Engineering authorities and to the Commissioner-in-Sindh. In some instances, it was found that the complaints were reasonable, and some of the new sluices were demolished.

 

The Public Works Department, and with it Government, would appear to have overlooked or ignored the whole history of the present. irrigational settlement in Sindh. Before its introduction, a diffused settlement obtained in this Province, under which the land was divided into large nos., and the Zemindar had to pay assessment for the whole land, whether cultivated or not. As the assessment was levied on the entire holding Government was, on its part, bound to supply water for the whole, and it was on that calculation that sluices at the heads of Karias and Canals were built by the P.W.D. at the expense of the Zemindar. The rate of assessment was very light.

 

The irrigational settlement was intended to curtail the extent of cultivation and to improve its quality. The large S. Nos: were split up into small ones and the amount of assessment livable on the whole and was’ imposed on a portion of it, with an option to the Zemindar to cultivate as many small Nos: as he chose, leaving the rest to lay fallow for which he was exempted form payment of the assessment. The Zemindar cold, if he chose, cultivates all the land contained in his old. No.s against the rate of assessment depends on the species of crops he wants to raise on the land. Thus there is no limitation either on the quality or the quantity of cultivation to be raised by the Zemindar. But the P.W.D has been trying to impose their own conditions on this power of the Zemindar. They base their calculation of water supply on the assumption that the Zemihdar should be provided water for only 1/3 of his holding, and that he has no right to cultivate more, and that, if possible, he should not be allowed to cultivate rise. This is a clear encroachment on the rights of the Zemindar. Law does not impose any limitation the kind proposed by the P.W.D. the law on the subject is contained in the Bombay Irrigation Act VII of 1879, and no power is given then to the P.W.D. to c7urtainl the usual water supply or to cut or confme the cultivation in any way.

 

Again, the P.W.D. pleads for the lower Zemindar. They believe that all riparian holders have equal rights. This can to be. YOl cannot deprive the higher holders of their rights in under to make provision for the lower holders; possibly nay probably, the lands on the lower reaches were not originally under cultivation. Their holders took up those lands with full knowledge of the disadvantages under whist they were laboring. They paid less for the, they cannot now turn round and call upon the higher holders to make provision fro them. This I~ any thing but equitable. The P.W.D. is encroaching upon the rights of the Zemindar arbitrarily and illegally, and this encroachment should be checked. The infection has spread from the Begary to the fully, the Methrao and other canals in Sindh; and unless steps are taken. It is feared (that this policy of reducing the water supply will produce serious and deep-rooted discontent among the Zemindar.

 

Mr. Younghusband, one of the most sagacious and farseeing Commissioners that Sindh has had, has struck a note ofwrining on this subject in his letter No. 555 of 5th July 1916, attached to the Government Resolution No. W.I.254/1907.

 

In Para 3 of that note he observes as follows :

 

 

“The irrigation question in Sindh presets marked peculiarities differentiating it probably from every thing else of the kind in Sindh. Secondly, irrigation in Sindh is not in any sense a creation of the British administration. The works carried out by the Engineers have consisted mainly, until the last few years solely, in the development and improvement of previously existing indigenous systems of irrigation, and we are confronted on every side with an ancient usages and vested rights, which have to be carefully guarded against the well meaning encroachments of the zealous advocates of scientific irrigation. Where ancient rights and usages are distributed compensation should be proposed.”

 

Again in Para 3 of Government Resolution No. 1050 of 9th April 1906, we find the following remarks:-

“Some lands have probably prior rights of irrigation, and arrangements for their supply, in preference to others, must be made.”

 

In view of these considerations, I think it behooves Governments to respect the rights of the zemindar instead of completely ignoring them by demolishing their existing sluices without their knowledge and behind their back and creating new ounces of much smaller dimensions to their great prejudice.

 

This attitude of the P.W.D has compelled the quiet and pece-l9 oving Zemindar of Sindh to go to Courts of law against their will. Using Governemnt is not an easy or pleasant task. The person who does so incurs the deep resentment of the whole official class. But the Zemindar has the right to expect Government to afford them the protection against unrighteous encroachment which is their due.

 

 

THE SUKKUR BARAGE

The Sukkur Barrage is a projected scheme of improvement on the present water supply which has long been under the consideration

Of Government. It is vital importance to the Province. Let us, therefore, earnestly trust h that circumstances permit.

 

CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIEITIES

Co-operative Credit Societies are excellent institutions for mutual assistance. They have done good work in Sindh and this in spite 01 the drawbacks which have attended their working in this Province, to which I shall presently refer, indirectly, in the suggestion I intend the offer. An examination of their records will show that regular, if not very appreciable, progress has been made by them. These institutions were first introduced in 1906-07 when there was one society. In 1910-11, there were 4; in 1911-12.7: in 1912-13, II; in 1913-14, 17; ill

1914-15, 19; in 1915-16 there were 29, and by the 1st of April 1916 there were 30. 1 Mahratta, and I Telegraph office, societies- the last 2 being non-agricultural. This, no doubt, shows progress, but it is still very slow progress.

Perhaps the greatest drawback to their spread is the general ignorance of the people due to their wants of education; The vast mass of the people are not yet in a position to understand or appreciate the purpose or the advantages of these institutions, and are hence unconcerned about them. For this indifference the extension of education will I think do the most. But meanwhile something can still be done to popularize these societies by the appointment of a special Indian officer in charge, who should have no other work, and who should also go about instructing the masses regarding the benefits of such institutions. If that is not possible, an assistant should be given to the present officer, who has done so much of the cause of these societies.

Another suggestion which I would venture to offer is that these institutions should receive not only official countenance, but official encouragement and support. Officials should Endeavour to help the spread of these societies by inculcating their benefits on the people at large. There is very wide scope for the helpful activities of such~ bodies, and no means should be spared which can assist their growth. Finally the work of honorary workers in the cause of these societies should be generously recognized and commended.

 

THE Disintegration OFEST A TES.

The designation of estates by the operation of law is another matter for anxious consideration by the Zemindar of Sindh. At present the devolution of property prescribed by the Hindu and Mahomedan Law on the death of an owner has the effect of dividing and subdividing an estate continually, till the sub-division reaches a stage at which the estate almost becomes a negligible quantity. For, a very small holding is just as good as no holding at all. By its very smallness it ceases to be an economic holding. This process of disruption is ever at work, and the time will come when holders will be reduced to the condition of peasant proprietors. This is a grave political evil which I think must be averted. I am aware that I stand here on delicate ground, for it is no light matter to think of interfering with the operation of law and the clear rights of parties. I am fully sensible of these and other difficulties in the way, but I think these difficulties must be boldly faced in view of the paramount importance of the preservation of estates

 

RASAL

Perhaps one of the greatest evils under which the people of Sindh have been groaning is the system of Rasai. This institution is too well known to need description. It is peculiar to this Province, and is unknown in the rest of the Presidency. It had its origin the spirit of hospitality that is at once the pride and the curse of the people of Sindh. The prevalence of the evil is not a point that I need at all labor. It ahs been the subject of almost infinite complaint and representation from every quarter. It has been discussed, almost threadbare, it its every aspect and feature, by responsible officers of Government, by the Press, by public bodies, by public men and by private individuals. And, finally, it has arrested the attention of Government itself. But, beyond the issue OT Resolutions and Circulars, nothing effectual has yet been done by Government towards its suppression. These official orders, as everyone knows, fast become dead letters. At the outset they have some effect, but that effect is very fugitive. Soon they are honored more in the bre4ch than in the observance. They are finally allowed to crystallize and beyond, perhaps, some historic interest and value are void of any listing effect. Hence the evil has only grown and gained strength with the passing of the years and the evident impunity that would seem to accompany it, and has, I might almost say, been sanctioned and hallowed by a long and undisturbed existence. The evil has, indeed, attained the proportions of an open scandal and a public calamity.

As this abuse, therefore, urgently calls for reform, I may venture to officer a few suggestions. The first is the substantial curtailment of official tours to the extent that is absolutely necessary. For Rasai is an evil directly begotten of the touring system? That official touring is a necessity to a certain extent must be admitted. But touring on the scale that obtains at present goes, I think, beyond the actual necessity. The existing tours, therefore, should I am of opinion, be materially abridged. Their present extent is a source of much unnecessary trouble both to the officials and to the people. An official sometimes tours not because it is absolutely necessary to do so but because he is required to travel for a certain fixed number of days in the year, a period which, I think, exceeds the actual requirements of the situation. The people themselves would much prefer to come’ to head quarters for most of their business for the transaction of which hear-quarters afford them greater convenience.

 

My second suggestion is that the present system of supplies be supplanted by a system analogous to the Military Commissariat. The contracts of supplies could be farmed out to private individuals and neither Zemindars, on the one hand, not Tapadars nor other officials, on the other, should be allowed any hand in these contracts.

In conclusion I should like to acknowledge, with deep thankfulness on behalf of the people of Sindh, the earnest and whole-hearted endeavors of several officers of Government, more particularly our commissioner, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Beyts, Collector of Hyderabad and Mr. Monie, late Collector Onawa shah, to combat an evil which has been wreaking such have in this’Province.

 

EDUCATION

Last, but not least, is the important question of education in Sindh. Education is, as you well know, the basis of all progress, whether material or moral. It is the key to most of the problems that life presents whether in the social, economic or moral world, and it is almost a sovereign panacca for the ills that afflict mankind. Knowledge is power, indeed; while, on the other hand, there is no greater disability than ignorance. But ignorance is even worse than a mere negative defect. It is a danger and evil, and is the root of almost all evils. Thus most of the evils we have just discussed have their origin in the ignorance of the people. In point of education, our unfortunate country is in the rear of almost the whole of the civilized world. And our benighted Province is in the rear of the rest of India. No doubt, great strides have been made in this direction by the people of Sindh, but by far the greater portion of the ground still remains to be covered. It is therefore the

I bounden duty of all those whose rare good fortune it has been to receive the benefits of education to lose no opportunity, of inculcating the supreme value of education on all those with whom they may be brought into contact and on whom they may have some influence. For in the spread of education alone lies the hope of this Province. However, it is comforting to see that Sindh is fast waking from its long slumber. The wave of progress has passed over the Province, and at least the thinking portion of the people is now athrob with aspiration and astir with effect. But it is for us to see that this enthusiasm does not languish or die, but that it is kept vigorously alive, and is even still further

Stimulated. For, after all, we must remember that our system of education is still a purely voluntary one, in which there is much room for the operation of prejudice or apathy. These are the obstacles in the path of education which we must expect to encounter, and which we must set ourselves strenuously to overcome, as long as the present voluntary methods obtain with the introduction of compulsion, however, a principle which was warmly advocated by the Late Honourable Mr. Gokhale, in the Bill designed to give effect to it which he brought before. The Imperial Council, the educational question will have automatically solved itself. That time must inevitably come, and that it come as possible must be the hope and wish of every one who desires the regeneration of India. For the voluntary system, however successful, cannot secure that wide extension of education which is necessary if a whole people are to be enlightened. The history of other countries has proved this fact beyond controversy, and India must follow in their wake if the general emancipation of her people from ignorance and error is to be secured. In this connection, I would beg leave to refer to a matter, which though sectional in scope and purpose, is found upon a principle of universal application. I refer to the Sindh Mahomedan Education Cess Bill, which I introduced some time ago in the Legislative Council. The principle underlying the Bill was that of voluntary self-taxation by the community for the purpose of communal education. Government, however, while accepting the principle, demurred to give it the force of, law until they were fully, persuaded that the measure had the support of the entire community. There has long been a vast body of opinion in its favour, and the community are in hopes that the time will soon come when this measure of self-help will receive legislative sanction, and their progress be finally assured.

It may also not be inappropriate here to refer to the representation of Sindh on the Bombay University syndicate. It appears that, during the last 20 years, only one gentlemen form Sindh has been appointed on the Senate. I do not think this is sufficient justice to the claims of this Province in this direction. For Sindh has made substantial advance in education, and is still progressing apace. I have, therefore, placed this matter before the consideration of the University, and am in hopes that the claims of Sindh to adequate representation on the Senate will receive the recognition they deserve.

 

Before concluding this subject, I may say a few words regarding the condition of prifuary and secondary education in this Province. It is gratifying to observe the fair progress made by Sindh in the direction of primary education; However, I think there is still considerable room for improvement, for a thorough dissemination of education among the masses is the consummation that is to be attained. Our grateful acknowledgments are due to Government for what it has already achieved in this direction. But Government will, I trust, itself realize that its duty is by no means done and will push on with the responsible work of universal enlightenment to the end.

 

Secondary education, I am sorry to think, has not al all received the encouragement it deserves, and is still in a very unsatisfactory condition. This fact has been repeatedly commented upon by the Educational Inspector in Sindh, though his remarks have especial reference to the needs of the Mahomedan Community in the Province. But, gentlemen, I am sure you will agree that the educational advancement of this community is tantamount to the educational advancement of Sindh of which the Mahomedans form the vast majority and are still very largely in the darkness of ignorance. The progress of secondary education can I think, be secured by the increase of muddle and high schools’ in convenient places, by the further grant of endowments and scholarships, and. Above all, by the maintenance of a low scale of fees. The raising of the fees by Government is clearly a measure which must retard the progress of secondary education and I trust Government will realize this and reduce these fees. For, while primary education is, no doubt, the first step in mass emancipation, no great progress is possible without secondary and higher education. Secondary and higher education means the diffusion of the English language among the people, which has been perhaps one of the greatest benefits that British rule has brought to this country. It s influence has been to illumine, to elevate, to inspire, and, above all, to consolidate the people of India, and I feel that yet greater possibilities of good wait n its further diffusion.

 

CONCLUSION

5th Sindh Provincial Conference Karachi

 

I fail to find to express the gratitude I feel for the great and the signal honour which you have been pleased to do me for electing me to preside over deliberations on this memorable occasion in our capital city of Province. I realize that this honour is the highest distinction which is the power of my country-men, next to the Congress Presidentship, to bestow. But when I realize the responsibility attached to this honour, I sincerely feel that worthier shoulders than mine would leave better sustained the burden.

 

When however, I received your mandate in the midst of my humble work at first hesitated, but then I felt my duty to obey and here I am, for better or for worse.

 

At a time like this, I feel that what is required is a bold, emphatic and respectful declaration of our grievances, desires and aspirations. I shall endeavour to fulfill this task to the best of my ability and will rely on your indulgence for my short-comings.

 

THE KING EMPEROR

 

Gentlemen – Our first duty today is to lie at the feet of our august and beloved Sovereign George V king an emperor, our unswerving fealty, our unshaken allegiance and our enthusiastic homage. The throne in England is above all parties beyond all controversies.

 

It is the permanent seat of the majesty, the justice, the honour and the beneficence of the British Empire.

 

And in offering our homage and our fealty to its illustrations occupant, we not only perform a loyal duty but also express the gratitude of our hearts for all that is noble and high-minded in England’s connection with India. The late Queen Empress Victoria the Good and her worthy son, King Edward the peace maker are known to have exercised within the limits of their constitutional position vast influences for good in favor of a policy of justice and sympathy towards India. Our present king emperor had announced his resolve to walk in the foot-step of his father and grand mother. We have therefore our fullest trust in him and the British Parliament that a policy of righteousness wills the pursued towards India in the decision of India’s claim to self-government within the Empire, after Mr. Montagn goes lack and submits his report on the subject. “We only claim that we should be in India what Englishmen feel to be in England and in the Colonies.”

Tribute to the Dead

 

Ladies and Gentlemen- We have every year to mourn the loss of some of our brilliant and enthusiastic workers, who pass away leaving us poorer in the ranks of our public men.

 

Since we met last at Shikarpur, the cruel hand of death has snatched away from us Mr. Achalsing Advani, a leading pleader of Karachi, a men of great intellectual abilities, undaunted courage brilliant powers of expressions and un bounded enthusiasm. He was the rising star in the political horizon and a man of great personality who took keen interest in unifying political forces in Sindh. It was only last year at Shikarpur, that while addressing you from the conference platform, this young man gave you a promise that he will thoroughly master the Sindhi language at today’s Conference. But it was not to be. It was he who pressingly invited the conference to Karachi this time. He has passed away. How greatly do we miss today his familiar and sweet face from this plat-form!

 

Next, gentlemen, we have to mourn the loss of that great and towering personality-the Pioneer of modern nationalism, who was our pilot under storm and stress-Our India’s grand old man, Mr. Dadabhai Noureji. He was India’s greatest leader and friend. No language suffice to describe his deeds, and service to his country, his splendid courage and his unfaltering devotion in the cause of Home Rule. His name is a bye-word in every family in India. To him is due the word “Swaraj”.

 

Another great patriot and friend of India, -Sir William Wedderburn has been removed by death. He was the last of that noble trio who for long years and under the most trying circumstances toiled hard and incessantly and unselfishly for the uplifting of India. Most of us knew Sir. William personally as the judge of our Sadar court and then of Bombay high court. Twice was he president of Indian National congress at Bombay and Allahbad. Any one like myself, who had the good fortune to know him personally, will testify how he inspired, elevated and educated those who came under his influence by the nobleness of his nature, his world-wide sympathies, his profound earnestness, his ceaseless devotion to the cause and by his indomitable faith in the British sense of justice and in the principle that right and justice will eventually triumph. He was not daunted in his inestimable exertions even by the clammy end obloquy which is own countrymen heaped on hi head. He was deeply touched and greatly distressed by the sad plight of the poor Indian raiyat and like Mr. Dadabhai his whole heart was taxed upon devising, advising and insisting on measures calculated to alleviate their unfortunate condition. Sir. William at the age of 72 came all the way from England in 1910 to preside at Allahbad session of the Congress in order to cement the bonds of unity between Hindus and Mahamadans.

 

 

We have suffered another great loss in the cause of Indian nationalism in the depth of Hon: Mr. A. Rasul of Calcutta. He in his intense passion for his motherland recognized that the cause of Mahomedans was indissolubly bound up with that of the Hindus and took a leading part in effecting that rapprochement between the two communities which has been so valuable in a political unification. And yet another eminent and distinguished Indian, an enthusiastic worker in the cause of our motherland the great promoter of the Hindu University, Sir Sunder Lal has just passed away. His death is indeed a great loss to the country.

 

Gentlemen our gratitude to those dear and noble souls will be best paid, in the words of our noble leader Mrs. Annie Besant:- “By following in their foot-steps, so that we may win the Home rule which they longed to see with us and shall see ere long from the other world of life in which they dwell today.”

 

WAR AND HOME RULE

Brother delegates;- The great war still continues. Our leader Mrs. Annie Besant said early in the course of the war. “That the war could not end until England recognized that autocracy and bureaucracy perished in India as well as in Europe”. Did not bishop of Calcutta declared the other day that, it would be hypocritical to pray for victory over autocracy in Europe and to maintain it in India? The one prominent feeling, that arises in the minds of all of us, is one of the deep admiration for the self imposed burden which Britain is bearing in the world’s struggle for liberty and freedom and a feeling of profound pride that India had not fallen behind other parts of the British Empire, but has stood shoulder to shoulder with them by the side of the Emperor mother in the hour of her sorest trial. In the great galaxy of heroes there are now and there will never cause to be beloved Indian names testifying to the fact that our people would rather die unsullied then outlive the disgrace of surrender to a bastard civilization. Our conviction is firm that by the guidance of that divine spirit which shapes the destinies of nations, the cause of right will ultimately triumph and the close of struggle will usher a new era in the history of human race,

 

 

Gentlemen. When England took my arms in the cause of Liberty and freedom, we in India believed whole-heartedly that England was fighting for the course of freedom of all nationalities including India. However, as war went on, India slowly release what it was loath to believe that antipathy towards autocracy were meant only for the west and liberty and freedom were being preached and promised for the white races. India was markedly left out of calculation in the speeches of statesman dealing with the future of Empire. When ministers of Empire and leaders of men in England were waxing eloquent over the new consciousness that had arisen and which would eventually lead to a reconstruction of Empire on an enlarged bases, and when ever part of the colonial Empire was preparing to assert its existence and its opportunity, our leaders in India realized that it was that it was time for them to awaken and lay the claims of their land before the exponents of British sense of fair play. The Congress and the Muslim League then placed their modest schemes before the Government. Naturally this action of our leaders was at first ridiculed , the resented and finally oppose by Anglo Indians. It was said that the step was premature, we were told that we were embarrassing the Government in war times, even our loyalty was doubted. We were told that we were not yet fit for even agitating for liberty, that we were not yet sufficiently educated, that the agitation was only confined to a few and inspired, that we were in fact harming the cause of India. We were then paternally advised to keep quiet and sleep, till the war was over. In India and specially in Sindh, people know the attempt that was made in mislead the Mahomedan mind by telling them that Home Rule would mean Hindu Rule. But our brethren stood firm in the realization that has dawned, that the interest of Hindus and Muslims must rise or fall together. India saw through various obstacles raised and risen in the realization of this scheme but since the united claim of India’s greatest national bodies was expounded. India had already better experience of breach of promises and pledges. But thanks to our great patriots that agitation was nobly continued and sustained and just as India’s trust in England’s goods faith was being strained nearly to breaking point. came happy news for the declaration of policy by the Secretary of state that self Government will be granted to India. The further welcome news gladdened the heart of India was that Mr. Montagu was appointed Secretary of state for India. This was followed by another announcement that at the invitation of Viceroy, Mr. Montagu was coming to India to hear for himself what India wanted and to confer with the Indian leaders. The Anglo-Indians were put in a rage at this. Most mischievous anti-agitation and vituperative language was restored to by the Anglo-Indians in the Press and on the Platform and in Parliament in order to frighten Mr.Montagu. But there tactics failed and the Secretary of state is in India .He and the Viceroy have received numerous memorials and schemes of reforms. But gentlemen our faith is firmed in the righteousness of the true English-men, all this oppositions, all this vituperation conflicting schemes and suggestions cannot obscure the main issue. India’s claim for a free and unfettered development of national existence and its justification at the present stage.

 

This attitude of the Anglo-Indian element need cause no surprise. It is a war vested and cherished interest. When the Anglo-Indian element both in state service and in commerce have monopolized the Incrative and the paying situation it is not easy for them to be now willing even for the sack of fairy-play and justice to a abandon the situation without an effort of unprecedented magnitude. The effort is being made. We Indians are claming what true English man term a birthright of citizenship. Right Hon. Mr.Montagu is fresh from the seat of liberty and nationalism and of him we expect to see through the Anglo Indian narrow –mindedness and our needs in the Governance of our country. I am confident Mr.Montagu sufficiently realizes by now whether or not Indians do want Home Rule and what they mean by the home rule. The strength that the labour party is gaining in England is reflecting itself on the world’s political situation. India is not free from the movement and at no distant date that movement will be of incalculable gain to the country. This is a result of the war which has created an atmosphere of love, freedom and liberty and given an impetus to the labour movement without whose co-operation successful prosecution of the war is not possible. With them are co-operating the women organizations which now possess six million votes. Our representatives Mr. Baptista and Mr. Polak and other friends have been doing immense service by creating public opinion in England in favor of India by appealing to the powerful masses of that country.

Mr. Henderson has emphatically declared “Further the labour party accepts the principle of self determinations for all people and believes that this can be secured for England and India by a rapid extension of self governing institutions on dominion lines. Again “We all recognize that all dishonourable and unjust ambitions of world domination, whether they be military, political or commercial must be renounced by every nation.

 

When we recognize that a popular movement gains strength by the volume of its educational propaganda we at once recognize the good that Mr.Tilak’s campaign of educating the masses does .It is being pursued in Sind by men of sturdy independence, Mr. Durgdas, Mr.Jethmal, Mr.Jeramdas, but what should be every body’s endeavour now is that the movement should spread and he popularized , the volunteers may increase and we must therefore set our faces and be right earnest in that direction by suitable organization . We can and shall succeed as the labour party is succeeding. All that is a concentration of all energies to the winning of our ideal – Home Rule in India and a wide organization of all the elements of the population with a definite propaganda of work . I shall therefore particularly deal with industries and Sawadeshism . National Education and local Self-Government as a part of our propaganda .

 

It is a matter of vital importance and urgency that we should not abate the volume and force of our efforts but continue with additional vigor and we should send a fully representative and competent deputation to England. They should address the great centres of shipping and manufactures and stir the country there to support India’s claims in Parliament. Let our deputation speak out India’s case plainly and definitely. To an Englishman, no begging of boons ever appeals. He values the man who asserts that “Freedom is our Birth-Right.” “India is no longer on her knees for boons but on her legs for rights” so said Mrs.Besaut. When India gets her rights, the tie between India and England becomes a golden link of mutual love, respect and service.

 

 

Swadeshi Movement and our Industries

 

Brother Delegates:- I will now to a movement which had once spread so rapidly and was hailed with so much enthusiasm all over the country in the year 1905-1966- the Swadeshi Movement.

 

Next in importance to Swaraj I would give place to this question, interwoven as it always is, with our industrial problem. The industrial domination of our people by another, attracks much less attention that the political domination but is nevertheless a great factor. The political domination is visible on the surface as we see a foreign race openly monopolizing all power and authority and keeping the people in state of subjection. These are facts which we see and feel acutely everyday of our lives and in every act and in every restrictions over our liberty, and in the deprivation of our natural rights as sons of the soil.

 

As it is true that human feelings often matter more then interest we have been constantly thinking and feeling that we are living under a foreign domination. In fact we had been for a long time engrossed in our struggle for political aspirations and status and never gave thought to our industrial and economic question.

 

Moreover this industrial foreign domination invaded us in an attractive garb. Articles of greater finish and attractiveness tempted us, so that in the supply of our daily wants, we welcomed the foreign domination though quite unconsciously at first, in preference to articles made by our men, from materials produced by our motherland and by our labor. In fact we were so much` tempted by the attractive exterior that we did not look at the quality of the things etc, and welcomed the shadow for the substance. This evil grew a pace and we owe it to another evil that we were disillusioned. Had it not been for Lord Curzon’s ill-planned and ill-advised measure the crowning act o reactionary Viceroy, the partition of Bengal- the Swadeshi movement would still have remained in his embryo. But from evil cometh good, so it was in the case . the amount of indignation and resentment raised up by Lord Curzon put the whole o Bengal in blaze. The nation rose with one voice and when our Bengalee brothers found that nothing would turn the Viceroy from his set purpose of partitioning Bengal. That all their petitions, all their protests in the press and on the platform, all their memorials to him, to the Secretary of State and to Parliament went unheeded, that Government exercised despotic authority regardless of their cherished feelings and interests and that no protection was forthcoming from any quarter, they resolved to have recourse of swadeshism. Under the then circumstances the movement took the form of boycott in afflicted to Bengal but it spreads to other parts of India in the legitimate form of swadeshism.

 

There could be my no denying the fact that our Bengali brothers rightly used it as a weapon which after all struck the vital interests of the British cotton industries and achieved the object in view. Not only did the movement, in spite of strong opposition from Angle Indian element, draw anxious attention of the people in England to the grievances of our Benagli brothers but it demonstrated the deep resentment of our brothers at the treatment they were receiving. The result was that even though, Lord Morely the then Secretary of State had declined interference and had declared partition to be a settled fact, our wise Emperor was graciously pleased to unsettle the condemned measure in this memorable speech at the Delhi Durbar.

 

Thus gentlemen, the movement in Bengal was purely a peoples’ Movement and took the form of boycott of foreign made goods as a political weapon for a definite political purpose under an overpowering sense of necessity. In other parts of India though the movement of pure Swadeshism remained, it received no encouragement at the hands of our government. Thou the government has by now realized that encouragement of Indian resources is its only salvation. Can it ever be disputed that swadeshi movement is both a ….. and an economic movement ? Swadeshi means “one’s own country” it implies that we must support our indigenous arts and industries. It is … only an industrial movement but it affects the very existence of a nation. At its highest it is deep, passionate, fervent and all embracing love of the Motherland and this love manifests itself not only in one’s sphere of activity but it invades the whale man. Its very though thrills him and its actual touch lifts one out of oneself. Love of Swadeshism is like the love one possesses and manifests for his chichi just as the pad has truly asked:-

 

“Breathes there a man with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my untire land”?

 

Gentlemen we need today that gospel of devotion which is conveyed by the above. This soul striving devotion should be manifested by the high and the low, by the prince and the peasant, by every Indian in the town and the village, on the hills and on the plains, towards Swadeshim. How soul stirring and sweet is our Swswdeshi- Bande matram- it is Swadeshism which presents itself to the mass of our people in a form which they easily comprehend. It is Swadeshims which turns the thoughts of the masses towards their political status and enables them to take interest in the economic development of their Mother-land. It is Swadeshims which teaches the lesson of unity and co-operation with one another for an national end. It is Swadeshism which inspires all India with thoughts and acts of sacrifice for the sake of the Mother-land. Believe me gentlemen it is my conviction that our political success will in a great measure be accelerated by swadesghism. In fact we shall ultimately find the true salvation of India in this movement.

 

Let us take the economic aspect of the question. There can be no gainsaying the fact that foreign industrial domination of India under British rule has been the cause of industrial down-fall and consequent poverty of India.

 

The political and administrative results of British Rule have to their debit the shutting out of a whole race from positions of real trust and responsibility and thus denying to them opportunities for developing their powers of initiative and training. Similarly the forcible disarming of the whole people has a disastrous effect upon their manhood and material spirit and denying to them free education at state expense and distrust of the educated have had the effect of keeping the masses in perpetual ignorance. But in this respect there are some redeeming features and compensating advantages such as the liberalizing effects of western education and institutions, advantages of Railways, Telegraphs, Post Offices and other modern appliances of modern material civilization. There are also the blessings of peace and of order firmly established; so that in the midst of this terrible world war we in India are living quite peacefully.

 

But I am sorry this cannot be said of the industrial domination, there is not a single redeeming feature in the industrial field. Just glance at history to see what India was before, the statements of visitors from foreign parts of historians, of invaders, and of poets contain ample testimony of the tempting prosperity of India and high standard of it s arts, crafts and industries. Silk goods, cotton goods and woolen goods used to be freely exported form India. The superiority of India’s silk and fine cotton manufactures had at one time attracted the marked attention of foreign countries. In the year 1813 Calcutta reported to London cotton goods alone to the value of 20,00,000/ history shows that only some 300 years back ships built in India sailed up the Thames to London and were regarded with envy and admiration because of their admirable workmanship. We had plenty of good sailors, and enterprising merchants and artisans who enriched the country at the same tiem that they enriched themselves. This same industrial India whose initiative has been the glory of the world at one time has been so crippled that it has become dependent for its daily supplies upon foreign countries.

 

The East India Company came to India under a Royal Charter to trade. Its first effort was to supplant the industries of the country and make room for those of Western manufacturer and to adopt measures to crush the local industries. This has been acknowledged by eminent English writers. The Campaign began as early as 1769. the directors in their letter dated 17th March of that year sent orders that silk winders should be made to work in the company’s factories only, on pain of severe punishment. In 1828 heavy duties on piece goods from India were in force:-

1. on Colicoes, 3/6/8d on importation and a further duty of 68/6/8d if consumed at home.
2. Muslin 10 on importation and 27 for home consumption.
3. Coloured goods 3/6/8d for importation and so on.

 

Wilson the historian says that till these prohibitive duties had been imposed by England, Indian piece good, could be sold for a profit in the British markets at prices from 50 to 60 percent. Lower than those manufactured in England. He says further “Had not prohibitive duties existed , the mills of Paisley and Manchester would have been stopped in their outset and could scarcely have been set in motion again even by power of steam. They were created by this forced sacrifice of India. India could not retaliate. This act of Sefl-defence was not permitted her. She was at the mercy of a stranger. British goods were forced upon her without paying any duty and the foreign manufacture employed the arm of political injustice to keep down and ultimately strangle a competitor with whom he could not have contended on equal terms.”

 

Things had become much worse in 1833 and severe measures were introduced against weavers. Montgomery Marfin writing in 1837 complained in strong language of the cruel selfishness of English commerce. He wrote under the pretence of free trade. “England has compelled the Hindus to o receive the products of the steam looms of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Glasgow etc, at mere normal rates; while the hand wrought manufactures of Bengal and Bihar beautiful in fabric and durable in near have had heavy and almost prohibitive duties imposed in importation to England “ by these means the industrial capacity of India was so ore poured that while Calcutta had exported to London cotton goods of value of 20,00,090/- in the year 1813, the same Calcutta imported British cotton goods of the value 20,00,000/- in the year 1830 i.e. only within a short period of seventeen years. In that year 1930 Sir John Malcome Governor f Bombay pointedly called attention to the ruin of Indian industries and growing poverty of our people, but those in power did not hesitate to pursue successfully the policy of converting India into a land of raw produce for the benefit of England.

 

Let us quote from list:- “England forbade the cotton wears of our own seat Indian traders, she prohibited them absolutely. She would have no thread of them. She would have none of those cheap and beautiful wares. She preferred to consume her own dear and inferior stuffs……..Enland gained power, immeasurable power— India the very reverse, dependence.” Macaulay himself wrote “The marvelous expansion of English industries was contemporaneous with the impoverishment of India.” Thus there was the Indian manufacturer sacrifieced from time to time.

 

Even after the Government was taken away from the hands of the East India Company the policy of free trade from England, not free trade between India and England, was persistently pursued.

 

Another disturbing cause was the alienation, by Government of our country of rich lands and minerals to foreigners. The khopra and coir industries on the west coast were let into the German hands. Similarly several other industries were allowed to be absorbed by Germany. The door of Indian markets was left wide open to the competition of the whole world to the ruin of India, though England’s own policy had been one of protection of its own industries against the whole world, till England had completed building up its vast industrial system.

Gentlemen, the duties of the Government in an industrial country like India are:-

 

• Te have a thorough industrial and Geological survey of the whole country and to publish the results.
• To afford financial and technical aid.
• To protect against foreign competition
• To encourage opening of industrial banks.
• To start model pioneer factories on the report of government experts and hand them over to privates capitalists if successful and to close them it they prove otherwise.
• To purchase all government requiremen5ts in India, preference being given to locally made articles even if they are little dearer in price or inferior in quality.
• Establishment of Museums and traveling libraries and holding of periodical exhibitions in different parts of the country.

 

 

I leave it to you gentlemen to consider how far our government has performed any of the above duties during its reign of one hundred and fifty years. Though it is aware that our country is rich in it natural resources, its export figures show that abundant raw material is yearly sent out of India.

 

 

Is it not therefore surprising that India should be ale to produce all raw materials and supply the European world but should unable to manufacture goods for its own consumption ? while the total imports before the war were over 100 crores, total exports were over 150 crores. Deducting from this precious metals that come to this country to redress a part of the balance and payments for the salaries and pensions of officers in England it will be found that a loss of 2o to 30 crores has thus to be borne by India every year. As the late lamented Hon. Mr. Gokhale had pertinently put the case, supposing 150 crores go from your financial house every year and 120 crores come in, will you be growing richer or poorer? The result is that there is no doubt that India is daily growing poorer. Do not be led away by the fact that a few individual s appear to possess money to invest or a few mills have been built. Consider the case of the majority of 315 millions of the people of India. We are poorest in the world and England (now we may say America) the richest. Production per head in India is Rs. 30/- according to government calculation and Rs. 20/- according to Indian calculation while in England it is Rs. 900/- her head (i.e) 20 times more.

 

Look at our agriculturist who form nine-tenths of the population in Sindh. Who can ever deny that they are living in extreme poverty ? The men, who till the soul from morn t night, who can hardly afford to have one change of clothes in a year; what are their belongings ? A straw hut, which can give them little protection against the sun and storm, a pair of bullocks often under mortgage, a few earthen pots, a few cattle to give milk, and growing debts, are all they have. They begin the year by borrowing for seed, Takavi and bare necessaries of life and end it by paying either the interest alone or a part of the debt. This goes on year after year. Of course the crushing load of Rasai also lies on their shoulders.

Plague is ravaging all our towns and villages in Sind and who can deny that mostly the people in poverty succumb to the epidemic. Only recently when plague visited Shikarpur, the weavers, the blacksmiths the washermen, the petty hawkers, the day labourers reached a state of starvation within a few days of their being out employment, and relief works had to be opened for them. This then gentlemen is the condition to which people are reduced.

 

The war stopped the door to German goods getting into the Indian markets and here was the golden opportunity for India. India is poor; therefore without state aid what could be done? Our leaders cried themselves hoarse on the platform and in the press but bas any thing tangible been done by the government to enable India to supply the place of German goods even for its own consumption ? and it was Japan that stepped in and captured Indian markets. The government knows it, and it cannot be denied that it has flooded the Indian markets with Japan made goods.

 

The Government of Bombay finding that on account of war, the hand—loom industry, match, copper, brass pot, silk and gold and silver thread industries had severely suffered, appointed an advisory committee as for back as 1615-1916 to enquire into the conditions of indigenous industries and to suggest means for improving the existing industries establishing new ones. This committee enquired into the oil- pressing, match, sugar-cane, butter, glass, bamboo, paper pulp and other industries and made in each case certain recommendations to Government. Three years have passed but the Bombay government instead of taking full or partial action immediately, have remanded the report as received for further consideration, and there it rests.

 

The war has no doubt turned the attention of Government to the wisdom of utilizing India’s immense natural resources. The viceroy has spoken of organizing these resources with a view to making India more self-contained and less dependent. It is a hope; we heartily welcome this but we have grown septic and can get little consolation until we see something tangible being does actually for previous experience and long suffering have made us rather difficult.

 

The action of the Government of India has been confirmed to the appointment of a commission to investigate the possibilities f Indian Industries. We want to see the good it does; but when this commission declined to investigate the deliberate charges of Sir Pirbhoy Karimbhoy and Lala Herkishenlal concerning the positive discouragement and opposition dealt out to Indian concerns and unfair preference to the European ones, it shook Indian’s credit in its good intentions. It would have been better, if their charges had been investigated; confidence would have been restored and a cloud removed.

 

The Indian Railway companies do no provide proper transport facilities for indigenous goods and their rates of freight are very prejudicial. Even the sea-port rates are favourable to foreign imports. In the matter of carrying goods, the impression appears to have gone deep in the Indian mind that Indian producers are refused the same facilities by the Railway and shipping authorities all over the country which are easily extended to industries under European management.

 

Is it any wonder then that can have the power to impose duties on foreign goods to protect itself and permit Indian industries to develop and prosper.

 

Gentlemen, in this deplorable state of affairs, I appeal to you to help yourselves and come to the country’s help. Let us give whole-hearted encouragement to our Swadeshi movement. The present is the juncture: for even free traders and the Government will have nothing to urge against this ours will be a voluntary preference on the part of consumers to promote our own industries. We have cotton at our own doors and can easily employ any amount of labour of our own. We have about 200 cotton mills at a cost of 20 crores (though Lancashire alone has invested over 200 crores) with five million spindles and fifty thousands power-looms. These are mostly worked by Indian employees and in addition we have about a quarter of a million persons engaged in hand-looms in the country.

 

Of the industrial population of India very much larger portion is engaged in the indigenous industries carried on in village houses and bazaars. In our efforts to improve the condition of our people, we should help the works in the mills and the dwellers in the cottage; and this we can do only by preaching and practicing Swadeshism. The humble weavers in towns and villages and the braziers, the copper-smiths, the ironsmiths, the potters and the carpenters in Sind who carry on their ancestral vocations in their ancestral homes, all deserve our help and encouragement. Let us make a vow to help these men by giving them that help an protection which has been hitherto refused by Government , by wearing their manufactured goods, by creating a demand for their manufactures and by preaching to all to wear and use in all domestic needs India – made articles. Indigenous industries and Indian mills are already turning out articles of good make and finish and they are bound to improve as the demand increases and they get decent prices. What is needed is only the opportunity. But true Twadeshism lies in consuming indigenous articles in their early stage when their quality is inferior or price higher. In Sind it is a pity there is not a single cotton mill worth the name. We have a small one at Shikarpur owned by Seth Mulechand but there is not much of encouragement to it. We had once swadeshi stores in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur and Larkana but one by one they closed down for want of encouragement. Let us restart these and have traveling vendors of Swadeshi Goods. It is a matter of gratification that our patriotic men from Sind like Messra Mehta, Lokamal Chellaram, Sri Krishen Lula, Chainrai Virbhandas and others have already opened a Swadeshi stores at Karachi on sound basis and I would appeal to all of you to help this cause whole-heartedly. Let us open a museum of Swadeshi Stores at Karachi where all information on the subject could be had. When England did all I have described above in the name of its Swadeshism, why can not we?

 

 

EDUCATION

We now turn to our educational system under the present form of Government.

 

Education is the foremost factor in the evolution of a nation. The educational policy of our Government has the same disadvantages as I have outlined with regard to the Government of this country. In the words of one of the greatest educationists of o0ur own times Mr. G.S, Arundale, I say most emphatically and without any fear of contradiction, that “Good education is no substitute for national education”. To quote the same distinguished educationalist once more, “India refuses any longer to be an educational dependency of Great Britain.”

 

Judging by the results that present educational system has produced in India demands the slow and tardy progress that this system has made inspite of our insistant demands for a substantial advance along the lines that have been approved of by Western Nations and our neighbouring Indian states – judging by these facts the impression grows stronger and stronger on our minds that nothing great can possibly be achieved in the domain of education without National system of education. Home Rule and National education must march hand in hand. Both are component part of one whole and India can not be ranked as a Nation unless India possesses both in their entirely. Indiathat had the broad and well-deserved title of Jagat Guru is now on her knees receiving driblets of reforms in education and India to whose shores came several distinguished scholars for the sake of knowledge, has now to send her sonsto foreign countries for education. This deplorable condition has to be remedies or overcome and I venture to suggest that National Education is the only remedy for all these evils. The system of education in India is too much a Government affairs. Sir Michail Hicks Beach, one of the leading English statesmen said the other day at Aligarh that the universities should be entirely free from the Government control an that the Government ought to have nothing to do with universities. What is the system in England and it works well. The Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Dubliu, Glasgow and Edinburgh have all grown out of private endowments given by kings, nobles and other gentlemen and they all rest on donations from philanthropic men. What is therefore wanted here is that the country itself should build up universities and schools so that the curriculum should be on national lines, for the nation and the institutions should be linked together. That like England, such universities are possible in India and response ample is evidenced by the institution of the Hindu and Mahomedan Universities. The aim of education under the present system seems to be to enter Government service or the learned profession and to this end to pass examinations. This has led to cramming the boys, heads with a lot of disjoined facts poured as if into a basket to be emptied out again in the examination hall and the empty basket to be taken away again into the outside world. Mrs. Besant said in one of her speeches “To exhault the strength, to destroy the energy, to turn out a sickly worn-out man when the youth should be bringing over the life, has been the result of the system of education prevalent here.”

 

To be truly useful, education must be founded on a knowledge of the past of the country as well as its present and should adapt itself to meet at every point the growing needs of an ever increasing Nation. Education should therefore be physical, moral, mental and spiritual. The colour-bar in Educational service, begotten of distrust, has been a profile source of discontent and has on account of forces inferiority made our Indian Professors and teachers less enthusiastic for work and research. The recent instance of Professor Shahani’s suprecession inspite of his recognized experience and ability – inspite of his educational attainments, in favour of a young man is a standing monument of this colour bar. The Government of Bombay paused for a while over the opposition that the dinner canvassing against Professor Shahani evoked – but after all threw aside Professor Shahani’s claims.

 

In addition to these defects, the so called “serene atmosphere of eduction” produced by Lord Gurzon’s retrograde policy and by subsequent Government orders and circulars, this atmosphere has turned teachers into spies or cowards and superintendents are suspected of having assumed the role of C.I.D. officers. The Hon. Bobu, Ambiea Charan Muzumdar, as President of 31st Indian National Congress said, “the sanctity of the temples of learning has been violated and our boys and young men are brought up in the unhealthy atmosphere of what may be called insecure jails. This the people sorely resent and here the first conflict has taken place between a sensitive subject race and autocratic Government, each believing the other to be in the wrong and several other wrongs were embosomed for a considerably long time and several attempts were made for healing them up but a united and determined effort was necessary for the purpose and this was supplied by our revered leader Mrs. Annie Besant with the co-operation and consultation of almost all the leading elite of India too numerous to mention and yet some of them are too illustrious to be omitted. She drew out the Poer Laureate of India, Dr. Sir Rabindra Nath Tagore from his secluded corner into the noble field of action and made him the Chancellor of National University and she picked out Dr. Sir Subramama lyer the ex_chief Justice of Madras and forced him to accept the post of Pro-Chancellor; Lokamanya Tilak’; C.P. Ramswaim Tyer, G.S. Arundale and our worthy patriot Hon. Mr. Bhurgri also answered the call of Bharat Mata, and have lent their support to this movement whose living illustration is granted to the educationally advanced city in Sind viz. Hyderabad where now exists a National College affiliated to the National University. Our official year 1917-18 whereof I have as President of this Conference to chronicle the principal events, has thus been the most memorable and historical one in the domain of education in Sind, Another notable event o the year under review is the passing of Hon, Mr. Patels Free and Compulsory Education bill for Municipalities. This measures will if carried out by all the Municipalities concerned touch one-length of our population only, for nine-tenths live in villages where this Act will yet have no operation. Inspite of this and other disappointing features of the Act, this step forward ought to be counted as a victory. I am afraid very few Municipalities in Sind will take advantage of this Act in the near future on account of their financial difficulties. Gentlemen, after 150 years of British Rule, you find 50 percent of the people are uneducated. On 31st December 1915 out of total population of 310 millions we had only 5.5 million of scholars in primary schools and 1.1 in secondary schools.

 

While other countries spend 30 percent and more on the education of the people our Government which professors to be so anxious for the welfare of the feeming millions of this ancient land are unable to spare more 5 than P.e. of the State revenue, that is to say, hardly 1/40th part of what is spent in England.

 

On primary education the expenditure per head of the population is only a few annas. America, with a population has only 5 universities.

 

To get an idea of the proverbial illiteracy of India, one has only to remember that one of 1,000 males only 110 can read and write : while out of 10,000 females, only 10 can do so.

 

Comparison of figures has proved that even American negroes are better off than ourselves in this respect.

 

In the midst of this terrible war, entailing tremendous pecuniary burden on England, Government have sanctioned the new educational scheme of Mr. Fisher involving an additional cost of crores of rupees. Now, I should like to offer a few suggestions for consideration.

 

1. Sind depends mostly on agriculture and the great bulk of its population is devoted to agricultural pursuits. No satisfactory arrangements appear to have been made hitherto for the amelioration or education of the agricultural masses: In addition to the provision for free and compulsory education, there ought to be agricultural schools, colleges, farms and shows where scientific system of education should be imparted and the ultimate object ought to be to fit the peasants concerned for practical agricultural work on improved lines. Agricultural colleges should be open to all classes and not “restricted to zamindars or any particular class. One of the main problems that agitates the world today is food-power. This problem depends mere upon intensive agriculture than upon extensive. It is by means of this intensive agriculture based on scientific knowledge, that Germany was able to supply food to 75 people out of a hundred acres, whereas England can supply to 45 persons only. In India where agriculture is carried on in a primitive style the yield is negligibly small. Every town and big village ought to be able to teach agriculture on modern lines.

 

2. Next in importance comes technical education and neglected here is mutual. The two technical schools at Sukkur and Jacobabad are not attractive to students and prospects of advancement in after-life are considerably limited. These schools should impart information and instructions and give training that would help the students in opening small village industries wherewith they may be able to earn their livelihood.

 

3. Commercial education on sound lines is also a very great necessity at the present juncture when large number of India’s youth must turn their energies in the direction of development the material resources of the land. A chemist or an engineer with mere technical knowledge of industries can never run a successful industry because it should not only be a technical success but the production should be on a commercial basis and for this latter part a sound commercial knowledge is essential. In India, where industries have to be build up, if at all, against powerful rivalry of foreign countries, the case is much stronger for systematic business training. In fact the American principle of vocational institutions should be adopted without any delay.

 

4. Education in all primary and secondary schools ought to be imparted through the medium of vernacular of the Province for it will smoothen the way to knowledge which the child will tread, leave his intelligence free and enable his observation and reasoning faculties to work on the subjects presented to him without fetters of a foreign tongue.

 

5. Religious education is imperatively necessary-where religion is not apart of the education given to the youth of a nation, there the nation has no literature worthy to be called great i.e., original. Everywhere history testified to the close relationship between religion and literary genius and the inspiration that the former gives to the latter. Religion is necessary also as the basis for morality and as the inspiration of art. What kind of nation can ever be without literature, without morality and without art? When India was mightiest in peace and war, when here industries were most productive and here commerce most enriching, she was above all a religious nation.

 

 

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

(All Figures quoted under are pre-war)

 

In India, Local Self-Government may be divided under two heads – urban and rural. Under the first come the municipalities and notified areas and under the second the District and Taluka Local Boards. The Bombay Government started Local Self-Government in its present form in the Presidency in 1860 by starting Municipalities in urban areas and in 1863 in the rural areas by starting rural Boards. Unfortunately District Collectors and other officials in their over-activity and over-zeal subordinated the views and wishes of non-official members to their own notions of what is best for the people and this state of affairs necessitated the passing of the famous resolution on 18thMay 1882 by Lord Ripon.

 

The important functions of these bodies within their respective areas are to take care of people’s (1) Health (2) Education (3) Communication i.e. roads, streets etc.

 

These local bodies are constituted by nominating or partly by elections and partly by nomination. In our consideration of these representative bodies we must direct attention to (a) the constitution of these local bodies (b) their powers and functions (c) the resources at their disposal.

 

There are in the whole of India 717 Municipalities, 897 District Local Boards and 517 Taluka or Sub-District Local Boards. In the Bombay Presidency we hae 457 Municipalities and 25 notified areas with 2166 members of whom only 963 entrusted to their care and they had an income of Rs.1,24,73,669. The population in the Municipal areas is about 16 million i.e. about 7 percent of the total population. This is the urban population and the remaining has the highest urban population i.e. 18 per cent while Bengal the lowest i.e. 2 percent .

 

These bodies are thus of greatest importance as they have charge of the people’s health and education i.e. the two things essential for the uplift of any country.

 

These institutions of great importance also because they form a stepping stone to Self-Government in India.

 

In the speech from the Congress platform at Bombay Mrs. Besant said:-

 

“The training for Self-Government is of vital importance to the nation today. For the Government of States is at once a science and an art: and in order that it may be worthily exercised, the lesson must be learnt in Local Self-Government, than in Provincial autonomy and finally in the Self-Government of the nation, for the work of Government is the most highly skilled profession upon earth………..what then should you do? You should take part in the Self-Government wherever it is possible. As it is, take it and practise it, for you will gain experience and you will gain knowledge; and only that experience and knowledge will guide you when you come to speak in large Councils and make your voice heard in larger areas, So I will plead to you – face this drudgery – it is drudgery, make no mistake, understand the details of local administration and understand how to manage your own drains particularly your water-drudgery, no amount of enthusiasm and love for the country will make your administration a success.

 

Lord Morley in his Reform Dispatch dated 27th November 1908 said:-

 

“The village in India has been the fundamental and indestructible unit of the social system surviving the downfall of dynasty after dynasty. I desire your Excellency to consider the best way of carrying out a policy that would make the village a starting point of public life.”

 

Here then is a vast field in which we can in co-operation with the Government work heart and soul for the amelioration of the conditions of the masses of the people. Let us start with the village Panchayat. The Decentralization Commission in their report recommended the constitution and development of the village Panchayat, possessed with certain administrative powers, with jurisdiction in petty Civil and Criminal cases and financed by a certain portion of the land cess, special grants, receipts from derate recommendation has not been given effect to, in any shape in our province, though several years have since passed.

 

Another recommendation of the Commission was that the District and Sub-District Boards should contain a large preponderance of elected members. There are 26 District Local Boards and 216 Taluka Local Boards in Bombay Presidency with a member-ship of 3690 of whom only 1644 are elected by the people. These bodies administered to the wants of 1,80,12,044 souls and had an income of Rs.83,39,701. All these Boards without a single exception had official majority and ex-officio Presidents. Only recently about 16 or 17 of them have been given non-official majority and 3 have been given non-official presidents, not elected but nominated. Thus the machinery of Government proverbially slow, moves still more slowly in this direction.

 

 

 

 

As regards the constitution of elected Municipalities, I consider that time has come for these bodies to consist entirely of elected members. The introduction of the new system of communal representation in the Sind Municipalities does away with the necessity of nomination powers.

 

The Decentralization Commission recommended (para 6 of Government Resolution) that Municipal Boards should be ordinarily constituted on the basis of a substantial elective majority and that nominated members should be limited to a number sufficient to provide for the one representation of minorities and of official experience. The new rules have already made provision for the “due representation of minorities.” Then here remains the question of official experience.

 

I think there are good many retired officials of experience in every Municipal area and they manage to get elected on the Board. Moreover experts are good for advice and not for deliberation or decision. Nor are they necessary for every day working of Lord Hinches. See 31 of the Bombay District Municipality Act provides for calling in the aid of express whenever necessity arises. If however the Commissioner in-Sind cannot see his way to give on the whole power of nomination all at once, he may be least, in principles preserve me in the than two seas for experts to be nominated by him on each Municipality . From gratefully acknowledge the progressive steps ………in this direction by our present Commissioner. The Franchise of an elective member and un-official president have been conferred on Rohri and Larkana Municipalities and the other important Municipalities in Sind have been given the right to elect un-official president by ordinary majority . The number of voters has also been ……………………………………in each Municipal area for election purposes.The present tendency of the Sind Local Government is to foist Government servants in the Revenue Department as Chief Officers on Municipalities. Thus Shikarpur Municipality must have a Deputy Collector as its Chief Officer and Larkana and Rohri are to men from the Revenue Department for employment as their Chief Officers. While recognizing that it is really difficult, for various reasons, for a Municipality to secure a really suitable man by advertisement, the proper remedy lies in establishing Local-Self-Government service on the lines suggested by the Local Self-Government Conference held at Poona, on 27th July last under the Presidency of Hon. Mr. Patel.

 

In Sind the sanitary condition of our towns and villages is disgraceful. Plague, malaria and other diseases have taken root and mortality has risen to a tremendous figure. While in England mortality is 14 per mile, in Sind it is 40 per mile and in some parts of India it is seventy per mile. The infantile death rate in England is 130 but in India it is 213 for males and 196 for females. Large schemes of sanitary reforms and town planning should be taken in hand in every town and village. Fullest and immediate advantage should also be taken of the compulsory education Act. Our friends Hon. Mr. Bhurgri and Hon. Seth Herchandrai have already taken the matter of compulsory education for Sind seriously in hand.

 

You will agree me, gentlemen, that considering that these local bodies have to provide for primary and partly for secondary education of the population entrusted to their care, that they have to provide for sanitary requirements and drainage and water supply of the areas in their charge, that they have to provide for adequate means of communication by constructing widening roads and streets and maintaining them, that they have to provide for the medical relief of human beings and animals in their areas and generally speaking that they are responsible to a considerable extent for the well-being and orderly progress of the population within their areas – considering all these duties, the sources of income at their disposal are most inadequate. Unless Government comes to their aid by largest recurring grants, it is not possible for those bodies discharge their lies efficiently- nothing could be done with an empty exchange. We are told we should take ourselves more and increase our income; but is there any margin life? ………………….. say in Sind is that we should impose the House tax in pleasant …………….has not been introduced. I shall take my town for the sake of this ………………………………………….Shikarpur a population of 54,000 souls. Our present Municipal ………………………………………3,20,000 i.e over Rs.4 per head of population. The figures of population ……………………………….for the whole of British India work out an supposing we introduce ………………………………….will it bring? Not more than Rs. Ten of fifteen thousands, deducting ………………………recoveries and other incidental expenses. Will this amount enable as to come……………… a system of drainage and water supply costing over ten lacs or will it provide sufficient funds to carry out costly town planning schemes, or to undertake primary and compulsory education of the masses or to build a central and upto-date hospital?

 

The bonafide of this form of taxation is considerably detracted from , when, gentlemen, we consider the instance of Larkana where House-tax was imposed by the so-called Municipality (consisting of officials and outsiders) by resorting to objectionable methods in the teeth of united opposition of the people, it was done under the cloak of raising of Municipal income so as to provide for sanitary reforms, and run a High School etc. But the scheme was unmasked, when however simultaneously the Halalkhore cess was cancelled, a cess which light in its burden brought nearly as much income as the proposed House tax was expected to bring and there never had been any complaint against this cess. The purpose it now serves is to molest the people than to benefit them.

 

The House tax is opposed by the people not because the rich don’t want to tax themselves, not because they don’t take to increase the resources of Local Bodies , not because they have no mind to introduce sanitary reforms etc., but because it is a tax most unsuitable to local conditions. Our officers unfortunately cannot see eye to eye with us – they cannot enter into our feelings – may they even decline to see it or be convinced. In the consciousness of their power “their over –activity and over-zeal they want to subordinate our views and wishes to their to their western notions of what is best for us”.

 

Gentlemen, you all know that except in some parts of Karachi, in all cities and villages in Sind, house building is taken up by the people for their personal and family requirements and not as a financial enterprise. In 95 percent cease, houses (hardly sufficient for their own needs) are occupied by the owners themselves. Not even 5 per cent of the houses are let out on rent. The rents are extremely low, and bring hardly one per cent on the outlay. This system has its own advantages. While we on our side are enjoying the beneficial result of this ancient system of each family living in their own dwelling houses, residents in Karachi, Bombay and such other places have to face enormous difficulties in the way of extortionate rents, scarcity of houses etc.

 

The Government of India in their resolution on the Report of the Decentralization Commission pare 14 say:-

 

“This tax (House and Land tax however is difficult of assessment in many places where it is the custom to men rather than to rent dwelling houses because in such cases the house affords no indication of the financial status of the owner. Many aristocratic but impoverished families live in large buildings which are merely relies of vanished prosperity, while the rich trader often remains content with the humble dwelling in which he was born.”

 

Again in para 17 it is said:-

 

“The Commission were of opinion that Municipalities should have full liberty to impose or alter taxation within the limits laid down by the Municipal laws”.

 

In the face of these opinions of highest authorities I cannot understand how such ill-advised pressure was put upon Larkana and Rohri Municipalities to introduce House-tax in the teeth of united opposition from the people. In his famous Durbar speech at Sukkur on 18th February the Hon. Mr. Lawrence the Commissioner in Sind remarked. “There has been a great deal of talk in some of your towns in Upper Sind about the levying of some small taxation of some Rs. 5,000 or Rs.10,000 by one method in place of another.” No doubt the taxation (house tax) proposed by the authorities was petty in as much as after all it could not bring to any Municipality more than the figures laid down but how can it be said that the good deal of talk of the people was unnecessary. Beyond condemning the talk as it diametrically opposes his own hobby the House-tax, the Commissioner-in-Sind laid not materials before his audience to convince them of its usefulness.

 

It is the first principale of Local Self-Government that local bodies should have full liberty of selecting their methods of taxation according to local conditions. This has been recognized by the Government of India and the Decentralisation Commission – but discarded by the local Government in Sind.

 

When this sound principle was deliberately departed from , when the cherished rights and wishes of the people were trampled upon, when very questionable methods were employed to secure majorities to gain a hobby, when the measures was being hastily rushed through just when the elected representatives were about to come in when the protests and petitions of the people were un-headed, the question became one not of House-tax only but of the general rights of liberty of action of what in name was termed Local Self-Government. How can it be said in fairness that under these circumstances the great deal of talk of people was unnecessary.

 

I am sorry I am unable to agree in the proposition that the House-tax falls upon the rich and not upon the poor. The above cited opinion of the Government of India and the Commission fully bear me out in this. Gentlemen, the keynote of the learned Commissioner’s speech was that in order to secure for our towns the advantages of good sanitation, water supply, electric light and other public amenities we should raise Municipal revenue very considerably.

 

While I do agree that there is a great necessity of raising the Municipal revenues or the purposes indicated, I am of opinion that the additional revenue must come, in the shape of recurring grants, from the Imperial Government, which takes away all the Income tax, Excise revenues, Stamp duties etc., etc., and land assessment from citizens residing in Municipal areas.

 

Those who advocate that local bodies must tax themselves more to provide the necessary funds, do so on the ground that the incidence of local taxation is much less in this country than in the west. But they forget that taking the local and imperial burdens together, the people of this country relatively to their resources, contribute no less to the taxation that the people in the western countries. The real truth is that the Imperial Government retains in its own hands very much larger portion of the total taxation than the Imperial or central Governments in the west and there lies all the difference and the inability and poverty of the local bodies to meet their expenditure for improvements.

 

In the Western countries there are three systems of Local Self-Government; (1) American (2) English and (3) Continental. In America the local authorities have absolutely independent revenues and they also enjoy complete immunity from the control of the state in this respect. In England the local bodies derive a large part of their revenue from their own rates and in addition to that, certain revenues have been made over to them by the Central Government as Assigned Revenue. They also receive certain grants from the Exchequer.

 

In France the local bodies derive a large part of their revenue by the very simple process of being permitted to add extra centuries to the taxes levied by the Central Government like our village cess of an anna per rupee. Our system of local Government is more on the lines of the French system.

 

In England it is one of the Local Governments to maintain their poor while in India it is the private people who have to bear this burden in addition to other taxation.

 

The average income per head in England is $40 and population 45 millions. The total taxation raised by the local bodies and Central Governments was 200 million I.e, 11 percent of the whole national income was raised as taxes for use for all purposes- local and Imperial.

 

In British India our population is 230 millions. Income per head may be taken at £2 as fixed by Local Curzon though the late Mr. Dadabhai Noaroji calculated it to be £ 1 only. This gives us a total national income of 460 millions.

 

Total taxation is 50 million i.e. 9.15 percent. Add to this the duty of maintaining our poor private which will come to about 1 percent i.e. 10.1/5 per cent.

 

That while in England taxation people’s income is 11 percent, in India it is nearly as much. But which we consider the proportion of distribution of the taxes for expenditure between local bodies and Imperial requirements, we realize the magnitude of disproportion and the injustice done to local bodies.

 

In England out of 200 millions raised by total taxation, the local bodies get in all 70+28=98 million that is to say about half of the total revenue is spent by local bodies and the other half by Government.

 

In France two fifths of the total revenue is left to be spent by local bodies and three fifths by the Government : but in India out of the total revenue of 50 millions, 40 millions are at once taken by Government for their own purposes. Out of the remaining 10million nearly two thirds was administered by the State itself and only about a third was left to be spent by the local bodies i.e. one sixteenth of the total revenue, Here then is the root of all evils. This is the tune reason why our town cannot have sanitary reforms, free education and good communication.

 

Gentlemen this injustice in the distribution of revenue has gone on too long and it is high time that we should now be given a definite share of what are called the imperial revenues for our municipalities and local boards, or we should be given a great share of the imperial taxes of all sorts levied within municipal areas or be permitted to add extra centimes as is done in France. I should not be understood to mean that we should not exert ourselves to tap the remaining sources of income at our disposal but what I do mean is that it is absolutely necessary for Government to recognize our immense needs and let the local bodies spend at least a third, if not one half of the total revenue derived from India.

 

You might give the best constitution in the world to local bodies and yet Local Self-Government will never be a success unless their financial resources are improved. On this point the official and the non-official opinions as well as the opinion of the Decentralization Commission are all agreed that the resources of these local bodies are pitifully unequal to a proper performance of functions which have been entrusted to them. The suspension of the Hyderabad Municipality was therefore a great blunder.

 

Any one who has read the charges laid by Government against that municipality and the replies on each charge, will be struck with the fact that the blame laid by Government at the doors of the municipality should have in fairness been laid at their own doors. The charges, hollow in themselves , simply amount to this, that the Government sanctioned elaborate and costly schemes of town improvement and of removal of congestion without providing the necessary funds as they ought to have done. In carrying out these schemes, the municipality with the approval of the Collector and in some cases for the Commissioner-in-Sind spent a part of the sale proceeds derived from the sales of municipal plots. Instead of appreciating this laudable work done by the municipality without touching the pocket of Government, they have been condemned for an inability not their own. Then all the sins of commission and omission of whomsoever, whether of the Chief Officer or his assistant or the District Court or the Collector have been foisted on the municipality. If the doings of the official presidents or of the present municipal Commissioner of Hyderabad were to be construed and judged of in the same way, they will all have to be summarily dismissed.

 

Government should never forget that “Self-Government implies the right to go wrong, for it is nobler for a nation as for a man to struggle towards excellence with its own natural force and vitality, however blindly or vainly, than to live in irreproachable decency under expert guidance from without.

 

 

FUEL AND SALT

 

The prices of fuel and salt had gone very high and continued complaints were heard from all parts of the Province. But I am glad the Commissioner-in-Sind has kindly interested himself in the matter and arrangements are made through municipalities to sell salt at the rate of one anna per see and fuel Kaudi at a little over 8 annas md, and lai a little over 6 annas a maund throughout the year. If the municipalities can take up coupes according to their requirements direct from the forest department, they will be able to sell fuel still cheaper to the people, I am sure Government will make reasonable concession in railway charges in such a case.

 

 

 

 

INCOME TAX

The new Income tax Bill No.21 of 1917 has been passed by the Imperial Legislative Council. Instead of lessening the burden of the tax upon the people, it has augmented it. In India both among the Hindus and Musalmans there is the family system. The head of the family earns and feeds not only his own children but also his father’s, brother’s and sister’s children if they have no other means of support. In these hard times when famine prices of necessaries of life prevail in the market, or oven in ordinary times an income of a thousand rupees per year or Rs.84 million, leave aside their clothing, education and other expenses. To tax such a case amounts to depriving the family of a part of their daily bread.

 

In England there is not much of family system like India, yet the Income tax law of England exempts incomes under £ 700 as under:

 

Income not exceeding Amount of abatement

£ 400 £ 160

“ 500 “ 150

“ 600 “ 120

“ 700 “ 70

 

It also grants an abatement of £ 10 per child under 15 years of age if the total income does not exceed £ 500 i.e. Rs. 7500. It is but fair that in section 12 of the present bill therefore, a scale of graded abatement should be similarly provided and an abatement of at least Rs. 60 per minor child or widowed female should be made if they are dependent for their maintenance on the assessee.

 

In the new bill an attempt was made to indirectly tax agricultural income but the united action of the elected members saved the situation.

 

Gentlemen, you will be surprised at the present procedure of assessment. A special Deputy Collector of income tax has been appointed – an officer who has no acquaintance with the local condition of sale and purchase in Sind or of the people. He has to justify his existence. In the method of assessment, a fictitious rate of profit is supposed to accrue to the assessee – and on this rate, the figure is assessed. The intention of the act is that the actual profits should be assessed. May I ask, where is the provision to enable an assessing officer to assume that on a particular commodity the rate of profit should be a fixed quantity. We are told that on provisions 2 to 3 annas profit is assessed and so on various fancy figures on different commodities. We are told that the rates of profit in the Presidency are supposed to exist in Sind. On such fanciful conjectures and figures of sale and profit are calculations made. And again it is a travesty of justice to convert an assessing officer into an appellate authority to stultify itself by reducing income tax if the actual rate of profit shown is lower. The legality of this power of appeal too is doubtful.

 

In Sind the poor and middle class people are groaning under the weight of this tax. Take the figures of Income tax in shikarpur. The total Income tax was Rs.32,018 in 1916, Rs.43,530 in 1917 and Rs.1,53,711 in the present year!

 

Before the present year the assessment used to be made by Mukhtiarkars who were thoroughly acquainted with the people and their means and were well-versed in the mercantile system of accounts in Sind. This year at Shikarpur though the people were already crushed by one calamity after another – heavy rains followed by cholera, malignant type of fever and plague, though for over six months all their business had been dislocated and ruined, though they were still morning the loss of some dear relatives, who had been a support of the family, though many had not much left to restart their business, though famine prices are raging, the new income tax officer, specially imported from the Presidency has raised the income tax to a fabulous figure of a lac and seventy three thousand rupees i.e. more than four times the previous year’s figure. I assure you gentlemen, several men of the lower and middle class who were actually driven by calamities to the painful necessity of begging for relief to feed their families, and are not able even to pay off their debts, have been assessed. In 1903 Lord Curzon in his durbar speech at Delhi announced that he was granting a loan to the people by raising assessable income from Rs.500 to 1,000. But what was done in actual practice? The same men who formerly paid Rs.10 as income tax had many of them to pay Rs.20. What has been done in Shikarpur this year, was done in Hyderabad the year before. Sukkur has shared the same fate.

 

Inability to produce any regularly kept account books is visited with penal assessment. The general public in India and the small dealers are not in the habit of keeping any regular accounts and those who keep them are not in a position, for very good reasons in some cases, to make up a profit and loss balance sheet at a time when wanted to do so, by the assessing officer; and this is visited with heavy assessment.

 

Unjustified pecuniary burdens are far more bitter than temporary aberrations of justice; and when people just groaning under various diseases and calamities are brought face to face with these conditions, the situation becomes harder, and therefore it is our function as a united body to raise our voice and tell the rulers the facts as they are. In the new act there ought to have been:-

 

(a) Abatement clauses on the lines of the English Act as shown above; allowing deduction of Rs.10 per child and widowed female relation besides graded abatement.

(b) The assessing work should be done by a board consisting of one Government assessing officer and at least two mashirs like what government does in the case of grant of remissions of land revenue.

(c) The appeal should lie to the District Court or to a board, or at least the Judicial Commissioner’s court should have ample powers of revision.

(d) The assessing officer should be required to state in writing in each case detailed figures, and brief but intelligent reasons, for fixing each assessment so that the assessee should be able to know and meet the same. In England there is a right of appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Parliament.

(e) The assessee should have the right to get copies, on payment, of the assessing officer’s order containing facts and figures of assessment.

(f) The right of appeal or revision should not be made conditional on the assessee’s having made a return or having complied with all the terms of notice as section 22 purports to do.

(g) Section 35 empowers the Collector to charge double the amount of income tax in case of default. This should be done away with altogether. At the most a notice fee of annas 8 or utmost interest for the period of default may be charged. In many cases default is unintentional. When people run away from their houses owing to the outbreak of any epidemic or other cause, or fall ill, or do not know that they have seen many such cases of poor people who are made to pay the penal amount of the tax for no fault of theirs and they are condemned unheard for having made default.

 

 

In this speech in the Imperial Legislative Council on 27th February 1912 the Hon. Mr. Gokhale pressed the same pints, and said- “ The principle of abatement should be introduced in this country. It is a just principle and is found in operation in many civilized countries …………………….The chief grievance with income tax is the manner in which it is collected. The assessments are notoriously haphazard and there is no real relief in the shape of appeals as they are now hard. Some better machinery has got to be devised in order to give relief to those – and their number is very large – who suffer from the vagaries of the assessing officers.”

 

RASAL-LAPO-CHER

 

Gentlemen, you all know very well what these abuses are and what great hardships and misery they work upon our peasantry, upon the zamindars and the village banias.

 

Can it be denied that during the cold season every year, contribution in the shape of kids, lambs, goats, grass, fuel, grains and cash are levied from the peasantry and the zamindars according to a fixed scale for the officers touring? Who has not seen stores and depots where all the collections are kept for being used for the year. These of us who are zamindars know well weather these contributions are cheerfully given as presents for the use of the officers, for their private revenue, for their often establishment including the peons, for their horses, riding and loading camels and for the host of attendants; or whether they are submitted to through fear of consequences. So about cher and lapo. Tapedars and the supervising tapedars have not given up levying the lapo or anangi. But why to blame them? They can’t be expected to make heavy rasai from their meager slaries. Do they not say so plainty? Any one who has been in the country just before any high official is expected to encamp there, will have observed how hundreds of the poor peasantry are dragged from their homes and cultivations and made to toil not only the whole day but over night to finish the work of preparing roads, landhies, and camping grounds in a given time which of course is short. It is awful to imagine the misery entailed on these unfortunate beings by an officer suddenly changing his campus from those previously notified. I had once an occasion to witness such a sight. The cher had to work the whole day and night by torch light to prepare the new command the new road. Little do the officials know or realize the attendant misery: of course when I informed the official concerned, he was really sorry for it.

 

There have been efforts made by individual officers in the past to cheek the almost, by issue of circulars and by themselves setting the example; and in this respect I must give credit to the Hon. Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Martin, Mr. Monie and Mr. Rothfield. But no united and sustained efforts have been made by the Government of Sind to eradicate the evils.

 

A soon as any officer who has interested in checking the abuses, leaves his charge and is succeeded by another whose tendencies are not known, the subordinates again resort to rasai in order to please the new officer who happens to look upon it indifferently, with the result that the practices begin again and are in full swing.

 

Thus the evil has never been crushed or abolished but it has only occasionally diminished by individual officers. It is also to say that touring officer can’t purchase food, stuffs except through the tapedars or the zamindars. Even in towns and big villages where every requirement could be purchased in the bazaars, it is the tapedar who is made the supplier. It is equally idle to say that the provisions etc taken at any camp are adequately paid for. This under-charging is resorted to by the supplier not because he does not want full payment but because he fears the frowns of the officers and thinks that it will otherwise cost him either his service or his promotion. Their fears on occasion are not unjustified.

 

Inspite of circulars’ of the Commissioner in Sind, the rasai continues and the tapedar or ther supervising tapedar does levy rasai contributions and lapo from the zamindar, who in his turn, collects from his haris. I am very glad that our indefatigable and energetic representative the Honourable Mr. Bhurgri has already moved this matter in the Bombay Council and succeeded in having got a committee appointed to investigate the matter and it is indeed a matter of gratification that we have officers amongst us who are prepared to co-operate in the eradication of this evil in Sind. The members to be appointed on this committee should be men of independence and education from Sind. Some independent men in touch with raiyat and the zamindars should be on it. With the co-operation of such officers and the committee I am sure the Hon. Mr. Bhurgri will find his task made easy and some effective remedy will soon be found to root out the abuses. Only the other day some police servants staioned in a small village in Garhi Yasin taluka had exacted so much of rasai from the villagers that after 3 days the shopkeepers had to shut up their shops and run away from the village. On their approaching the D.S.P. Mr. Kirkpatrick, a genuinely sympathetic officer, the police were ordered to clear out from the village. The culprits ought to be severely punished in order to warn others that it is not legitimate even for police to exact such rasai.

 

 

FALLOW RULES

 

Follow rules are peculiar to Sind only. Ordinarily such numbers as are brought under cultivation are liable for assessment : but rule 4 empower the Government to levy assessment even without cultivation the 5th year, if the land has remained fallow for 4 preceding years; the unjustness of such a rule is apparent and works great hardship in practice. Though in their resolution No. 1836 of 25th August 1884, the Government of Bombay, clearly held out a definite assurance that follow rules which charged assessment on time expired fallow numbers would be done away with, yet the pledge remains still unredeemed of course.

 

Mr. Muir Mackenzie, the late Commissioner is Sind while inviting opinions on this from various officers observed : “It is occurred to the Commissioner that the rule might be abolished altogether. In a bad year its operation is always suspended and in a good year when all hand is pretty certain to be cultivated for which water is available ordinarily there will be little occasion to enforces it. The forfeiture of fallow lands is moreover merely nominal since forfeited lands almost always given back to the original proprietors. The amount of revenue realized in the shape of fallow assessment recovered when forfeited lands are restored to original occupants, is not large compared with the total revenue of the province. The abolition of the rule too is likely to result in an appreciable saving of work all round.” There could be no better denunciation of this rule than this opinion of the head of the provinces.

 

The maintenance of this rule involves untold hardship on the zamindars. When through circumstances over which a zamindar has no control such as the exhaustion of land or over-growing of weeds, land which has remained fallow for four years could not be cultivated in the fifth, how could the zamindar be asked in fairness to make a gift of one assessment to Government. In consequence of this rule in the fifth year the zamindars try to induce haris by extra payments in addition to seed etc. to cultivate the unfit land with the result that very often there is total failure of crop entailing tremendous loss to the zamindar in addition to payment of Government assessment.

 

The grounds upon which Government claims the maintenance of the rule have been discussed thread-bare by the Hon. Mr. Bhurgri and the Hon. Seth Harchandrai in their presidential addresses in 1916 and 1908 respectively and it is not necessary for me to cover the same ground over again. By cogent arguments and by citing chapter and verse they have made out a strong case for Government to abolish the rule and I fully endorse their views.

 

If Government can not see its way to abolish the rule altogether they should atleast make the payment of one penal assessment co-extensive with the period of settlement instead of five years. It is also worth while for our honourable representatives in the Council to bring up a motion on the subject every time till the rule is abolished.

 

 

 

BANK SIDE TREES

 

Among the chief grievances of the Sind zamindars the orders of the Commissioner in Sind about the bankside tress on private water courses, in one. The karias are excavated and cleared by the zamindars themselves at their own cost and the trees are planted, nurtured, and maintained by the zamindars similarly. The produce of these tress is also enjoyed by the zamindars. The incidents of ownership lie with the zamindars. There is thus no hand in their creation or growth. I am aware that the portion of the land no hand in their creation or growth. I am aware that the portion of the land covered the karia is deducted from the area of the land for the purpose of assessment but the land revenue charged includes the water-rate of the zamindar to the trees grown and maintained by him and not by Government though the usufruct is admittedly the zamindars. Government claims ownership of the land under the water courses but Government similarly claims to be the power paramount of all the survey numbers and yet the tress grown in the survey numbers are recognized to be the legitimate property of the zamindar. For many years there was no interference by Government with the rights of zamindars over these trees and no permission was required for cutting them. Latterly however a circular (No.29) went forth and warned the royat that such trees no longer were their property. This circular seems presumably to be based on the view that the Land Revenue Code had vested the proprietorship of all the soil in the power paramount. But this inspite of Sind Sadar Court deciding in 1883 as against Government assertion of such a claim “that though there may have been originally nothing proprietary in he character of some zamindars the position was one wwhich readily developed in a proprietary form.” I think in fairness to the zamindars Government should now uphold their rights to these trees and issue clear orders to that effect so as to save the zamindars from unnecessary presentations in Criminal Courts and harassment at the hands of revenue officials.

 

 

Form of Government in Sind as it is and as it ought to be

 

Sind in comparision to her eister-provinces stands on a lower rung of the ladder leading to the destined goal of Swaraj. Her position in the presidency is peculiar : she has therefore, to work harder and more strenuously than other provinces for the purpose reaching he desired goal.

 

Even India’s political rishi late Mr. Gokhale in his political testament teated Sind with scant attention and for this treatment Sind is mainly responsible on account of the inactivity and inertia displayed by her. But now the same state of things can not be permitted to continue and Sin refuses to be called a “Benighted province” or a “sleepy hollow.” She is an integral and non-negligible part of India and is prepared tocontribute rateably to the Indian culture.

 

This subject had very recently been a matter for discussion at the last Special Sind Conference held at Hyderabad a few months ago. As it was the legitimate and special province of that Conference to deal with it, my task is considerably simplified so far as this subject is concerned and I have thus to make a very few observations only.

 

It is an anomaly that Sind is still on the list of “Scheduled Districts” although with Karachi rivaling Bombay, it has been advancing commercially and though in consequence of Mesopotamian consequent, its geographical importance is an assured and unprecedented one.

 

Whether be the view adopted with respect to the political status that Sind may occupy in the proposed reforms, we all are unanimously agreed that Sind Commissioners Act of 1868 that has remained with us for half a century ought to be abolished and one man’s rule out to end. This Act confers powers of the Governor-in-Council on the Commissioner-usually of the Indian Civil Service and trained to be an autocrat, and his acts remain uncontrolled and unquestioned by the Bombay Government. That Government has voluntarily parted with its power to cheek the actions of each occupant that comes and goes. His will is supreme for good or for evil and absolute. Sind feels sequestered. It has a poor representation on the University – her educational advancement is slow-her development of Local Self-Government stunted and her agricultural, irrigational and industrial condition unsatisfactory. I cannot refrain myself from observing that this system is repugnant to the democratic principles that have now surcharged the political atmosphere all over the world and that at present the autocratic system cannot inspire that confidence in the minds of the governed that would otherwise be done in the case of a representative Government wherein “Self-determination” has a part. What is done in the province, be it in the dispensation of state service, be it in the nominations of municipalities and local boards, be it in the forests or in the judiciary, never reaches the ears of the Bombay Government.

 

With the repeal of this Act where-with a pre-anti-diluvium form of Government is carried on, arises the question of demand for a suitable and satisfactory form of Government.

 

The only possible suggestions for consideration are:-

 

(1) Should Sind be autonomous with a Governor and Council?

(2) Should Sind be linked to the Punjab?

(3) Should Sind be made a part of Baluchistan?

(4) Should Sind remain annexed and Sind be given a Commissioner with the same powers that other Commissioners in the Presidency have.

 

Brother delegates, these are all momentous questions-on the right determination of which the future of Sind depends. All the above suggestions have been fully considered at the last Sind Special Provincial Conference. Mine will be but a feeble voice in endorsement of those views. But the importance of the question is such that the ablest and the most thoughtful men of Sind should meet in committee to consider the various aspects of the questions. Difficulties there are in every course-but they have to be met. Under the present system Sind has not gained any thing from the introduction of Morley-Minto reforms. Sind unless it rises to suggest its fate will I am sure remain untouched by any changes that the Parliament may introduce at the bureaucratic rule with “wooden, in-elastic and iron” machinery cannot go on any longer. Before these changes are introduced let this Conference or its specially authorized committee prepare a scheme of reforms for the administration of Sind Government.

 

 

Internees, Detenues and Political Suspects.

 

That the British power so well established in this country with its High Courts, its Penal, its Criminal Procedure Codes, and let us not forget the Press Act, should have resorted to the arbitrary step of internments must be proof of its utter lack of statesmanship. The application of the Defence of India Act, a measure designed “for the purpose of securing the public safety and the defence of British India” and “powers primarily required in the military interests of the country”, in the case of constitutional and law-abiding citizens of India is entirely a misuse of authority.

 

In winding up his speech on the Defence of India Bill, in the Imperial Legislative Council, on the 18th March 1915, the Hon. Mr. Surendranath Bannerjee made the prophetic observation, “I hope and trust that it will not be a weapon in the hands of the enemies of Indian advancement for the purpose of blasting those prospects and frustrating those hopes which have been roused in our hearts by the loyal devotion of our countrymen consecrated by their blood on the battlefields of France.” The non-official members who were induced to give their sanction to this “ dangerous addition” to the repressive laws that have been enacted during the last few years, may well complain of breach of faith on the Part of the authorities who have made such un-authorized use of it. It will not be far from truth to say that what was styled as a purely war measure had been used as a weapon by the authorities for gagging and oppressing the political workers and in a majority of cases the persons who are rightly or wrongly suspected by the police or by the C.I.D. To deprive any person of liberty without even a semblance of public trial and proof of guilt is a grievous wrong and a grave offence against the spirits of fairness, freedom and democracy, for which the allies are professedly fighting at present.

 

The year that has just closed has witnessed several instances in which on the word of a spy many young men, several of them being brilliant products of university, or self-developed workers in the service of humanity, have been interned without trial in prisons or far-off inhospitable places and left to brood in loneliness without the freedom to communicate with their kindred. Some of them are reported to have gone mad or committed suicide.

 

Some few have been liberated but they are still shadowed and persecuted with the result that they find themselves unable to do any business.

 

By this method the careers of several blossoming youths have been blasted. This atmosphere of suspicious and distrust has penetrated the schools and colleges where a move serene atmosphere of love, trust and reverence ought to have away. Heart-rending tales are wafted to us from Bengal about the miserable existence that these detunes are passing through and the cruel indifference that is shown to their health and comfort and the treatment that is meted out to them in the jail of their detention. The relatives of the internees are not allowed to see them nor is timely information sent to the relatives about the health or place of residence of the detunes. The latest information is about hunger-strikes and this is the highest point which misery can reach. How long is the government going to play with the lives of our peoples?

 

Any further indifference on our part would mean that we attach no value to human life. Even if these detenues are revolutionists; as the Government would have us believe, the treatment that is given to them, in the name of peace and security of the country, is more in keeping with the middle ages than with a civilized Government of the twentieth century. Even hardened criminals and murderers receive better treatment than these detenues. To them at least a fair and impartial trial wherein their guilt is tested by cross examination is given. This shows that Government wanted not the co-operation of the public or their inquisitive gaze.

 

Gentlemen, I fail to see why Government should refuse to disclose the charge and evidence on which a man is deprived of his liberty indefinitely and why should the friends and relatives not be allowed to visit periodically?

 

In the name of justice, in the name of humanity and in the name of civilization all this must end and every effort of ours should be directed to the betterment of this state of things. I am glad to learn that a Central Bureau for the help of the Muslim interness has been formed very recently at Delhi and from Sind Hon. Mr. Bhurgri and Mr. Ghulam Ali Chagla, our worthy patriots have enlisted themselves as its members. Time has far advanced when to this movement an All-India character irrespective of caste, colour or creed should be imparted.

 

In this respect Sind has also paid its contribution in a direct form. All appeals for mercy and justice have failed to secure the release of the interness.

 

Our worthy patriot Diwan Wadhumal Oadharam has sent, as president of the public meeting, telegrams and petitions but without any success.

 

Things have instead of improving gone from bad o worse. Brother delegates, language is but too poor to convey to youths sorrowful accounts about the life that our brothers are made to live in purgatories and prisons. With all her efforts and provisions Mrs. Annie Besant has failed to secure the release of two Mahammadan interns-brothers-Mahmed Ali and Shaukatali. Te spectacle of a vacant provincial chair at the last meeting of the Moslem League was a lving and burning emblem of the injustice done to them and yet a very powerful index of the reverence that Mahmed Ali’s co-religionists have for him. The Hindus also possessing equal reverence for these two immortal brothers. Some thing must be done to secure liberty of person and in indefatigable exertions for their release, Hindus and Mahammadans must unite.

 

 

ARMS ACT

 

This act of 1878 is another great grievance of the people. Its existence on the pages of the Indian Statute Book ever reminds us of the gloomy fact that Indians are not citizens of the British Empire. This impression gathers support from the one dismal fact that non-Indians, so says the Arms Act, are tree to carry and use arms without a license. This obnoxious distinction based on race, caste and creed none counter to the spirit of Magna Charta of Indian liberties which has been ratified in several sovereign and distinguished statesmen. This act virtually proclaims aloud to the world that Indians from the highest to the lowest are not to be trusted in their own country and creates doubts against their loyalty. But the part India has played and the blood her sons have shed on all the battle –fronts prove the response it has given and remove all doubts of her loyalty. Loyalty to the sovereign and his representatives is inbred in Indian nature. The absence of the arms from Indian homes has left the Indian manhood untrained and emasculated. Little did the powers think that in 1914 will be launched on the European world a gigantic struggle for liberty that will tax England and Allies, resource to the full and that will necessitate England to call on India for help and yet if they had been trained in arms, have easy it would have been to send millions in the field and turn the tide of war. In its times, Indian’s sons and heroes have fought for the land – but an age of emasculation has killed the Kabtrya –hood and the material spirit within us. One of the main reasons for insufficient response to the Indian Defence Force Act is the operation of the Arms Act – and the feeling that we are not trusted.

 

Raja Rampalsing in the Congress of 1885 prophetically raised a voice of protest against the policy of distrust pursued by the Government. He said:-

 

“Nor is it only we who shall have to regret and suffer for the mistaken policy that our Government is unhappily pursuing in this matter. Look where you will remind you in the world and you will see gigantic armies and armaments. There is trouble in steps for the whole civilized world and sooner or later a tremendous military strength will commence in which assuredly before it terminates, Great Britain will be involved.” There prophetic words have come out to be true.

 

India’s position necessitates that she should be made strong as well as free otherwise not only does she become a vulnerable point in the Umpire but also procession to be battled for.

 

Let these responsible for the safety of British Empire including Indian Report given realize the grave situation and repeal the Arms Act.

 

Apart from the political aspect of the question, can any deny that possessing alarms is right of self defence and is the birth-right of every individual citizen. Nowhere in the world, is the possession of arms fettered.

 

The most comic feature of the Act is the granting and renewal of licenses. This unhappy function is no doubt entrusted to the District Officer viz, the Collector, but world know that he relies for the purpose of selection on the reports of the C.I.D. and police officers.

 

The worst effect of the Arms Act is that it stunts the growth of a people and citizens them of their sense of national self respect. The Arms Act has failed to achieve its object in as much as the lawless few are never in want of fire arms, but it is the law-abiding many that have been deprived of the use of them. Illustrative of this era the numerous decoities and robberies that visit Sind at the time of non-abkalani season. Dacoits and robbers somehow manage to get fire-arms and swords and attack the unarmed people to the disgrace of the Arms Act.

 

The recent disturbance among some frontier tribes created so much of alarm and unsafety that Government had to requisition police from all departments in order to protest the people and property. The people themselves are helpless in their homes and have to rely for their ordinary protection on a handful of policeman.

 

LIBERTY OF PRESS

 

BROTHER DELEGATES,

 

Indian Press in India labours under several difficulties and impediments and the heaviest of those is the Press Act of 1910 that hangs like Damocles Sword over the heads of editors, journalists and keepers of the press. This Act, conceived in a spirit of repression, and ostensibly intended at first to be sparingly used, carries within its bosom the deadliest weapon that cuts at the very root of independence of any paper that comes within its range. The press, instead of being an independent critic of Government as it ought to be and is in all other countries where British flag flies has been reduced to a state of meek submission and terror and is permitted to exist on itself. The vesting of such altimited power on the Executive Government is undoubtedly a serious encroachment on the freedom which the press in India enjoyed before the passing of the Act.” There cannot be severer condemnation of the measure and its existence than the above words.

 

The Press Act, I dare say has been in the hands of the Executive a convenience weapon for repressing inconvenient criticisms which they could not bring under the operation of the sections of the Penal Code. The fate of the editors of journals circulating in a small area is veritable as they with very small income and capital and mostly depending for their existence on official patronage and advertisements have more often than not to live under the perpetual tutelage and arbitrary censorship of local or district official in the interests of the public or incurs the displeasure of local police authority, he is called upon to show cause why security should not be demanded from him. The taking of security is a foregone conclusion. It often happens that the magistrate demanding the security and sitting on judgment is the very person whose views had been severely criticized by the editor concerned or an immediate subordinate of him. Thus the complaint, the witness and the judge merges in one – a principle abhorrent to every judicial measure.

 

It is well-known maxim of law that every one is to be presumed incept until guilt is proved. But in the operation of the Press Act the two important words “innocence” and “guilty” have changed places and the maxim has been reversed. As the Defence of India Act trenches on the liberty of person without trial, so does the Press Act snatch its freedom from the press. Under the Press Act, the pressman is often called upon to prove his innocence without a affording him even an opportunity of knowing contradicting either the contents, or the source of confidential reports that may have been made against him by the C.I.C. or the police nor is he allowed in certain cases, where security is demanded, to know the objectionable passages or articles. The use rather the misuse of the Act and solemn promises given by Government at the time of the passage of the act as to the use or intention there have proved illusory.

 

The non-official members were told by Sir Herbart Risley “the Pill does not prepare to confer any power on the police, they will be absolutely outside it and will have nothing whatever to do with its administration” – what a poor realization of fact. Mr. Merniman in supporting the resolution on the repeal of the Press Act at the ……………………….of the Congress said “ I say – I am prepared to justify it-I say from this platform that the police come in at every step in the administration of the act. The whole question of the respectability if I may so put, it, of the proprietors of a newspapers or the proprietor of a press rests in the hands of the Criminal Intelligence Department. This stands un-contradicted till this date. This with respect to the first safeguard Another safeguard held out to us is the appeal to the High Court against any order for forfeiture and the late Sir Herbert Risely described it as ‘a very complete cheek upon any hasty or improper action by a local Government.” On the basis of such an assurance the framers of the act had ‘barred all other remedies.” But an order demanding a deposit of security does not carry with itself this safeguard, so the highest judges in the land tell us. Even in the case of forfeiture the Madras High Court in the “New India” case while holding that the Magistrate’s order was administrative and not judicial. Thus the appeal against forfeiture is meaningless and our High Court are powerless.

 

Experience has shown us that this safe-guard is illusory and a sham. Press is thus left at the mercy of the executive assisted by the police and C.I.D. and as long as human nature exists adverse criticism will always place the press under the head of a single executive officer.

 

Another disappointing feature of the Act is the unfair manner in which it is being administered as, between certain classes of journals. While Anglo-Insane journals that vilify the people of this country and create class-hatred are immune we hear but too often that the Indian papers advocating national views are ordered to deposit heavy securities with the result of forfeiture in several cases.

 

I have brother-delegates, laboured over this problem at great length for two reasons. One is that I regard free press to be the strongest bulwark of the Empire and a tower of strength to the reformer. Milton the great seer of England proclaimed the truth that the one essential of good Government is to keep in touch with the governed, that its ear should be placed near the ground so as to hear the rumblings of the populace. This essential truth can be realized only with a press free and not muzzled as in India.

 

The second reason for me is that Sind has during this year been greatly victimized by the Press Act in as much as “New Times” “Home Ruler”, Trade Advertisement” and Hindvasi” have been asked to deposit securities within the space of a few months. “Sindhi” was already under this has at the very start of the Act for the curious person of having changed its editors.

 

 

The “Trade Advertiser” was not allowed even the benefit of seeing the objectionable articles or passages and action against it was admittedly taken on police information which was not disclosed. In the case of “Hindvai” the Magistrate refused to follow the ruling of the Madras High Court and sought to get support from a Magisterial judgment in preference to the Madras High Court. “Home Ruler” was made to deposits a pre-natal security. The Press Association of India and the public must try all legitimate and constitutional methods in their power to resist the operation of this arbitrary and oppressive measure. The Press Act must be repealed and be amended. The safety of the Press in Sind will until the repeal of the Act depend upon the public support and more upon an organization, of which all the Press aware should be members, and in the event of a particular Press being harassed by the Executive all support must proceed from this organization.

 

Conclusion

 

And now brother delegates, I have placed before you to the best of my light what we wish Government should do for us and what we should do for ourselves so that we may have an India of the future answering our ideal, satisfying our aspirations and rising to the height of our noblest emotions. And towards this end the war and other forces of great moment are fast helping us onward. The war has created a new spirit of self sacrifice the highest imaginable-shedding of blood-and this being abroad throughout the British Empire there appears to prevail an atmosphere of good will and mutual service. It seems to me that under the benign dispensation of an inscrutable Providence our beloved Motherland will occupy an honoured place in the Empire with which her fortunes are indissolubly linked and we shall be the free and equal citizens of that great empire bearing its burden, sharing its responsibilities and participating in its heritage of freedom and glory as comrades and brothers. With a liberated manhood, with buoyant hope, with a love that over-leaps all bounds, renovated and free India will take her proper rank among the nations of the world and be the master of the situation and of her own destiny.

 

This is the goal to be reached – This is the promised land.

 

Happy are they who see it in distant vision; happier those who are permitted to work and clear the way on to it; happiest they who live to see it with their eyes and trend upon the holy soil of Bharat Mata and Sindhu Desh.

 

 

WELCOME ADDRESS OF THE HONOURABLE

Mr. Harchandrai Vishindas, C.I.E. Chairman of the Reception Committee

Brother-Delegates, Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

On behalf of the Reception Committee and the citizens of Karachi, I tender a hearty welcome to you all for having done us the honour of gracing this, the Fifth Sind Provincial Conference, with your presence. Although, Karachi being the capital of Sind, in the normal order of events she would be expected to take the lead by holding the First Sind Provincial Conference, as Fates would have it, in fact the exact opposite has been the case. Of all the principal cities she has been the last in this respect. All credit to Sukkur for not only taking the place of honour but also for conceiving and initiating the idea of Sind Provincial Conferences. That city, conscious not only for its picturesque hills and magnificently shaded river bank, its river girt islands with palatial shrines but also for its parks, its broad avenues and thorough fares and sanitary lanes and its go-ahead civic administration, threw the rest of the Province into the shade by calling the First Sind Provincial Conference in the year 1903, the second, third and fourth being held at Hyderabad, Larkana and Shikarpur respectively with a break of six years between the second and third conferences. These breaks, however, are not an uncommon feature of Provincial Conference, the first of three years from 1897 to 1899, the second of three years from 1904 to 1905, and the third of seven years from 1908 to 1899, the second of three years from 1904 to 1905, and the third of seven years from 1908 to 1914. The explanation that Karachi has to furnish for this apparent remissness is that the invitation for the first two conferences were rushed, she being given od chance and afterwards she was in the midst of preparations for the far more exacting and ambitions assemblage of the National Congress which happily did materialize in 1913 and whereby was redeemed the honour of the province which was being twitted with unconscionable neglected in its primary national duty. Whether this apologia is valid or only an argumentum she solicits forgiveness and offers this Conference as her quota for what it may be worth. If you find any shortcomings in the actual performance of our hospitality (which will be many) you will kindly over-look them and accept the will for the deed.

 

Sir William Wedderburn

 

We deeply mourn the death of Sir William Wedderburn one of the fathers and founders of our great National Organization, who dedicated his noble life to the relift of this country, whose services this country specially towards her political and economic amelioration were too numerous to mention, who spent lavishly a considerable portion of his wealth for this country and worked wholeheartedly for it up to his death. It is impossible to give an adequate expression to what he has done for our motherland. “The picture of this great venerable rishi of modern times,” said Mr. Gokhale, “who has done this work for us is a picture too venerable. Too beautiful, too inspiring for words: it is a picture to dwell upon lovingly and reverentially, a picture to contemplate in silence.” It is a matter for bitter sorrow that he, who so patiently suffered with us in the days of adversity and did no much to help us to the onward march of progress, should pass away at this critical juncture when India stands at the threshold of momentous charges.

 

He was specially connected with this city in the early seventies of the last century as the Judicial Commissioner of Sind from which post he was transferred to Presidency proper in 1875.

 

Loyalty to the Sovereign

 

We vow our profound loyalty and devotion to the King Emperor and answering questions to the British connection. We sincerely pray for an early and victories …………of Great Britain and her Allies from this stupendous and insane war busted on green fields and smiling pastures of the Earth by the criminal avarice, the said bombed and blood-thirst of wicked man whereby the innocent bleed of ……………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

Self-Government

 

What has been proved by History and held true for all times that Government of the people by themselves makes by far more for the welfare and happiness of nations than the rule of one or of few, has never been more clearly demonstrated this than during war. Some of the belligerents who have had no axes of their own to grind have been dragged into the vertex by the inexorable exigencies of the situation. These Nations entered the war to remove the deadly menace to those righteous methods of governing people which make life worth living and ensure the safety of the weak living side by side with the strong. The statesmen of these countries have made “Self-Determination” as their watch word. Peoples must be left free to choose their own machinery of Government. Not only has this doctrine an a priori application to India but she has been specifically declared to be a country whose goal should be the attainment of Self-Government; and Self-Government within the British Empire has been our cry for a long time.

 

Mr. Montagu’s Visit

 

The most absorbing event of the year which will vitally affect our political status and be a land mark in the history of our country was the coming of Mr. Mongagu in pursuance of an announcement in Parliament that the Secretary of State should visit India for the purpose of consulting official and non-official opinion on the changes to be effected for establishing Responsible Government, as enunciated on the 20th August last. Mr. Montague has come and gone. He has had innumerable deputations, addresses and interviews. After his return to England it is expected that he will publish his scheme about the end of May next, and after it has seen the light of criticism, it will be submitted to Parliament. The immence of Mr. Montagu’s visit necessitated that we should focuss our attention upon the problems connected with the peculiar administration of Sind and place our mature views before him. To that end we assembled in Special Session of the Sind Provincial Conference in Hyderabad in November last and embodied the decisions reached there in a Memorial which was duly presented to the Secretary of State by the deputation appointed for the purpose. In addition to backing up the Congress-League scheme relating to the whole country, proposals suggesting the lines for the government of this Province in particular, were made; the key-note of which was that of the various conflicting schemes of re-adjustment, preference was given to the present connection with Bombay with the important qualification that the super-Commissioner of Sind be brought to the level of the ordinary Commissioner and in every respect this province be placed on a par with the other divisions of the Bombay Presidency.

 

Sind Mahomedan Association

 

You must be aware that following close on our movement some members of the Sind Mahomedan Association set to work counterblast to our representation. The deputation of the Mahomedan Association took ticket after us to Bombay and presented their address which you must have seen. The aim and object of that deputation and address were to whittle down our demand for Home Rule. This is not the place to refute the reasoning of that address. But the exotic forces that were at work to organize resistance to our movement, the protests and defections of the advanced section, the establishment of the Sind branch of the Muslim League to counteract the reactionary policy of the Sind Mahomedan Association, that however they may act, we have no quarrel with them and harbour no ill-will towards them. We realize that they are our countrymen and have interests identical with ours. Their progress is our progress and their down fall our down fall. We are at all times prepared to extend the hand of fellowship to them. We realize, as some of the most enlightened among them realize now and others will realize hereafter, that their present circumstances render them an easy prey to those whose interest lies in diverting and wheedling them away from the path of true advancement. Whaever share of Home Rule is acquired by the country, in Sind the Mahomedans, consisting as they do the majority of the population, will receive a substantial portion of the same. When the present walls of illiteracy are broken and the doors of education opened wide, the members of the Mahomedan Association wore misguided in their present attitude and thereby missed a mighty opportunity for serving their community and country. But in this history repeats itself. The same was the case with the Mahomedans of the U.P. and the North. So long as they were under the spell of false guides they kept aloof from National Movements, which attitude however vanished like mist before the sun as soon as they received Higher Education and found out how misled they had been in the past.

 

We are confident that the Secretary of State and those who will have the final shaping of the Reforms to be introduced will not fail to comprehend the genesis and the true inwardness of the Sind Mahomedan Association’s attitude. Because, when I demand a benefit not only for myself but also for my brother and that that brother not only fails to support me but vigorously shouts his protest against the grant of the benefit, it would naturally arouse the suspicion of the deciding party that there must be something behind the protest.

 

But the humour of the situation consists in this that the Mahomedan Association in their Memorial, while condemning the grant of Self-Government as forcing the pace, still claim the bulk of it in the event of its being conceded. Now if there were any consistency in the Association’s case they would have said that the Mohomedans of Sind would have nothing to do with Self-Government even if it were granted. However, this playing fast and loose, leads to the inference that the Association at heart are in favour of Self-Government, but have been reluctantly impelled into their repudiation by some extraneous force.

 

We are extremely grateful at the grant of one lac by Government for the Education of Sind Mahomedans. And I am glade of my support of Mr. Bhurgri’s Bill for the levy of Educational cess on Mahommedans of Sind which unhappily, owing to technical difficulties and the opposition of elements of Sind Mahomadens did not come to fruition. In the education of this community, which constitutes the for-fifths of the entire population of Sind, lies the political salvation of the Province and albeit that in every acquisition of political or administrative right the Mahomedans would naturally get a lion’s share, we of this Conference are of opinion that the Hindus of Sind would none the less enthusiastically hail and accept the same catholic spirit in which they have accepted preferential distribution of Government posts to Mahomedans.

 

Sind Branch of the Moslim League

 

We welcome the Sind Branch of the Moslim League recently started as a healthy sign of the progress of the Province as we trust that this body like its parent institution will appreciate the benefit of making common cause with the Congress party and co-operate in their political activities.

 

Our Opponents

 

On what reformed lines the Government of India should be carried on in the future must naturally take the front rank in all important deliberations of the country until the question is finally settled by the passing of a Parliamentary Statue, Likewise, the future Government of Sind in particular should occupy the thoughts of us all Sindhis until final solution. Meanwhile, it should be the duty of the country to support the deputation which will proceed to England to plead our cause before the bar of the British electorate and parliament after Mr. Montagu’s scheme is published, so that judgment may not go against us by default.

 

We should exercise the utmost vigilance to meet the mischievous campaign conducted against us by our opponents in England under the leadership of that Goliath of the Philistines, Lord Sydnenham, who will leave no stone natured to thwart us. As a sample you may look at the manner in which the Resolution of the Labour Conference with regard to India was distorted. Lord Sydenham has rushed on to the stage with the brief of the bureaucracy in his hands. One is agape with astonishment at the spectacle that, whilst British minister as well as other great statesmen of the world have in the most unmistakable terms declared in favour of Self-Rule for India, and these declaration have been given effect to and sealed up by the authoritative and final announcement of the 20th August last, the bureaucracy under the advocacy of Lord Sydenham and Madras Mail should keep on beating the big drum and denouncing Self-Government for India making use of the well-worn shibboleths and stock-in-trade pleadings. They say Congress-League scheme would result in government by Oligarchy? And supposing the insinuation well-founded, which really it is not, would not a change from an alien to an indigenous oligarchy be for the better? They harp upon efficiency. Lord Curzon was an apostle of efficiency. And still what was the legacy, he left behind? The most crushing reply to this plea of efficiency was the remark of the President of the last Congress when she said “would German Government be considered best because it was most efficient “. The emphatic answer would be “Certainly not”. Another can’t trotted forth is the smallness of the number of Educated Indians and those who are demanding Reform. Mr. P.C. Lyon, a late number of the Bengal Copuncil and once a lieutenant of Sir Bamphylde Fuller, in the course of a debate on a paper read to the East Indian Association in London effectively disposed of this objection. He said that from his experience he had gathered that the Nationalist movement had spread out in all directions and had influence in schools and colleges of the country. When he had a conversation on this point with Lord Morley, that statesman reminded him that it was not the people of England as a whole who wanted to cut off the head of King Charles I. Real revolution in any country in the world had been brought about by strong vigorous men, energetic men, before they had persuaded the people as a whole to rally to them.

 

The long and short of the story is that we have to reckon with a citadel of vested interests. Men do not willingly surrender great power and privileges. The following words of Mr. Gokhale are very apposite:

 

“ The main difficulty arises from the fact that the Government of this country is really in the hands of the civil service which is practically a caste, with all the exclusiveness and love of monopoly that characterize castes……………… And as they (the members of the service ) happen to be practically the sole advisers of both the Viceroy chance of being adopted ………………..In a general way they seem to recognize that some advance is now necessary, but when you come to a discussion of different measures of reform, a majority, thought not necessarily composed each time of the same individuals, is to be found arrayed against every reform that may be proposed …………….And thus we move round and round the fortress of official conservatism and bureaucratic reluctance to part with power without being able to effect a breach at any point. This kind of thing has going on for many years, with the result that the attitude of the public mind towards the Government has undergone a steady and, of late years, even a rapid change”.

 

Another grave danger which looms largely in front of us, and which we should spare no skill or pains to guard against, is what is known by the name of the Curtis Scheme. You may be aware that this scheme against a solving the problem of achieving Responsible government by successive stages. It has a very plausible exterior. But it is like Dead Sea apples goodly to behold but dust and ashes within. You know that the outstanding features of this scheme are that Government is divided into two sections. The Executive power with regard to one section is to vest in people’s representatives. This section will consist of the portfolios of Education, Sanitation, Local Bodies & e. It will receive allotments of funds for expenditure. The experiment will be tried for a certain number of years, at the end of which, if successful, it may be extended to other portfolios. The scheme, whilst on the surface appearing as if it answers to the two criteria of Responsible Government and successive stages, betrays fundamental drawback and has therefore been condemned by the leaders of the country as unacceptable. The scheme does not confer a substantial power on the elected of the people, nor does it give them financial autonomy. The department as assigned to them will be fed doles from the Revenues of other departments. They being spending departments, if their conductors are invested with the power of taxation, their they will be serving their apprenticeship with the brand of odium upon them.

 

Nothing can satisfy our legitimate and reasonable aspirations short of the following essentials i.e., elected majorities on the Councils, half of the executive members elected by our representatives on the Council, and the power of the purse.

 

Propagandist Work

 

Whilst having our eyes constantly fixed upon the movements of the hands of the Clock in England we should pursue with redoubled zeal and energy the work lying at hand at home. Educating the masses is a most important work which should never be slackened. The Indian proletariat should be enlightened as to their needs, their claims and rights. We are eminently grateful to that great lady who has done so much for us within a comparatively short space of time, for inter alia, not only vigorously preaching but untiringly practicing propagandist work. Mrs. Aunie Besant, after her advent on the Congress, laid stress on the colossal potentialities of this item of the programme and by incessant example and precept succeeded in making the whole nation throb with the pulsation of the new ideal of Home Rule, a word with which the peasant no less than the prince has become familiar. We in Sind must not forget this but must carry this but must carry on propagandist work with greater regularity and energy than we have hitherto been able to do.

 

Local Questions

 

After having treated in its different aspects the all engrossing topic of the moment, the Reforms in the Government for the whole of India in general and Sind in particular, I proceed with the limitations, necessary to be observed in an address of this kind, to pass in review some subjects of local interest.

 

Mr. Bhurgri & Congress

I consider this an opportune place for referring to an event which is of no little significance to Sind in its relation to the Indian National Congress. That event is the election of the Honourable Mr. Bhurgri to the Joint General Secretaryship of the Congress, for the current year. I opine that this conference with one voice, will congratulate the Congress on the excellence of their choice and thank them for the recognition they have vouchsafed to this province. Mr. Bhurgri is a shining example of patriotism of the purest ray serene. He has translated into practice the maxim that the country is above self, above family, and above everything. He has not only spurned away all allurements to self-aggrandizement, which every Mahomedan of position and education in Sind has had dangling before his eyes, but has, at great obloquy, sacrifice and personal risks, stood staunch by Congress and country while others have exulted in the intoxicating pastime of launching thunderbolts against their own country’s demand for Self-Rule. All honour to him, and may God grant him life and health to continue in the service of his Motherland.

 

Agricultural Problems

Sind being an agricultural province, there are several problems affecting the prosperity of the Agricultural population, which we have to deliberate upon at every session of our conference. These problems may be exhaustively dealt with in the Presidential speech and will be submitted for your consideration in detail in the form of Resolutions, and I will only briefly glance at some of them.

 

Extension of Settlement Period

 

Conference after Conference it was resolved after discussion that the present Decennial period of Settlement should be extended to thirty years r more, as a short term Settlement was detrimental to the development of land retarded agricultural progress, and that in this respect Sind was being treated unfavourably as compared to the rest of the whole country.

 

The agitation in this behalf culminated in the appointment of a Commissioner on the motion of the Honourable Mr. Bhurgri in the Bombay Legislative Council, who took evidence and made their report recommending extension to 29 years, which was adopted by Government in their Resolution 8118 of the 4th July 1917. Wheather things for the present should be left at that and acquiescence there in pending further experiment or agitation should be still further prosecuted is left to this Conference to decide.

 

Fallow Rules

 

The hardship which the present Fallow Rules impose upon the agriculturist has been variously pointed out. The sum and substance of the Rules, which have invoked universal criticism from the landed proprietors is that, when a survey number is left out of cultivation for five years successively, it must pay assessment for the fifth year, in default of which it would be forfeited, that is, removed from the proprietor’s name to that of government in the occupancy Register; with the proviso that it may be later be on re-transferred to the proprietor’s name on his paying assessment for the year of default and the year of resumption. Now, this system is wrong in principle, and inequitable. It involves waste of labour and unnecessary redtape and harassment to the zemindar. Prominent and highly placed Government Revenue officers have in no uncertain voice pronounced against it. This system being avowedly a commutation of the one, whereby assessment was distributed over the whole area on the assumption that one-fifth would be cultivable every year, there would be no justice in levying fallow assessment in cases where on making quinquiennial computations, it can be shown (as it can be in most cases) that the one-fifth ratio per year or even more of the holding has been brought under cultivation.

 

Further, there is no occasion or justification for taking the number of the name of the registered occupant when it is admitted in the first place that it is his by birthright, and in the second that he is entitled to its resumption as a matter of right whenever he chooses : forfeiture being merely nominal. That it causes needless expenditure of energy and red-tape, is evident from the inconvenience, delay and expense people have to endure in the process of mutation of names in Revenue Registers. The hollowness of the ground, that the dread of forfeiture operates as a stimulus to activity, is apparent when we consider that self-interest would act as a much greater incentive to the zemindar to make the most of his holding than the dread aforesaid. This dread would rather tend to misplaced activity in driving the zemindar to cultivate for the mere purpose of averting forfeiture, without getting a due return for self or Hari. This is not merely hypothetical argumentation but the mature opinion of high big officials based on personal experience.

 

 

Remission Rules

 

Is another allied subject which has engaged the attention of Conferences. While admitting the spirit of justice in which these rules have been conceived viz., relieving the cultivator of the burden of Government assessment on failure of crops due to calamities, experience has revealed their defects in actual working. Antecedent to the grant of remission, there must be inspection by the Revenue Officer, whose multifarious occupations prevent timely inspection of all lands claiming remission. Belated inspections create the dilemma of no harvest or no remission. Then again, the ratio in which remissions are calculated calls for revision. As it is, the ration of remission is struck between the gross value of the produce and the assessment, whereas equity demands that it should be between the net value and assessment; it being reasonable to make allowances for hari’s share, cultivation expenses, clearance & c.

 

Rasai Chher and Lapo

 

No enumeration of the agriculturist’s woes will be complete without mention of the hydra-headed monster of Rasai with its off-shoots and companions Chher and Lapo. The latest and most exhaustive contribution to the discussion of this subject is contained in the debate in the Bombay Legislative Concil at its meeting of December last raised by the motion of the Honourable Mr. Bhurgri for the appointment of a Committee to suggest means for the suppression of the evil – a debate which has been immortalized by a comical and at the same time striking episode of a non-official Sindhi nominated member of the Council delivering himself of the dictum that Rasai had disappeared from Sind. As this dictum received an unequivocal contradiction from the Commissioner-in-Sind, who confessed to the existence of the evil, it provoked the mirthful outburst of another Honourable member to the effect that the Honourable Sindhi seemed to be more loyalist than the King himself. Notwithstanding that, the terms used may bear other constructions, the sense in which they are attacked as evils can not be misunderstood by any one. This is the distinctions shown by the Honourable Mr. Lawrence in the Council between the different significations of the words. It is also superfluous, after so much has been said in the press, conferences and Council, to describe the practices or to point out and prove the oppression and the grievance they constitute. Suffice it to say that with will and determination it will not be impossible to exterminate Rasai and its branches. The farming out of supplies to independent men like banias, removing completely the hand of the zemindar and the Revenue Officer from the business, and effective supervision of the touring officer will scotch the evil in a short time if not kill it. If every Collector and Assistant Collector sees at every tour that neither the tapedar not the zemindar has anything to do with the supplies, and impresses on them the penalties attending on breach, besides the grave displeasure of Government, I think the system can be brought to an end in a year or two. If on the other hand, as was disclosed in the Council debate, one Officer issues a Circular condemning and prohibiting the practice, another officer thinks it pious to honour the Circular in the breach, a third shows a pathy, and a fourth despairingly yields to a long established usage, things will merrily drift on as usual and redress will recede further and further from accomplishment. Now the matter will be in the hands of a well constituted committee; let us trust that public attention will be concentrated on the subject and some measures devised for successfully eradicating this abuse. It is hoped that in making appointments to the Committee care is taken to select only such officers as have made themselves conspicuous by putting down the evil.

 

Compulsory Education

The passing of Mr. Patel’s Bill in the Bombay Legislative Council authorizing Municipalities to introduce primary Compulsory Education within their areas is an epoch making event. It will mark the era of continuous progress and Reform-Everybody observes in his every day life that most of our drawbacks in political, social, economic, industrial and domestic spheres are due to ignorance and illiteracy-Education will open the eyes of the people to the many ills they have been suffering, darkness and superstition will vanish and give place to light and knowledge. People have come to realize that there was no greater blunder and disservice to the country than opposition to Mr. Ghokhle’s measures seven years ago. Some of the bureaucracy, who were loud and insistent in opposing Gokhle’s Bill are now declaiming against our acquisition of responsible Government and a larger share in the administration of our country, because of our illiteracy which it was the object of that bill to remove. The country is very much beholden to Mr. Patel for the remarkable zeal, industry and for-thought displayed in successfully launching this legislative. His example has been followed in other Presidencies by similar measures being introduced there. It is hoped that education in urban areas will be the forerunner of eduction in rural areas, and by degrees there will be a net work of educational institutions all over the country, and a time will come when almost every Indian male and female will be educated, as is the case in all the foremost countries of the world. It is true that it will be tedious and wearisome journey towards the promised land. We shall have to contend with difficulties, meet with opposition and make sacrifices at every successive stage. But we should not be daunted by these. We should not flinch from the financial burdens we shall have to carry, always bearing in mind that in education lies the germ of every form of advancement and uplift of India.

 

Every body will rejoice at the manifold of blessings which Compulsory Education will confer upon the Mahomedans of Sind with their preponderating numbers. The Moslim zemindar will learn to practise economy and shake off his present aloth and extravagance. He will understand how to make his present impoverished soil rich by the use of chemical manures and more scientific means of ploughing and tilling. We expect to see pauperism turned into affluence, waste and improvidence into prudence and thrift. The services will also receive their share of benefit. In order to raise the number of Mahomedan employees in the services commensurate with their enormous proportion of population, Government are obliged to put up with raw material at the expense of efficiency and risk of public discontent. But when Education spreads, the supply of solid material for services among Mahomedans will exceed the demand.

 

We should not rest content with the spread of elementary education but lose no time in tackling the problems of Higher and Scientific, Economic and Industrial Education.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, earnestly appeal to all the people of Sind to constantly bear in mind and heartily exert towards the fulfillment of what was announced as one of the most cherished objects, for which the Sind Provincial Conference was instituted. That object is I may repeat the oft quoted aphorisms “Unity is Strength.” “United we stand and Divided we fall.” There was time when Sind was torn by divisions. That time happily is no more. But still thing remains to be desired. We should sink all differences; differences between Hindus and Mahomedans, between Hindus and Hindus and so on. We shall not be true to ourselves or to our country if we do not banish rivalries, fling away ideas of self and work together for the service of the Motherland and for amelioration of our countrymen. There can be no higher conception of duty than that.

 

With these remarks, Brother Delegates, I once more tender you a hearty welcome to this Conference. May God crown its deliberations with success.

The material/data/information can be provided on request.

 

 

SINDH MUHAMMADAN ASSOCIATION

 

In 1880,Hassan Ali Effendi took first ever efforts to establish “Ajuman-i-Islam”-an organization to provide platform to Sindhi Muslims for getting their social,cultural,religious and educational problems resolved ans solved.Pirs and Amirs opposed this move,because none of them was accommodated in the organization in manner as they desired and demanded.It took four years to materialize the idea,he formed “Anjma-i-Muhammadi”later on known as “Sindh Muhammadan Association”.

Non-Sindhi writers have give impression that Hassan Ali Effindi was influenced and asked by Justice Amir Ali who visited sindh In connection with any case.On this occasion he advised Hassan Ali Effendi to form an association.No doubt,Justice Amir Ali was in Sindh but,in August 1884. where as “Sindh Muhammadan Association” was already established on 16 March,1884.

Following were the office-bearers & founder members of the Association

Hassan Ali Effendi (President)
K.B.Najamuddin (V.President)
Moulvi Allah Bux “Abojho” (Secretary)
Sardar Muhammad Yakoob
Shaikh Muhammad Ismail
K.B.khdadad Khan
K.B.Ali Muhammad Hassan Ali
K.B.Wali Muhammad Hassan Ali
Seth Alibhai Karimji
Seth Ghulam Hussain Chagla
Seth Noor Muhammad Lalan
Seth Salih Muhammad Umer Dosal
Seth Ghulam Hussain Khalikdina
Seth Faiz Muhammad Fatih Muhammad
Shahzado Muhammad Yakoob.

Sindh Muhammadan Association ,due to its appealing program get response from the Muslim society.That is why its branches were opened in interior of Sindh as under:

Shikarpur on 18.06.1884
Larkano on 20.09.1884
Sukkur on 15.02.1885
Hyderabad on 13.03.1885

This Association was established with the following Aims & Objectives:

 

1. To take efforts for the social,cultural,religious & educational uplifit of the Muslim community.
2. To extend due cooperation to sister organizations .
3. To ensure loyality to the Government.

THE OFFICE-BEARERS & MEMBERS

The Sindh Muhammadan Association remained active till the sepration of Sindh from Mombai Presidency in 1936.It was headed by the following as its Presidents & Secretaries. (A) Presidents: Hassan Ali Effendi, K.B.Khudadad, Sardar Muhammad Yakoob, K.B.Shaikh Sadik Ali, Muhammad Ibrahim, Syed Allahando Shah, Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto & K.B.Muhammad ayoob Khuhro. (B) Secretaries: Moulvi Allah Bux “Abojho”, Wali Muhammad Hassan Ali & Pir Ali Muhammad Shah Rashdi.
Apart from the above-cited office bearers,following remained the active members of the Association:
A.K.Bhutto (Larkano)
A.M.K.Dehlvi (Karachi)
Abdul Hamid Khudadad Khan (Sukkur)
Abdul Majid Hassan Ali
Abdul Majid Pirzado (Sukkur)
Abdul Rahman Muhammad Yakoob (Karachi)
Abdul Wahab Khan (Hyderabad)
Ahmad Bux Bhutto (Larkano)
Ahmed Ali Bhutto (Larkano)
Ali Bux Muhammad Hussain (Shikarpur)
Ali Muhammad Hassan Ali (Karachi)
Ali Muhammad Kadri (Larkano)
Ali Nawaz Alvi (Shikarpur)
Alidino Ali Muhammad (Karachi)
Allah Bux Ansari
Allah Bux Gabol (Karachi)
Allah Bux Soomro (Shikarpur)
Chakar Khan Sohriani
Deen Muhammad Alig
Dost Muhammad Thebo
Dr.Foujdar Khan Durrani (Shikarpur)
Dr.Gul Muhammad Durrani (Shikarpur)
G.M.Syed (Saan)
Ganhwar Khan Isran (Larkano)
Ghulam Farid Khemtio (Khairpur)
Ghulam Hussain Bhalidino
Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah
Ghulam Hussain Shaikh Walji
Ghulam Qadir Muhammad Shaban (Shikarpur)
Haji Abdul Hakim Shah
Haji Abdul Ghafoor (Karachi)
Haji Allah Bux Hakiro (Kamber)
Haji Imamuddin Kalhoro
Haji Rasool Bux Ghanghro (Larkano)
Hakim Fatih Muhammad Sewhani (Karachi)
Hakim Moulvi Muhammad Alim
Hassan Ali Wali Muhammad (Karachi)
Hatim Ali Alvi (Karachi)
Hazar Khan Khoso
K.B.Amir Ali Lahori
K.B.Haji Varial
K.B.Jan Muhammad Pathan
K.B.Kadirdad Khan
K.B.Kalab Ali Mirza
K.B.Muhammad Hussain (Karachi)
K.B.Nawaz Ali Mirza
K.B.Rasool Bux Shah
K.B.Sadik Ali Shaikh
K.B.Sardar Chakar Khan
K.S,Khair Muhammad Abdani
K.S. Fazul Illahi Khan (Karachi)
K.S. Muhammad Hussain Pleader
K.S. Muhammad Rahim Mirza
K.S. Saifuddin Khan
K.S.Ali Hassan Hakro
K.S.Burhan Khan (Karachi)
K.S.Dhani Bux Jatoi (Mehar)
K.S.Gul Muhammad Khan Isran (Larkano)
K.S.Haji Imam Bux Jatoi (Moro)
K.S.Haji Muhammad Ghulam Hussain
K.S.Muhammad Ali
K.S.Muhammad Sadik
K.S.Muhammad Shaban Pleader
K.S.Qaim Khan Shaikh (Kamber)
K.S.Shamisuddin Khan (Sujawal)
K.S.Syed Mured Ali Shah
Kazi Abdul Aziz (Karachi)
Kazi Abdul Qayoom (Hyderabad)
Kazi Abdul Rahman (Karachi)
Kazi Ali Muhammad (Rohri)
Kazi Ali Raza (Rohri)
Kazi Imam Ali
Kazi Khuda Bux (Karachi)
Kazi Shafi Muhammad (Dadu)
Master Muhammad Parial
Mian Ali Bux (Mahota/Larkano)
Mian Ali Bux Muhammad Hussain
Mian Badaruddin (Shahdadkot)
Mian Fakir Muhammad (Larkano)
Mir Ayub Khan (Karachi)
Mir Hussain Bux Talpur (Hyderabad)
Mir Muhammad Baloch (Karachi)
Mir Muhammad khan Talpur
Mir Noor Muhammad (Jacobabad)
Mirza Farukh Baig (Nawabshah)
Mirza Kalich Baig (Hyderabad)
Mistri Haji Muhammad Umer
Moiz-u-ddin Abdul Ali
Molvi Abdul Hakim
Moulana Din Muhammad “Wafai”(Karachi)
Moulana Muhammad Suliman Banvi (Thatta)
Moulvi Taj Muhammad (Karachi)
Muhammad Ahsan
Muhammad Alim Shah
Muhammad Aslam Dentis
Muhammad Chhutal Soomro (Larkano)
Muhammad Hashim Was
Muhammad Ihsan Umed Ali (Hyderabad)
Muhammad Muaz (Nawabshah)
Muhammad Pannah Dhakhan(Dhakan)
Murad Ali Shah
Najaf Ali Shah
Nawab Ghabi Khan Chandio (Kamber)
Nawab Mahrab Khan Bughti
Noor Muhammad Lakhair (Hyderabad)
Pir Amir Asadullah Shah Rashdi
Pir Bakadar Shah (Matiari)
Pir Bux Kartio
Pir Bux Mian Mahmood
Pir Rasool Bux Shah
Pir Usman Shah Rashdi
Rafiuddin Sarhandi
Rais Ghulam Muhammad bhugri (Dengan)
Rais Kadir Bux Jatio
Rais Najamuddin
Sabir Ali Shah
Saifuddin khan Pathan
Sardar Wahid Bux Bhutto (Larkano)
Serai Kaim Khan Karmani
Serai Sher Muhammad Kanasiro
Seth Abdul Rahim Salim Muhammad (Karachi)
Seth Ahmed-u-ddin (larkano)
Seth Alibhai Karimji (Karachi)
Seth Faiz Muhammad Fatih Ali (Karachi)
Seth Ghulam Hussain Chagla (Karachi)
Seth Haji Abdul Majid (Karachi)
Seth Haji Abdul Shakoor (Karachi)
Seth Haji Abdul Wahid (Karachi)
Seth Haji haroon Abdullah (Karachi)
Seth Hussain Bhai Bundukwala (Karachi)
Seth Khudadad Surhio (Larkano)
Seth Muhammad Jaffar Khowjo
Seth Noor Muhammad Pirbhai
Seth Yusuf Ali Ali Bhai (Karachi)
Shah Muhammad Lahori (Larkano)
Shahnawaz khan Dhakhan (Dhakhan)
Shaikh Abdul Majid Sindhi (Karachi)
Shaikh Karim Bux
Shaikh Muhammad Ismail
Shamisuddin “Bulbil”(Mehar)
Sher Muhammad khan Bijarani
Sirai Gohar Khan Ibrahim
Sirai Pir Bux Khuhawar (Shahdadkot)
Syed Ali Asghar Shah (Tikhar)
Syed Ghulam Nabi Shah (Tharparkar)
Syed Haji Abdul Rahim Shah (Sujawal)
Syed Hassan Ali Shah
Syed Jamal-u-ddin Bukhari (Karachi/larkano)
Syed Mahmood Shah Ghazi (Karachi)
Syed Mian Jewan shah (Dadu)
Syed Miran Muhammad Shah (Hyderabad)
Syed Muhammad Hashim Shah
Syed Muhammad Kamil Shah
Syed Shahnawaz Shah (Thatta)
Syed Wali Muhammad Shah
Syrd Karam Ali Shah
Syed Sabir Ali Shah (Thatta)
Taj Muhammad Shaikh
Tyeb Ali ali Bhoy (Karachi)
Usman Salih Omar Dosal (Karachi)
Wadero Dost Muhammad Hakro (Kamber)
Wadero Gul Muhammad Phul (Larkano)
Wadero Imam Bux (Mahota/Larkano)
Wadero Khair Muhammad Phul (Larkano)
Wadero Muhammad Ismail Mahessar (Mehar)
Wadero Muhammad Nawaz Khuhro (Aqil/Larkano)
Wadero Noor Muhammad Thebo (Dadu)
Wadero Sahib khan Junijo(Larkano)
Wadero Sardar Allah Bux Jalbani
Wadero Wahid Bux Khuhro (Aqil/Larkano)
Wadero Yar Muhammad Khuhro(Aqil/Larkano)

HOLDINGS ON THE ASSOCIATION

 
The collection of the Gul Hayat on the”Sindh Muhammadan Association”consists of
Information/material/data on the “Who’s Who”of the office-bearers and members,minutes of various
Meetings and important addresses presented by the association.The information/material can be provided
On request subject to the fulfillment of our Terms & conditions.The list of our holding’s on activities
Of the “Sindh Muhammadan Association”is given as under:]
Minutes of the meetings
Meetings held on
24.04.1912 @ Karachi
19.03.1917 @ Karachi
06.10.1917 @ Hyderabad
07.10.1917 @ Sukkur
18.11.1917 @ Larkano
25.04.1918 @ Karachi
13.06.1918 @ Khairpur
05.01.1919 @ Hyderabad
09.01.1919 @ Karachi
25.06.1921 @ larkano
30.11.1925 @ Karachi
02.05.1927 @ Larkano
03.06.1927 @ Hyderabad
12.12.1927 @ Karachi
27.01.1928 @ Larkano
17.06.1928 @ Shikarpur
05.04.1929 @ Larkano
31.05.1930 @ sukkur
02.07.1930 @ Sukkur
01.09.1932 @ Hyderabad

Addresses and Memorandums

4. An address presented to the Governor of Bombay in 1884.
5. An address presented to the Viceroy of India in 1887.
6. An address presented to the Governor of Bombay in 1916.
7. An address presented to the Viceroy of India in 1917.
8. The Report on Indian reforms sent to the Bombay Government in 1918.
9. An address presented to the Governor of Bombay in 1919.
10. The Memorial to the Governor of Bombay in 1928.
11. The Memorandum presented to the Simon Commission in 1928.
12. An address presented to the Governor of Bombay in 1928.
13. An address presented to the Governor of Bombay in 1933.

The material/data/information can be provided on request.

 

 

SHAH NAWAZ BHUTTO  DRAFT SCHEM

 

 

REPRESENTATION OF SIND MOHAMEDANS

 

 

In the course of his speech before the Bombay Muslim league. Moulvi

Ruffidudin Ahmed Said:-“I wish I had no discordant note to strike this

evening. But unfortunately we have-a cry of dissatisfaction from for off Sind. Two leading men of our community in Sind, the Honorable Mr. Bhurgry, From Hyderabad, and Mr.Yoosuff Ali Aliboy, From Karachi, have sent communications to our league expressing their disapproval of the electoral arrangements in Sindh, emphasizing the fact that one of the two seats allotted by govt. to mohomedans was far from safe. In this telegram to the sec of state, dated 3^rd may. The viceroy says that four seats are especially assigned to mohomedans and in addition to those two Mohomedans will be elected the landholders and district bodies____

Sind, so that they will secure a certain minimum of six our

representative in sindh. However, are of opinion that even that minimum is not certain, because the d. board seat cannot be considered safe. I wish to draw your attention to the serious situation of our co-religionists in sindh.  Our object is to throw more light upon the subject without importing any heat into it. Lord Morley has given two pledges to Mohomedans in all parts of India. First, that they will have a separate register, and secondly, that they will have representation in councils in of all the provinces in India. Sindh is the only one where neither of the two pledges just stated can be carried out. Mohomedans in Sindh are not given a separate register and their representation in far from being commensurate with their numbers and influence. The constitute three fourths of the population of Sindh, the Hindus forming the remaining one-fourth. Their respective representation in the council therefore should be as three to three to one. Government has marked out two constituencies for them both with mixed electorates; even did they always succeed in returning their numbers. There would be tow Mahomdans to one Hindu in council. But should they lose the D. Board seat, the position will be reversed. There would be two Hindus do one Mahomedan in council from the most Mahomdan Provinces in India. That is a most dangerous position for them to be in. Again that seat being a mixed electorate must be considered as good as lost, even with Mahomedan member. Whenever the Hindus are not able to carry a candidate it is always open to vote solid for a Mahomedan congress-walla who would act as their mandatory and most be considered a Hindu  member. I may draw the attention of the Govt, to the fact that separate electorates are not only necessary in places where Mahomedan are in the minority, but they are also necessary in places they are in an unorganized majority,example.Mahomedan will have certain seats reserved for them in Eastern Bengal with a Separate register.

 This matter has already been decided by the House of Commons in favour of the Mahomedans. Speaking in the House of Commons on 26^th of April last. Upon this subject, Mr. Balfour said: “It was pointed out by my noble friend that in certain parts of India, the Mahomedans had not fair representation on the council which they could obtain if they had organized their voting powers properly and adequently. I presume the Mahomedans have not done so. Why have they not done so? We say frequently of a section of a community here. “If you do not choose to vote you suffer for not voting. But what chances on earth have the Mahomedans population in India when pitted against all the electoral dexterity and electoral methods of the after sections of the community. They have note more chance in that kind or electoral contest than some of the after sections of the community would have if it came to blows. It is quite clear that the very able and highly educated Hinds would beat the Mahomedans at that game whatever the numbers are. I am sorry that no the face of this Bill there not one word to make clear what was contained in the speeches of Governments.

 

              On the motion of Prof. Mirza Abdul Hussain khan, it was resolved to sent a memorial to Government about Sind meeting then discussed the Electoral Draft Scheme.”

 

 

(Date: 28, August, 1909)

 

 

ADDRESS BY SIND MUHAMMADAN ASSOCIATION

AND REPLY BY THE GOVERNOR

 

 

          May it please your Excellency we, the members of the Sind Muhamadan Association, beg on behalf of the Muhamadan community to offer your Excellency and lady Willingdon a most hearly welcome to the capital of Sind. We are delighted that your Excellency has mad it convenient to nest this historic though outlying province of Presidency for a second time, as we are confident that personal touch with its affairs will result in speedies solution of its problems, in which our community numbering three-fourths of the entire population is deeply interested. We earnestly hope that such visits from your Excellency will be more frequent and prove equally beneficent.

 

          Shortly after your Excellency a last visit to this province, Europe has been in the throes of a world-shaking struggle in which the British Empire is taking an heroic part. We feel confident that great Britain and her Allies who are fighting in the cause of justice, rightearnsness and liberty, will come off victorious in the end. In this connection we are proud to state that throughout these critical times, our community has shown unflinching loyalty to the person and throne of His majesty the King-emperor, who has a warm corrier in our hearts. While earnestly praying that this war which has staggered humanity may come to a speedy and satisfactory end, we beg to assure your Excellency that our community is ever ready to do all in its power to help the interests of the British Empire.  

 

          We are glade to report that our community is continuing to make steady progress in educations. But as your Excellency is aware a great deal remains yet to be accomplished to recover lost ground. We are deeply indebted to Government for having appointed a committee Presided over by the Educational Inspector of Sind to consider the educational wants of our community and are confident that the result of their P/10 deliberations when translated into action will materially advance the cause of Mohamadan education.

 

           We are also indebted to your Excellency’s to consider the question of the revision of land settlement which is now done every ten years, causing great hardship to Zamindars. We do hope that the report of the committee and the sympathetic consideration there of at your Excellency’s hands will result in the extention of the settlement period and amelioration of the condition of Zamindars.

 

           We are grafted to learn that your Excellency has appointed a Committee to advise Government on the question of conferring larger powers on local Boards of the Presidency. We are unaware of the nature of the recommendations of that committee but we beg respectfully to suggest that as the canditiors of Sind defer so materially from the rest of the Presidency. Your Excellency will be pleased to appoint a separate committee to consider the special wants to this Province.

        

           While we are thankful to Government for recognizing our claim for a due share of appointments in Government service, we beg respectfully to urge for a more extensive recognition of our first claims, by which means alone will the not equal distribution that now exists disappear, we beg to invite your Excellency’s particular attention to the fact that Muhammadan in Government office take an indefinitely long time to rise to the grade of Mukhtiarkars with the result that the number of Muhamadan Population of the Province. We therefore pray that your Excellency will be graciously pleased to remare this disability and take such steps as may be necessary for the appointment of a large number of Muhamadans as Mukhtiarkars, who may ultimately rise be Deputy Collectors.

            We regret to bring to your Excellency’s notice that our position on the municipalities is not improving. Under the existing rules regulating Municipal elections we are unable to elect representatives on Municipal Boards in proportion to our population. We therefore pray that your Excellency will be pleased to appoint a committee composed of officials and non-officials to consider the feasibility of introducing the system of communal representation in vogue in the Punjab and recently introduced in the new Municipal Act for the City of Calcutta.   

 

             We regret to state that though the co-operative credit Act has been in force in India for about 11 years, the progress of co-operation in Sind has been very meager. Only a small number of societies has come not existence. We attribute this result to the fact that the Registrar of Such Societies is an officer with multifarious other duties, which could not leave him much leisure to devote to the encouragement of co-operation which is badly required to improve the condition of agriculturists and artizens of the Province, who are almost all Muhamadans. Nor are there any organizers either paid or honorary to encourage villages to take, advantage of the Act. We therefore pray that Your Excellency will be pleased to take such measures as may be necessary with a view, to provide each Taluka with a number of co-operative credit Societies in the near future as we consider that the well being of the agricultural population is of paramount importance.

     

              We hope all technical difficulties connected with the Sukkur Barrage and the Sind Triple irrigation Project have been surmounted, and as soon as financial conditions improve, your Excellency will press for the carrying out of these schemes without unnecessary delay.

 

             In conclusion we beg to assure your Excellency of our abiding and unflinching loyally to the person and throne of His Most Gracious Majesty the King-Empire and subscribe ourselves Your Excellency’s most humble servants.

 

                Walimahomed Usually, Allahdno Shah, Dhani Bux Jatoi Sher Mohamed Khan Bijarani, Saberali Shah, Chakar Khan Sohriar Ghaibi Khan Chandio, Abdul Rahman Pirzada, Ghulam Mohamed Bhurgi, Haji Abdul Rahim Saleh Mohamed, Ghulamali G,Chagla, Pir Bux Main Mohamed, Alinawaz Ulvi, Rafiuddin Sarhandi, Murad Ali Shah, Haji Abdul Hakim Shah, Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Abdul Hamid Khudadad Khan,Ganwhar Khan Isran, Shamsuddin Bulbul, Dost Mohamed Khan Thebo, Saifuddin Khan, Shahnawaz Bhutto, Kazi Imamali, Shah Mohamed Lahori, Najaf Ali Shah, Yousuf Ali Alibhoy, Hazar Khan Khoso, Haji Imam Bux Khan Jatoi, Mir Mohamed Khan Talpur, Mohamed Hasham Wasan, Alidina Ali Mohamed, Mir Ayoob Khan, Bar-at-Law, Honorary Secretary.

 

Reply by the Governor

 

      Gentlemen,— It give lady willing don and myself much pleasure to meet you here today and to receive your kind welcome on our second visit to Karachi. It also gives me much pleasure to have this opportunity of hearing from you personally your views on the various matters of importance in which you are especially interested, for though I cannot in a few brief words deal adequately with their merits, it assists me very materially to a proper appreciation of these questions when I can discuss them with representatives of the community particularly affected.

            I  coricure most sincerely in the sentiments you express regarding the war and I acknowledge whole hearted by the attitude to steadfast loyalty which the Muhamadan Community throughout India has displayed towards the cause of the King Emperior and the Empire.

 

         Among your especial communal requirements you rightly assign the first place to education. You may be assured that the recommendations of the educational Committee will receive the most careful consideration. It would be idle to deny that the measure of your progress in this direction will largely determine the future prosperity and influence of your community Much lies in your own hands, for, while Government can promote, encourage and assist its labours will be largely in vain unless you yourselves strive with all your energy to create and foster stimulus from within which is essential to success.

    

           As regards the Committee appointed by Government to report on the position of the local boards. I would invite your attention to the fact that two members of the committee were from Sind including the Honorary Secretary of your Association and that two other members including the President, have had extensive experience of Sind. I think therefore hat you need have no apprehension that the special needs and conditions of your Province will be neglected.

      

           The question of the appointment of Muhamadans to the public service is intimately connected with that of education. The remedy again is largely you own hands. Governments are fully cognizant of the considerations you mention and nothing would give them more satisfaction than to have a supply of fully qualified Muhamadan candidates adequate to their requirements. I think I can say with true not only that no such candidate has ever been denied employment but that every measure consistent with equity and efficiency is made to minimize the disadvantages under which you at present labour in this respect.

 

           As regards the representation of Muhamadans on Municipal Councils. I must invite your attention to the reply which I made to you on a previous occasion. I do not think that I can usefully add to this.

 

           I share your regret that the cooperative Credit movement has not made so much progress in Sind as elsewhere, but you will dontless agree that conditions in the rural areas of Sind are not favourable to rapid development in this direction. I cordially invite your assistance in the matter. If leading men in your community will come forward to study the problem to devise practicable solutions of the existing difficulties and to mould public opinion to recognition of the benefits that would accrue, they will be welcome.

 

           With regard to these and similar questions, while I must emphasise the Primary responsibility of the men of education and enterprise to assist and enlighten their more backward fellows, do not suppose that I am insensible of the grave difficulties with which you have to content, or that I would impose upon you burdens which Government ought to assume or is capable of assuming. I can assure you of the constant desire of Government to assist and to encourage. But there are burdens which Government with the best will in the world cannot assume, and it is you who must take them up. In this task, which I know will require the highest qualities of wisdom, public spirit and self sacrifice; I wish you the fullest measure of success.

 

(Date: 06, January, 1916)

 

 

         

 

VOICE OF THE PUBLIC.LETTERS FROM ALL QUARTERS

 

Sind Muhammadan Association Meeting.

 

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY GAZETTE”)

        Sir,—In one of the notes sent to you by your Sukkur corresponder, while writing on the meeting of the above Association, held at Sukkur on the 7^th of this month, he has just veited that, “there were some people who doubted the legality of the meeting.” Again at the so-called mass meeting of the Mussalmans of Hyderabad collected at night time by Mr.Bhurgri for the purpose of praying to Government for release of the brothers Shaukatali and Mahomdall, reported in your issue of 9^th; mention has also been made as to the illegality of the Sukkur meeting for the reason of “its not being authorised under the Rules.” Further it was said that the clause about Home Rule should not have been inserted, as it was ‘vetoed by the two branches of the Association Karachi and Hyderabad.”

         I cannot see where the illegality of the meeting comes in. I have the latest copy of the Rules of the Association and rule 38 with regard to the general meetings runs as follows; “A general meetings may be called on the requisition of the general secretary, But such requisition should have at least three weeks’ clear notice from the case of its issue and that it should have the agenda of the subjects to be discussed, with it. For any important work only a notice of three days was sufficient.”

          Now by this you will see that the secretary is competent to issue notice of a meeting, so long he acts according to rules. In this case a clear three weeks notice was given and an agenda accompanied it as required by the Rules. It is not clear in the Rules from whom the secretary should derive the authority of calling such a meeting and in this case when there was no president or constitutionally elected standing committee the secretary was wise enough to have the sense of the various “Anjumans” in Sind, and they all given him a mandate to call the meeting and have it at Sukkur.

        Again when the Karachi local branch wanted to have the meeting postponed and change the place; most of the branches a hered to the opinion of holding it at Sukkur and on the appointed date. All this could be seen from the records of the Association. In these civilized days everything is decided by majority, and in this case there was an overwhelming majority for the action taken and to call the meeting illegal is simply scandalous.

         Then again about the “Home Rule Clause.” This too, like the above, had the overwhelming support of most of the branches of the Association in the Province except perhaps Karachi and Hyderabad. Several “Anjumans” sent their opinions in support of its insertion in the Address to be presented to H. E. the Viceroy, but the local Karachi branch, with Mr.Chagia as chairman and about four or five Karachi members of the managing committee of the local branch, who have no business to touch matters other than local according to Rule 28 of the Association, without giving a thought to it approved the address of their own choice without the clause.

            When this was known, the representatives of various Anjumans, came to Karachi and called a meeting of the local branch at Mr. Yusuf Ali Alibhoy’s house in Napier Road and with Mr.Chagla, the chairman of the local branch in the chair discussed the “clause” for hours, which seemed to have support even of many Karachi Muslims present including Mir Ayub Khan, Mr.Chagla, finding that his own supporters were inclined to accept the clause, abruptly left the meeting and declared that it was illegal and went away without taking leave of anybody.

               Thus the “clause” had the whole-heated support of all those who came from different parts of Sind, and also of many Karachi Muslims present in the meeting, and on the next day it was conveyed to the commissioner-in-Sind by the-deputation, for its insertion in the address which was sent to him by the local branch.

                To be on the safe side, the same clause was submitted for the verdict of the Musalman community in the great gathering which took place at Sukkur of which due notice was given and to which both the Karachi and Hyderabad Anjumans like the rest were invited. If they did not come in great number. It was their fault; Hyderabad was well represented by the secretary of the Jumait, the Hon, Mr. Ghulam Hoosain and members like Mirza Furkh Baig, barrister-at-law and Abdul Wahab khan, editor of the Musafar, and many others. Here the clause was unanimously passed. It was the same clause which was submitted to the Commissioner-in-Sind at Karachi by the deputation and not a modified one, as suggested by your Sukkur correspondent in your issue of 10^th.

                 Now I have all these facts for your readers to judge if the Sukkur meeting was constitutionally called and carried out according to the existence rules or otherwise, as suggested by Messrs. Bhurgri, Chagla etc.—- Yours etc.

ABDUL HAMID KHUDADAD KHAN,

                     Jaghirdar & Hon. Secretary, Sukkur,

                                                                        Anjuman-i-Islam.

       Old Sukkur, October 22.

 

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 24, October, 1917)

 

 

 

 

AN ADDRESS  PRESENTED TO THE VICEROY CHELEMSFORD ON CT.30.1917

 

SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION.

 

      The following is the address presented by the Sind Muhammadan Association, which is signed by Mr.Mahomed Ebrahim Sheikh Ismail, president, Mr.Wali Mahomed Hussanally, Secretrary, and Messra Mian Pir Bux Mian Mahmud, Syed Allahando Shah, Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Ramji Pethabhai, Sher Mahomed Bijarani, Mir Mahomed Baloch, Mian Ali Bukhsh Mahomed Husain, Sheikh Taj Mahomed, Man Ali Nawaz Ulavi, Shahnwaz khan Drakhan, Janmahomed khan Pathan, Sheikh Karim Bukhsh, Serai Shah Mahomed Lahori, Dhani Bukhsh Khan Jatoi, Pir Pirrshah, Ghulam Husain Sheikh Waliji, Syed Muradali Shah, Mahomed Hashim Vasan,Sheikh Ghulam Hussain, Kalich Beg Mirza, Mahomed Ihsan Umedally Abdul Hamid khan khudadad khan, Syed Abdul Hakim Shah, Syed Hassanally Shah, Syed Najafali Shah, Kazi Fazullah, Syed Mahomed Hashim Shah, Alidin, Ali Mohamed, Kazi Abdul Aziz, Shah Nawaz Bhuto, Saifudin Khan Pathan, Mistri Haji Mahomed Umer, Hakim Fateh Mahomed.

                   

                         We the members of the Sind Muhammadan Association, beg to offer your Excellency and Lady Chelmsford a most cordial welcome to the capital of Sind, on behalf of the Muhammadan Community of this province.

 

               2. We beg respectfully to invite your Excellency’s special attention to the fact that the opening of canals in the Punjab and Bahawalpur State is very adversely affecting the interests of zamindars in Sind. The said canals draw away a large quantity of water with the result that the supply of water in the lower reaches of the Indus is diminished, which works to the detriment of agriculture in Sind; the failure of crops being not infrequently due to this cause. Apart from the loss and hardship which this uncertain supply of water causes to zamindars, it deprives them of all incentive to improve their lands, as they feel that their efforts in that direction are fruitless, unless they are assured of a regular supply of sufficient water. We therefore earnestly pray that your Excellency will give very careful consideration to this matter, which vitally affects the interests of Sind; and take such measures as your Excellency’s Government may deem fit, to prevent the condition of zamindars of Sind, going from bad to worse, and our Province Suffering at the hands of the Punjab by reason of the more favourable geographical situation of the latter at upper reaches of the Indus. In addition to other measures which may be adopted to bring about the desired result, we respectfully urge that all new works in the Punjab and Bahawalpur State, which are likely to reduce the supply to water in Sind be held in abeyance until such time as the Sukkur Barrage to which we shall presently refer, and such other works as will ensure the adequate supply of water in Sind are constructed.

       3. With regard to the Sukkur Barrage Project we beg respectfully to state that works of such magnitude are the only satisfactory way of profitably utilizing the water of the Indus, which on account of its low level in the lower reaches, is practically wasted in some places, as it can not adequately supply the canals. We are aware of the history of the Sukkur Barrage Project and of the various technical difficulties that are in the way. We also realize that Government can not be expected to undertake such huge works during the war. Nevertheless we beg to suggest that preliminary investigations in the nature of survey and other matters in which we are glad to find Government is at present engaged be pushed with all possible speed, so that after the conclusion of the war no time may be lost in further preliminary matters and the works started without delay. Without going into the technical side of the question, we venture to state that the Sukkur Barrage Project is at once the surest way of increasing and regulating the supply of water and bringing under cultivation large tracts of otherwise waste land.

         4. We beg to bring to your Excellency’s notice that the lands of Mussalman zamindars in Sind are gradually passing out of their hands in consequence of being sold in execution of decrees of civil courts. Inspite of the Deccan Relief Act, and other Acts which are in force, the condition of Muhammadan zamindars is growing worse every day. Your Excellency’s Government will be laying our community under a deep debt of gratitude if the law is so amended as to stop the sale of lands in execution of decrees of civil courts, and provision is made for the satisfaction of the claims of creditors from the income of lands by means of easy instalments. This will have the affect of rescuing the simple zamindar from the clutches of the ruthless money lender.

          5. Dealing with question of Zamindars of whom by far the largest number belongs to our community, we take this opportunity of tendering our thanks to Government for enchancing the Decennial settlement of land Revenue to a Twenty Years Settlement. We hope that Government will see its way to increase the period to thirty years and meet with the wishes of the people in this matter.

          6. We have great pleasure in expressing our gratitude to Government for paying due regard to the special circumstances of our community, and introducing the system of communal representation in Municipal elections and trust that in fixing the numbers to be returned by the various electorates, Government will be pleased to allot to our community a fairly large number of seats, sufficient to give us an effective and potent voice in Municipal administration.

           7. We are also thankful to Government for conferring on District Local Boards the right of electing non official Vice Presidents.

            8. The Mussalmans of Sind hail with feelings of extreme joy and gratitude the official announcement made by the right Hon’ble the Secretary of State for India, in regard to the legitimate aspirations of His Majesty’s loyal Indian subjects, and the news of the proposed visit of Mr. Montague to this country in that connection. With your Excellency’s permission we take this opportunity to assure you that the Mussalmans of this Province have implicit confidence in true justice liberality of the benign British Government as is evidenced by their aloofness from the recent home Rule league propogands. This attitude of theirs is based not only on their complete trust in the good intentions of the Government but also on the conviction that the concession of the extreme demands put forward by the Home Rule Leaguers would be seriously prejudicial to the interests of the Mussalman community. But if any reforms are introduced, we trust that the legitimate interests of our community will be properly safe guarded, and our claims for a share of the rights and privileges commensurate with the importance of our community will receive full consideration at the hands of the benign Government.

            9. We are glad to state that our community is making steady progress in education; but it will take a long time to fully recover the ground that was lost while our community was apathetic towards education. While we are grateful for the encouragement which we have received at the hands or Government from time to time, we beg to point out that the higher education of our community is in need of far greater support and encouragement than it receives at present. We are convinced that the progress of our community will be very rapid if efforts are concentrated on higher education, because it is by this means alone that we can produce men who will take active interest in the uplift of our community. We therefore pray that Government will be pleased to allot far larger sums of money for scholarships for higher education than at present.

            10. We also beg respectfully to point out that the paucity of Muhammadans in the Educational Department of Government is a factor which is seriously hampering the rapid progress of education in our community. We therefore pray that Government will be pleased to appoint as many qualified Muhammadans as possible as by this means they will be enabled to take personal and direct interest in the education of our community.

             11. We understand that there is movement to again introduce in the Council of His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, what is known as the Sind Muhammadan Educational Cess Bill, Which if passed into law will satisfactorily solve the question of funds which are badly required for the wide spread of education in our community. We fully trust that the said Bill will receive sympathetic consideration at the hands of Your Excellency’s Government.

              12. We beg leave to bring to your Excellency’s notice that in spite of the advance our community is making in education, and of the fact that large numbers are every years qualifying for Government service, our community has not yet been able to secure its fair share of appointments under Government. While acknowledging with gratitude that the local Government is not slow to recognize our just claims for a large share in Government service, we pray for more rapid and more extensive recognition of our claims in this matter, as the disparity that now prevails is highly detrimental to the interests of our community.

              13. In conclusion we feel great pleasure and true pride in assuring Your Excellency of our deep seated and abiding loyalty to His Majesty the King Emperor and pray that his gallant forcers may prove triumphant and victorious in the cause of justice, Liberty and Equality among Nations for which they are fighting.

 

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 30, October, 1917)

THE VICEROY IN KARACHI.

Replis to address from Public Bodies.

IRRIGATION IN SIND AND THE PUNJAB CANALS.

Improvement of Karachi’s Railway Communications

KARACHI’S GREAT STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Appeal for Muhammadan Recruitment for the Army.

EMPORE’S JUDGMENT BY ACTIONS IN THE GREAT WAR.

To-day’s Programme of Visits to Colleges, Hospitals and the Port.

 

 

     Below we give the replies His Excellency the Viceroy to the addresses presented yesterday by Karachi Port Trust, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and the Sind Mahomedan Association:

Karachi Port Trust.

 

           Replying to the Trustees of the Port of Karachi His Excellency said;-

      It would have been a great disappointment to Lady Chelmsford and myself if anything had prevented us from visiting this Port to which you have so kindly welcomed us. I have been able even at a distance to appreciate the value of the work which is being done here in supplying the needs of the Army in Mesopotamia and on other fronts, and in shipping to England foodstuffs, by curtailment of which His Majesty’s enemies had vainly hoped to force upon us a premature peace and I may say that it is because I wished to see your work with my own eyes that I am paying you this visit.

Karachi’s Geographical Importance.

        Your remarks about the geographical importance of the port of Karachi are in no way exaggerated and it has been fortunate that an economical and far-sighted administration, greatly aided, I am assured by the ripe experience of your Chairman, Mr. Mules, has placed you in a position to be of such considerable service to the Empire.

         You have, I am aware, had your difficulties. The demands of the war have disclosed, what is probably your weakest point, namely the deficiency of labour for the docks. This no doubt was partly due to the necessities of Mesopotamia, for it has been impossible to check the depletion of the labour supply normally available for your port, although steps have been taken by Government to prevent the diversion of trained men. Partly too the shortage has been accentuated by the change in the arrangements for your supplies of coal which has come about through the lack of shipping and the consequent transport of coal to your port by land instead of by sea.

         There must also have been occasions when the pressure of military transport, combined with the heavy shipments of grain to Europe, caused you to regret that it had not been possible at an earlier date to proceed with the expansion scheme of which you have given me an interesting account, and which was to have been the crown of your policy of improvement. There difficulties have, I understand, been overcome, so far as is possible in the present circumstances, but any recommendations which you may make for an improvement in the rate of handing vessels and for securing the maximum efficiency of the port in its war service, will receive the fullest consideration.

Fine Record of War Service.

      I am glad to acknowledge the readiness with which you have placed the facilities of the port at the disposal of the authorities. The new offices of the Port Trust had to be utilised as a hospital almost immediately after their completion; the Lynn yard has been loaned as a base supply depot; and you have provided a site for river craft construction, a most useful undertaking which may perhaps be the forerunner of a more extended shipbuilding industry. The work of the harbour has none the less proceeded smoothly owing to the spirit of co-operation and good will which has prevailed between you and the military authorities. You have thus been largely responsible for your city’s fine record of war service which has won the admiration of us all.

      You tell new that you have no grievances to bring to my notice and although there are inevitably certain question still outstanding for adjustment, it is evident that you are ready to assist in securing their amicable solution. You are more fortunate than other port administrations in India in being able to maintain a strong financial position. I see that your collections for the month of August constitute a record for the port but I would remind you that for this you are indebted largely to the operations of Government. There are on a scale which bear eloquent testimony to the strategically impotence of the position occupied by your port.

         As regards the future you have mentioned certain problems of some complexity. The introduction of a grain elevator system may prove a measure with very far reaching contain sequences and the subject requires far more exhaustive investigation than can be taken the satisfaction your readiness to co-operate will the Government and with the railways.

           The Secretary of State was addressed in 1915 on the proposal to establish a mid-weekly mail service between London and Karachi in addition to the services between London and Bombay. You will recognise, however, than at the present shipping conditions after the war make it imperative to postpone the consideration of this proposal for the present. You can rest assured that when the questions an again examined full weight will be given to the advantages of your port as the shortest line of communication with northern Indian.

              In conclusion let me thank you for the welcome contained in your address. I look forward with pleasure to my inspection of your Harbour to which you have invited me.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce.

     To the committee of the chamber of commerce the Viceroy replied:-

         I thank you for the cordial greeting which you have extended to Lady Chelmsford and myself, and if I may single out one point in your address for special appreciations it is this that, in accordance with what we have learnt to expect of your community, you put the war first and foremost. You have reason to be proud of the part which you have played and are playing in the war. Some of your former associates in this Chamber have proved their patriotism in the field of battle, while you yourselves have been engaged in duties directly connected with the prosecution of the war.

Assistance in the War.

 

    For the last 3years your city has been to the fore in assisting the military authorities. The local Corps has done valuable work in connection with port defences; the number of able-bodied men report available for general service with the Indian Defence Force does you credit; the army has been supplied with a large number of workmen, skilled and unskilled; and the local contribution towards the war loan amounts nearly to a crore of rupees. I am aware also of the activity of the Karachi War League, and of the patriotic work that association has done in keeping the needs created by the war prominently in the public notice. You have brought similar zeal and attention to bear on the handing of supplies for His Majesty’s armies in the field. These activities indicated the spirit which prevails in the city of Karachi and I have no doubt, Gentlemen that it is to you and to other public bodies in Karachi that this spirit is in large degree attributable. You have shown that your services will always be at the disposal of His Majesty.

      The prosperity of your city is a striking proof of what can be done when brains and capital are used to develop a position of natural advantage, and I see a great future before you. You do well to emphasise what remains to be done rather than what has already been accomplished. That is the spirit of progress.

       You have referred in your address to your hope that during the present decade the Government offices and Courts may be concentrated at one central site. I understand your reasons and sympathise with the object you have in view. The matter is however primarily one for the consideration of the local Government ; but I can assure you that such aspects of the case as may be submitted to the Government of India after the war has been won will receive sympathetic consideration.

Prosperity from Irrigation.

         On the general subject of irrigation in Sind I hope to say something in my reply to the Sind Muhammadan Association. You state that the Sind System of irrigation—namely by inundation canals—is, in the main, exactly the same as it was in the time of Alexander the Great. This statement suggests a serious lack of enterprise on the part of the British administration; but I must point our that it takes no account of the large sums that have been spent by Government during the last 60 years or so on Irrigation in Sind. Head regulators have been made to control the entry of the flood water into the canals, the canals themselves have been improved out of all knowledge, the distribution system has been remodeled and extended and in many cases the canals and systems are entirely new and in no sense a relic of bygone days. Embankments have been made to keep the flood water of the river from devastating low lying lands, and last but by no means least—you have the modern Jamrao canal which has brought irrigation to a tract that was previously barren. In my reply to the Sind Muhammadan Association, I shall also deal with the question of the effect of the Punjab canals on irrigation in Sind; but I would here remind you that this city and port owe their present prosperity mainly to the wonderful system of canal irrigation which have been built up by Government in the Punjab at a cost of many millions of pounds, and that you may rest satisfied that the policy of developing the agricultural resources of India, hitherto attended with so much success, will be carried through to completion until the available water-supply of the Indus is fully utilised.

Premium Bonds.

      I note your remarks on the subject of our future borrowings. We have initiated an issue of Treasury Bills, and we shall give the most careful consideration to the question of the time at which our next regular loan should be floated and also to its amount and character. In regard to “Premium Bond” issues, you man remember that my Hon’ble Colleague Sir William Meyer, in referring to the matter when he met the Committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce in April last, stated that he had an open mind on the subject, and that he was quite willing to consider the matter in connection with next year’s loan. It was recently announced that the Home Government have decided to appoint a select committee to enquire into the question of issuing premium bonds or some similar form of Government securities in the United kingdom, and we can hope from their deliberation to obtain some assistance in considering the problem in India, I might say, however, that the Government of India have consulted expert opinion on the subject and that it has proved for the most part unfavourable.

Necessary Railway Developments.

        You invite my attention to certain railway developments which you think have been too long delayed, and you express a hope that they will be carried to completion as soon as may be after the war. In this connection I may point out that by the opening of the last section of the Jodhpur-Bikanir Railway in 1900 Karachi did obtain a very direct railway route to Delhi. What has happened is that as Karachi has gradually drawn to itself more of the trade from the western districts of the United Provinces the capacity of this route has proved inadequate.

           The question of providing a more direct broad-gauge railway connection between Karachi and Delhi has been under the consideration of Government for some time, and alternative schemes have been put forward to meet the object which you have in view. The investigation of these schemes in not yet complete, but I may say that my Government are convinced of the necessity of improving the existing means of communication between Karachi and the great business centres of the United Provinces with which your port has developed so considerable a trade and I can promise you that every endeavour will be made to prepare the scheme so that it may be carried out with as little delay as possible after the war.

               The need of a broad-gauge railways connection between Karachi and Bombay via Cutch was referred to in the address which I received yesterday from the Municipality. This is a matter which was dealt with in 1911 by lord Hardinge in replying to an address presented to him by another body. He pointed out then certain difficulties in the alignment, and I am afraid from-what I hear that these difficulties still exist. At the same time I am in accord with in desiring an improvement of railway facilities between Karachi and Bombay, and the matter has not been overlooked. A decision must await the development of the Karachi-Delhi scheme, and certain surveys are necessary which will be undertaken as soon as possible, but I have hopes that we shall soon be able to establish a better connection than exists at present between these important centres.

           I have little doubt also that the system of metre-gauge communications will be improved by the construction of the line through Jaisalmer and Bikanir to which to which you allude.

Mr. Montagu’s Vistit

            I have confined myself to an appreciation of your practical work in the war and to telling you how my Government hope to help towards the realistaion of your equally practical wishers. I will conclude by alluding to one other matter in which you can afford practical help to the Empire. Within a few weeks Mr. Montagu and I will be associated in studying in India large problems concerning the future of India. I ask, in the interests of the Empire, for your loyal co-operation in this study. The subject is one of great difficulty and must be examined from many points of view. I have one request to make to you. Whatever view you may adopt, see that, in advocating your own view of people who differ from you and that honest convictions. I assure you that in so far as you do this the greater will be the force of the opinions which you your selves may advance.

Sind Muhammadan Association.

            The reply of His Excellency to the Sind Mahomedan Association was in many respects the most interesting of Lord Chelmsford’s remarks during his visit to Karachi.

He said:

              I thank you for the cordial welcome which you have extended on behalf of the Muhammadan Community in Sind to lady Chelmsford and myself.

              Your Association represents very substantial interests and am glad to learn from your address that you fully realise the significance of the visit which the Secretary of State is about to pay to India. He and I, as I said to the Chamber of Commerce, desire to hear an expression of all opinions honestly held on the subject of Indian political reform and I press you, as representatives of a numerous and important Community, carefully to prepare your case so that you may be in a posting to state, definitely and concisely, your views, your hopes, and your fears. Study the problem as a whole, try to understand the point of view from which others regard the same problems and then put us your reasoned conclusions.

Irrigation and the Punjab Canals.

            With the first important my attention. I will now deal of canals in point to which you invited zamindars namely, effect of the opening zamindars the Punjab on the interests of the zamindars in Sind. I cannot help thinking that you draw to gloomy a picture of the state agriculture here, and I am assured that the condition of the landholders in recent years would compare favourably with any previous period. In any case I can not accept the conclusion that your province has suffered from the action of Government in regulating the distribution of the water form the rivers of the Punjab. The question of the effect of the Punjab canal system on the supply of water in the River Indus in Sind is one which has been a subject of much study on the part of irrigation engineers. From the researches that have been made there is no indication that this supply has as yet been adversely affected by the opening of new canals in the Punjab, but you may rest assured that this matter, which is of such vital importance to your Province, will be fully considered before any further irrigation schemes in the Punjab dependent on the waters of the Indus system are put in hand. I can also assure you that the investigation into the project for the Sukkur barrage and its dependent canals will be pursued with the utmost possible vigour.

Alienation of Land.

      You ask for amendment of the law so as to stop the sale of lands in execution of decrees of civil courts and to provide for the satisfaction of the claims of creditors from the income of lands by means of easy installments. This request is based on the statement that the lands of Mussalman Zamindars in Sind are gradually passing out of their hands in consequnece of being sold in execution of decrees of Civil Courts. I have the greatest sympathy with your desire to keep your ancestral land in the hands of the old proprietary classes; but I understand that the extent to which the process of alienation is going on is actually very small, and that in fact out of a total occupled area of 8 million acres in Sind only about one thousand acres on an average have been sold annually in recent years in execution of Civil Courts decrees. You will, I think, agree with me that these figures hardly support the case for further protective measures, while you your selves recognise that such measures are already in existence in the shape of the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act of 1879 and the Sind Encumbered Estates Act of 1896. The former Act empowers the Court to order payment of the decreed amounts by instalments; and lands are thus only sold in satisfaction of debts after all other expedients for discharging these debts have failed. It seems to me therefore that the law already glass you all the protection that you require and that in rests with your community to maintain ancestral estates by the practice and by educating their children the responsibility which the landowners imposes upon them.

           I trust that the measure for ensuring the due representation of various communities on municipal bodies, and the privilege of electing non-official Vice-Presidents to District Local Boards—matters to which you have alluded in your address—will tend to develop a keener interest in matters of local self-government.

Education.

       I have heard with pleasure the expression of your interest in education and of your anxiety to recover the ground which your community has lost in this sphere. You are well aware of the anxiety of Government to forward the cause of education among any section of the community where special encouragement is required, and I would refer you to the circular issued by the Government of India in April 1913 regarding the education of Muhammadans in which emphasis was laid not only on secondary, but, first and foremost, on primary instruction. I hear that a Committee was appointed by Government of Bombay specially to enquire into the needs of Muhammadan education in Sind and that it has mad its report. The expenditure involved in its recommendations is considerable, and you will be glad to learn that the Government of Bombay have recently sanctioned the annual grant of a lakh of rupees as a first instalment for giving effect to them. Half this sum will be for primary and half for secondary education and the scheme includes a generous system of scholarships for leading boys up from the primary school to a university degree. I need hardly say that I regard any desire on the part of the people to tax themselves for purposes of education as worthy of encouragement. Government however are in duty bound to ascertain very fully whether proposals of this nature really commend themselves to the mass of the people concerned; and any scheme of communal taxation raises difficult questions which would have to be very carefully considered.

        Your desire to have as many qualified Muhammadans as possible in the ranks of the educational services is a natural and proper one. It is to be hoped that in future members of your community will come forward in the larger numbers qualified for work in this find.

Practical Patriotism.

         Your address concludes with few words convening an assurance of your loyalty and o prayer that His Majesty’s forces may be victorious in the cause for which they are fighting.

          I am assured of your loyalty and of your sympathy for the common cause but I would add that there is still scope for the people of Sind to prove their practical patriotism before the eyes of the rest of India by personal service in the field. I foresee that there will in future inevitably be a tendency throughout India and the Empire to judge communities by the action which they took in this great fight for freedom, and I look to you, as representatives of the Muhammadan community in Sind, to stimulate recruitment throughout your great tract of country with it Muhammadan population of more than two and a half millions. I invite you to emulate the splendid example of the Punjab; to vindicate the manlines of the stock from which you come; and to see to it that the Muhammadans of Sind, contribute their full share towards the quota which we expect of the Bombay Presidency, I will mention three of the ways in which you and your families can help to do what is expected of your community. You can yourselves give the lead by volunteering for service and by encouraging your sons to do so; you can encourage others to follow that lead; and as prominent Zamindars, you can, each in your own neighbourhood, help to ensure that every man who volunteers for service shall do so with the certainty that while he is away you will watch and secure the interests of hi family and of his land.

       Now, Gentlemen, having asked you for your co-operation in this matter I will not detain you further, except finally to as ure you of the sympathy and good will of Government towards the landholding class, whose interests you have so well represented to-day and once again to thank you for your friendly welcome.

Yesterday’s Events.

          Following is a more detailed account of the activities of Their Excellencies yesterday;-

          At 11 am. Her Excellency visited the Sind Women’s Branch Depot in Victoria Road.Lieut Col Austen Smith, M.B., I.M.S., Surgeon to the Viceroy, accompanied Her Excellency, who was received at the entrance to the Depot by a detachment of Girl Guides under the command of Miss Hayward. Mrs. Lawrence introduced Miss Hayward to Lady Chelmsford who them inspected the Guard of Honour. At the door of the Depot two little boys, Masters Cecil Watson and Elias and saluted, Mrs. Lawrence read an address on behalf of the members of the Branch detailing the activities of the organization in Karachi.

 

Perception of His Highness the Mir of Khairpur.

         At 12-30 p.m., His Excellency the Viceroy granted a visit form His highness the Mir khairpur, at Government House, His highness was accompanied from his residence Political Agent for the khairpur state was attended by the following relatives offices of His Highness:- Khan Bahadur Muhammad Ibrahim Shaikh Ismail,Waz,r Mir Ali Muhammad Khan, Mir Muhammad Murad Khan, Mir Allahdad khan, Mir Ghulam Hassan khan, Mir Ghulam Raza khan, Mir Gul Hassan khan, NaibVazir, Camp Shahi Captain Muhammad Ellas Muhammad Daud.

          The Political Secretary received His Highness at the entrance to the reception room and conducted him to His Excellency’s presence. After taking his seat, His Highness the Mir rose and presented a nazar of 101 gold mohars which were touched and remitted. After a short conversation, His Highness the Mir’s relatives and attendant were presented to His Excellency by the Political Agent for Khairpur and offered nazars of one gold mohar each, which were touched and remitted. At the close of the interview, attar and pan were distributed.

               A band played outside the reception room during the interview and a guard of honour of 110^th Mahratta Light Infantry was drawn up in front of Government House and saluted His Highness on arrival and departure.

Reception of non-Ruling Mirs.

       At 12-45 p.m. His Excellency the Viceroy granted a private audience to His Highness Mir Nur Muhammad Khan Talpur, His Highness Mir Haji Fatch khan Talpur and His Highness Mir Abdul hussain khan Talpur. Their Highnesses were conducted by Mr. A.O.Koreishi, Mr. Wahid Bakhsh Gul Muhammad and the commissioner’s Mir Munshi. The Collector of Hyderabad and the Collector Thar and Parkar were at Government House to receive Their Highnesses and accompany them to His Excellency the Viceroy’s Presence.

Ruturn Visit to the Mir of Khairpur.

       At 1-15 p.m. His Excellency returned the visit of His Highness the Mir of Khairpur attended by the Political Secretary, the Private and Military Secretaries to the Viceroy, the Under-Secretary in the ‘Foreign and Political Department, and His Excellency’s Personal Staff. His Highness the Mir, accompanied by the political agent for the Khairpur State, received the Viceroy as His Excellency alighted from his motor car at His Highness’s camp in the Kutchery compound and conducted His Excellency to the reception room and to a seat on his right hand.

        On the right of His Excellency the Viceroy sat the Political Secretary, the Private and Military Secretaries to His Excellency the under Secretary and His Excellency’s Personal Staff.

         On the left of His Highness the Mir sat the Political Agent for khairpur and beyond him the following relatives and officers of His Highness—.

        Khan Bahadur Muhammad Ibrahim Shaikh Ismail, Vazir, Mir Ali Muhammand,Mir Muhammad Murad khan, Mir Allahdad khan, Mir Ghulam Hassan Khan, Mir Ghulam Hussen khan, Mir Ghulam Raza khan, Mir Gul Hassan khan, Naib Vazir, Camp Shahi, Captain Muhammad Elias Muhammad Daud.

         After a short conversation, the relatives and officers of His Highness were presented to His Excellency by the Political Agent for Khairpur, and offered nazars of one gold mohar each, which were touched and remitted.

          At the close of the interview, attar and pan were presented by His Highness the Mir to His Excellency the Viceroy and Party, after which His Excellency left.

            A guard of honour of the Sind Rifle Corps, Indian Defence Force, was drawn up at His Highness’s camp.

TO-DAY’S VISITS TO HOPITALS AND COLLEGES.

Inspection of the Harbour.

           This morning Lady Chelmsford, accompanied by the Surgeon to His Excellency and an Aide-de-Camp, visited the Lady Dufferin Hospital, the Civil Hospital and the Station Hospital, where a tourwas made of the various wards. At the Lady Duffenin Hospital she was received by Mr. H.N.Crouch, chairman, and the members of the Hospital committee, the lady Physician, Dr. (Miss) Curael, the Civil Surgeon Lieut –Col.H. Herbert, I.M.S and the Lady Superintendent, Mrs. Marshall.

             From the Dufferin the Party proceeded to the Civil Hospital, where Her Excellency was met by Bring-Genl.F.J.Fowler, C.B., D.S.O., commanding Karachi Brigade, Col.C. S. Philson, Assistant Director of Medical Services, Lieut-Col. Herbert and the hospital staff.

             At the station Hospital, in addition to General Fowler and Col.Philson, the officer commanding the Hospital, Lieut-col, E.S.Clark, R.A.M.C., was in attendance.

             Immediately after Lady Chelmsford’s departure on her round of visits the Viceroy also left Government House by motor-car to visit the D.J.Sind College and the Sind Madressah. He was accompanied by the commissioner-in-Sind, the Military Secretary, the Private Secretary, the Assistant Commissioner in Sind and an Aid-de-Camp. At the College he was met by the Judicial Commissioner of Sind (Mr.E.M.Pratt), the Collector of Karachi(Mr.J.L.Rieu), the Educational Inspector in Sind(Mr. M.Hesketh), the members of the College Board the Principal (Mr.C.Miller) and the professorial staff. At the Madressah the Collector and Mr.Hesketh were again present, together with the members of the Board, the Principal (Mr.T.H.Vines) and the staff.

             In the afternoon Their Excellencies proceeded to Keamari and went for a trip round the harbour on board the Richmond Crawford. The party included the Hon. Joan Thesiger, Mrs. Lawrence and Mrs. Shillidy, in addition to the Commissioner-in-Sind, the Hon, Mr.A.H.Grant, C.S.I., C.I.E., Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, His Excellency’s Private and Military Secretaries, the Assistant Commissioner-in-Sind(Mr.J.A.Shillidy), the Surgeon to His Excellency, the three Aides-de-Camp and Mr.I.H.Taunton. Their Excellencies were received on arrival at Keamari by the Chairman of the Port Trust(Mr.H.C.Mules, C.S.I., M.V.O)and the Vice-Chairman (the Hon. W.U.Nicholas), who introduced the Trustees of the Port and the principal officers.

 

 

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 31, October, 1917)

 

 

 

 

SIND MUHAMMADANS AND INDIAN REFORMS

Text of Report Sent to the Bombay Government

Communal Representation Essential

 

Injustice to Muslims in Chelmsford-Montagu Scheme.

 

Following is the text of the opinions expressed by the Sind Muhammadan Association, in response to Government invitation on the Reforms Report which have been transmitted by Mr. W. M. Hussanally, general secretary of the Association to the Bombay Government:-

 

1.    My committees have given prolonged and anxious thought to the scheme, as embodied in the report of Indian Constitutional Re-forms, and are humbly, but decidedly of opinion that its working in its present form will spell disaster to Muslim interests and entail the destruction of a great and ancient community in India. A careful study of the Report has raised in their minds painful misgivings that the Muslim point of view has not been properly realized by the learned authors of the Scheme. This dominant and fatal defect in the Scheme my committee ascribe to the fact that the deliberations and decisions of the authors of the Report have been one-sided. Had the Reform committee a Muhammadan representative by their side for consultation, the result would probably have been different.

 

2.    The unfortunate result of this circumstance has been the setting off of the Hindu standpoint to excessive advantage, and the undue throwing in the background of the Muslim point of view, in this great constitutional question.

                                  Unfair Comments on Muslim Affairs

3.     The Report itself confirms the truth of this observation. Almost every matter having special reference to Muslim interests has been considered and determined without a proper understanding of the Muslim point of view, Facts and circumstances to the advantage of the Mussalmans have been ignored. Whilst those to their disadvantage have been given an undue importance and made capital of. The various cleavages, traditional, religious, political, social, and linguistic, between the two leading communities in India have been whittled down in favour of the Hindus, in response to the Nationalists’ clamour for popular Government and have been emphasized in favour of the British autocracy form a special regard to the claims of the latter. But Muslim interests have not received their due share of attention and provision. The Report abounds in unfavourable and unfair comments on Muslim affairs and conditions. Such, for instance, are the remarks of the authors on “Allegiance to the khalif” the attitude of Indian Muslims during the Tripoli war and the Balkan war, the demolition of the Cawnpore Mosque, the unwisdom lords Minto and Morley in granting communal electorates to the Muslims in 1909, the Hindus supplying the administrative body of Indian in the past, whatever the nationality of the rulers, the “backwardness of Muhammadans in taking advantage of educational facilities the origin and the history of the concordat between the Muslim league and the Indian National Congress. On all these subjects and others the Committee are humbly of opinion that the Muslim point of view has not been understood or has been misunderstood. My committee contents it self here with expressing its respectful, but emphatic, opinion in regard to the defect or error in comprehension respecting the Muslim position on the part of the authors of the Report. They do not propose to discuss these matters in detail and expose the fallacies underlying the remarks of the learned authors, as they do not consider that any useful purpose would be served by such a couse. They have dwelt upon them here merely for the purpose of enforcing their main contention that the framers of the scheme have misread the Muslim position and have thus wrongly determined the Indian political situation. How far the authors of the scheme have been in error will be realized by a contrast between their views in regard to a basic factor in Indian Politics and the views of a statesman of the Cali bre of the late lord Dufferin.

Hindu- Muslim Relations.

4.     My committee cannot reconcile them selves to the off hand disposal of this most vital factor in Indian polities, namely the question of Hindu-Muslim relations. It is a fundamental element in the Indian political cosmos. It is a factor which has influence, for good or evil, the destiny of Indian for over mine hundred years, and has coloured her life, culture, religion and tradition.

 

5.     It is a factor which marked the advent of the British on the Indian political scene and has since been a subject of constant solicitude to generations of British administrators in their consideration and determination of Indian problems during the last hundred and fifty years of British rule.

 

6.    The views of load Dufferin, expressed in 1888, were shared in 1909 by Lords Morley and Minto who granted communal electorates to the Mussalmans, Again, as late as 1916; the Royal Public Services Commission endorsed the same view.

 

7.    My committee respectfully, but emphatically, submit that the picture of Hindu-Muslim relations drawn thirty years ago by Lord Dufferin, and accepted as true in 1909 by Lords Morley and Minto, and again in 1916 by the Public Services Commission is as faithful to the original to-day as it was when it was drawn, though its colours might have been obscured or confused by the efforts of Hindu Nationalists to disguise or blur the picture. The failure of the authors of the Reform scheme to appreciate this most fundamental factor in Indian polities has in the humble opinion of my Committee, led the framers of the scheme into a number of errors in the handling of subsidiary constitutional problem, such as communal electorates, separate and adequate representation for the Muhammadans, in the Provincial and Imperial Executive and legislative Councils, and in the administration and the Public Services of the Empire.

Scheme Hostile to Muslim Interests.

8.     My Committee are constrained to observe that the Reform Scheme, as it now stands, would result in placing the Indian Muslims, to their grievous hardship and prejudice, and to their grave discontent and heart-burning in a settled position of help less subordination to a Hindu majority full of power and prejudice under the aegis of the British Crown.

 

9.    My Committee cannot for a moment believe that such an untoward result, full of profit to one community, and full of loss to another equally important community, can be the aim of British Policy in regard to the people of India, the professed purpose of which has ever been the securing of the rights of justice, freedom, and self-determination to the smaller nationalities.

 

 

10.  In fine, my Committee respectfully, but emphatically, submit that the Reform Scheme, in its present form, is not at all acceptable to the Mussalmans, as it is hostile in the last degree to their interests and threatens their community with permanent ruin. But if their interests are  safeguarded by communal electorates and adequate representation, commensurate with the political importance of the Mussalman community in all the Councils Executive and Legislative, Provincial and Imperial, in all local bodies, and in the Public Services, then and then alone the scheme will be acceptable to the Mussalmans and represent a real advance upon the present political situation in the direction of responsible Government.

     Various Suggestions

11.  Subject to the conditions and qualifications set forth above, my Committee proceed to express the following humble views on the various points of the Scheme. My committee would again repeat that if the safeguards suggested herein are not provided, they would rather reject the Scheme in to than accept it in its present form.

 

12. My Committee suggest that the maximum number of the members of the Executive Council should not be limited to 2, but that there should be three instead of 2, one of whom should be a Mohammedan. If this be not feasible, two members should be Europeans, as at present, and one should be a Hindu and a Muhammadan alternately.

 

13.  In regard to the question of Ministers, my Committee are of opinion that the number of Ministers should be at least two, one of whom should be a Muhammadan. If in the minor provinces, it is not possible to have more than one minister, the Minister should be a Muhammadan every alternate occasion.

14. The latter portion of paragraph 219 of the Report in inconsistent with the first portion. While expecting the Governor to exercise the power of control, to remain responsible for the administration, and to refuse assent to his Minister’s proposals, if fraught with serious consequences, the authors of the Scheme proceed, to observe: “But we do not intend that he should be in a position to refuse assent at discretion to all his Ministers proposals.” It is quite feasible to frame an instrument of instruction laying down general lines of policy, but it is not practicable to prescribe definitely in what matters assent should be given and refused.

15.  My Committee feel unable to commit them selves to any definite opinion in respect of the whole Reform Scheme owing to their not knowing in what manner and to what extent the composition of the Council will reflect the different elements constituting the population of India, and what will be the position of the Muslims in the electorate, and owing to the absence of indicate in the Report of any defined lines on which h the new franchise is to be framed. The composition of the Council, the constitution of the electorate and the conditions of the franchise are matters of vital interest and importance of the Muhammdans, and this association as well as other Muhammadan public bodies have, in their addresses to His Excellency the Viceroy and the Secretary of State urged the necessity for prescribing of a fixed proportion of Muslim representation on the Councils.

16.  In regard to the composition of the Council, my committee are humbly, but decidedly of opinion that the respective representation of the various elements should be fixed be statute.

17.  My Committee would also suggest that on the proposed franchise-committee one of the two Indian Members should be a Muhammadan, and the number of Provincial co-opted Indian Members on the Franchise-committee should be two one of whom should be a Muhammadan.

     Communal Electorates Essential.

 

18.   My Committee are painfully surprised at the re-opening of the question of communal electorates for the Mussalmans by the authors of the Reform Scheme. That question was minutely and exhaustively considered in all its bearings by statesmen of the greatest eminence. These sagacious statesmen, after a careful study of the whole problem, came to the deliberate conclusion that in view of the special conditions of the society in India it was imperative that the Muhammadans should have separate representation by communal electorates, with due regard to their numerical strength and political importance not only on the Councils but on all local bodies. The wisdom of this decision was justified in the event. It resulted in the due protection of the interests of the Musslman minorities in India, and in an abatement to some extent, of racial antipathies between the two leading communities. Instead of being an obstacle in the path of national development, it has, in considerable measure, helped to improve the relations between the two great communities by placing them on a more equitable footing. To revive a question which has been definitely laid at rest in the most satisfactory manner, is in the humble opinion of my committee a course which is wholly gratuitous and most unwise. To disturb the principle of communal electorates for the Mussalmans, which bears the imprimatur of authority and the seal of successful experience, is altogether in expedient an wholly unnecessary. It would disturb the present political truce between the two leading communities by re-kindling the old racial animosities and would result in the complete wreck of any reform scheme. To tamper with the communal electorates of the Mussalmans would expose the British Government to the grave charge that it is indifferent about inter-communal concord. It is contended that the principle of communal electorates is opposed to the teaching of history. My Committee respectfully submit that it is not wise or proper to apply maxims without reference to the conditions of their application. The above maxim may properly apply to westent of India, with its heterogeneous population, and infinite and radical divergence of conditions and interests. The authors of the Report themselves admit that, owing to the peculiar circumstances of the Indian situation, they cannot make indiscriminate use of theoretical maxims in the framing of a constitutional scheme for India, and confess that the Reform Scheme prepared by them is full of incongruities, restrictions, and conditions but which have been necessitated by the special conditions obtaining in India.

     No Incongruity.

19. The argument of incongruity does not therefore lie in the mouths of the authors of the Report, Incongruity, according to them, is an admitted necessity in the Indian constitutional fabric, and the authors of the scheme have not hesitated to carry this conviction into practice by the introduction of several incongruities. My Committee, therefore, submit that it is not fair or reasonable to allow the argument of incongruity to stand in the way of communal electorates when precisely the same argument has not been allowed to prevail against several other proposals in the Report. The duty of the statesmen is to deal with facts as they are and not on the basis of what they should be. The actual situation must always be the best, nay the only proper basis for any constitutional structure. Facts are stubborn things, and cannot be god rid of with impunity. They must be met squarely, if wise action is to be ensured, and the actual facts in this connection are the special and almost unique situation of the Mussalmans in India. The facts that Mussalmans are 70 millions in population, that they ruled over the country for 7centuries before the advent of the British, that they are radically distinct from the Hindu in almost every aspect of life, in tradition, historic heritage, religion, social usage, in their general outlook of life and in their ideals, cannot be lightly ignored by any wise statesman. These considerations require that efficient and adequate safeguards for the protection and development of Muslim interests be provided by the State. My Committee cannot assent to the view of the authors of the Report that Communal electorates are either a hindrance to the growth of nationhood or lead to divided allegiance and make men think as partisans and not as citizens. That this opinion is wholly unfounded is conclusively proved by the experience of the working of the system of communal electorates. My Committee do not think that it has ever been found that the fact that a particular member was the representative of a particular oblivious of or hostile to the interests of the general public.

     Conserving Minority Views.

20.  Such members have invariably been found to have been among the most ardent supporters of matters of interest to the people at large, Nor does my Committee share the fear of the authors of the Reform Scheme that communal electorates for the Muslims will have the effect of “stereotyping existing conditions, that the Muslim minority will be encouraged to settle down in feelings of satisfied security and the stronger Hindu majority will be reckless in the use of power,” A      minority is always a ware that it is at a disadvantage, and is always      anxious to improve its position; a majority is always conscious that it is at an advantage, and will always be tempted to use its power oppressively unless effectually restrained. The only restraint that can be devised is to give the minority adequate representation in the councils and local bodies by communal electorates, to prevent it being entirely swamped, and also to provide, that no bill or resolution affecting the special interests of any minority shall be proceeded with unless no less than 3-4 the of that minority are in favour of the bill or resolution. The authors of the Reform scheme express themselves against such a clause and regard the Governor-General’s veto under section 79 of the Government of India Act of 1915 as an adequate safeguard. My Committee, however, consider the express encashment of such a clause as indispensable in the interest of the Muslim minority. The Governor-General’s power of veto cannot be constantly brought into requisition, and much necessarily be restricted to a few exception cases. My Committee, therefore, most emphatically insist that separate and adequate representation, without any condition or restriction, by means of communal electorate subject to no revision by Parliamentary commissions or otherwise, and irrespective of the consideration that the Muslim electors and in a majority in any Province, should be granted to the Mussalmans.

     Greater Power of Hindu.

21.  The Principle of communal representation has its basis in equity, reason and high policy. It is sanctioned by the highest authority. It is supported by the most solemn pledges on the part of British administrators, and has been endorsed the Hindu nationality itself, which the definitely committed itself to the policy maintaining that principle in any scheme of political reconstruction for India. To subvert a principle of such high credential is neither wise nor politic. It will place heavy premium on the already great strength of the Hindu majority, and a heavy discount o the already great weakness of the Muslim minority. It will violate the solemn pledges that have been given to the Mussalmans as will sap their faith in all such pledges for the future. The political ruin of a great and historic community will be a grave enough consequence of such a course. But the moral ruin of a community that will have ceased to believe in the good faith of its rules will be even worse. My Committee insist upon communal electorates even where Muhammadan electors are in a majority in a province on the ground that such a majority is only an illusory and unreal majority, a hollow simulacrum and not a living fact, such is the case in Sind. In this Province the electoral strength of the Mussalman  community obtains only in theory, and is materially weakened in practice by the operation of several powerful adverse factors, such as the general illiteracy of the Musalman voting population in Sind; the effective sway of the services, which are manned predminently by Hindus, upon that population; the general indebtedness of that population to Hindu; and the controlling influence of the legal profession, which is recruited almost exclusively from the Hindu community, upon their Muhammad clientele. All these circumstances render communal representation necessary for the Mussalmans even in Sind, the apparent strength of whose electoral position is belied by their actual situation. This necessity, in the opinion of my Committee, most certainly exists in the present condition of the Mussalmans in Sind and will only be removed by the slow process of time and the gradual spread of education and general enlightenment.

22. My Committee are decidedly opposed to the proposal to reserve a certain number of seats in a general electoral roll for the representation of the minorities. This arrangement, in their opinion, would not result in the return of true representatives of the minorities, but in the return of such representatives of the minorities as share the opinion of the majority, such representation would be worse than non-representation.

23. The proposal to form standing committees to be associated with the members and Minister appears to be desirable. My committee would only insist that on these standing committees Muhammadan representation should be in proportion to their representation on the Legislative Councils.

24. My Committee insist that on the committees which may be formed for the division of subjects into transferred, and reserved, of the members one should be a Muhammadan. My Committee concur generally in the principles laid down for the division of subjects into transferred and reserved. My Committee however think it necessary to say that the question of primary and secondary education is of vital importance to the Muhammadans in their present transitional condition, and therefore needs, fostering care, and should be treated as a reserved subject at least so far as Sind is concerned. If it is to be treated as a transferred subject, it is absolutely essential that this subject should be in charge of a Mussalman Minister chosen from Sind.

 

     Separation of Sind.

25. The separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency, and its constitution into an autonomous province with a Legislative and Executive Council is absolutely essential, as Sind has suffered considerably by being under the tutelage of Bombay, My Committee is submitting a separate representation on the subject.

26. My Committee agree that the first charge on Provincial Revenues should be the contribution to the Government of India; after that there should not be any priority in the supply for the reserved subjects over the transferred subjects. My Committee consider that the residue after the Government of India’s contribution should be distributed on the basis of allotment of the average of the last 5 years previous to the war, rateably to both reserved and transferred subjects after providing adequately for education. The taxation should be also on the same basis both for reserved and transferred subjects.

     Provincial Upper Houses

27.  My Committee is unable to appreciate the reasons advanced for the rejection of an upper house in the case of the provinces when the device has been found so eminently suitable in the case of the Government of India. The most democratic country in the world, i.e. the United States of America, possesses an upper house or senate; and even in the most democratic components of the British Empire,i.e. Canada and Australia, there are upper houses in the Provincial legislature. If upper chambers exist in these countries where the population is homogeneous, there is all the great necessity for having them in the Indian Provincial legislature where the population is divided into various castes and creeds and possesses conflicting elements.

28. My Committee humbly, but emphatically, object to the important subject of communal representation being subject to reconsideration, revision or modification by the proposed decennial Parliamentary commission.

    Muslim Members and Ministers.

29. My committee support the proposal regarding the expansion of the Legislative council and the raising of its total number to 100 members, of which two thirds would be returned by election and one third by nomination, of which again not less than one minority interests. My Committee insist that our of 100 seats in the Imperial Legislative Council 40 should be allotted to Muhammadans to come in by election and no mination.

30. The election should be made through a separate electorate for Muhammadans My Committee note that as a matter of fact, this proportion approximately represents the present strength of the Members in the Imperial Council.

31. My Committee propose that the representation of each province in the Imperial Council should ordinarily bear some ratio to the numerical strength and political and historical importance of the Muhammadan population in each.

32. In Council of State, at least 10 seats should be allotted to Muhammadans by election and nomination. The number of the State Council should be elected by the Legislative Assembly of India, and also nominated by His Excellency the Viceroy.

33. Standing Committees should be so constituted as to represent the different elements in their due proportion.

34. As regards the suggestions for the constitution and powers of the Secretary of State in Council, my Committee concur, but suggest that of the Indian members in the Indian council half should be Muhammadans and of Indian Secretaries and Under-Secretaries if any appointed, half should be Muhammadans.

     Civil Service Appointment.

35. My Committee consider that in the matter of appointments to the Indian Civil Service, as well other branches of Public Service, the Mussalmans should be represented in proportion to their numbers and importance. The authors of the Scheme seem to contemplate abolition of racial distinction between Indian and Indian, so far as recruitment to the Public Services is concerned, but would confine such racial distinction between the Indian and the British on grounds of political expediency. My Committee are most strongly of opinion that in this respect distinction should be made between Hindus and Muhammadans as the letter have a separate political and historical existence of their own, on grounds of political expediency some what similar to those applied by the Reform authors in the case of Europeans, as the preponderance of Hindus will be fatal to the interests of the administration. They are further of opinion that unless some system of nomination is introduced as regards candidates recruited in India for the services, an excessive proportion of vacancies will be obtained by certain provinces, and Muhammad interests will not be sufficiently safeguarded. My Committee further urges that in throwing open 33 per cent, of the Indian Civil Service appointments to Indians, the claims of the existing members of the Provincial Civil Service should be given due consideration, and would repeat what they urged in their address to the Rt.Honourable the Secretary of State for India in December last;-

                “Your Memorialists welcome first the scheme revealed in the Historic Despatch of lord Hardinge’s Government of August 1911 for the gradual evolution of a federal constitution inside India and again the announcement that it is the desire of our beloved King Emperor to associate the sons of the soil ultimately with the executive Government of this country. Your Memorialists beg to emphasise the necessity of immediate effect being given to the latter policy. Your Memorialists share the conviction that political administrative wisdom can most effectively be spread through the leaven of the practical experience which will be gained by the wider employment of Indians in the higher branches of the public services. Your Memorialists believe that the existing system is wrong which completely shuts out men of ability in the Provincial Services in India from all hope of ever participating in the higher responsibilities of office. In these services are to be found officers of ripe experience and tried judgment who are made to move officially and socially in an atmosphere of inferiority to the freshest imported recruit of the Imperial services. This position is detrimental to Indian prestige and self-respect. Your Memorialists submit that the provincial services contain numbers of able men of various castes and creeds who are the equals of the brightest ornaments of the Imperial services, who a wait the opportunity of proving their ability if they are given the chance, and whose administrative experience and ripe judgment will be available after retirement from office for the political education and advancement of the sons of the soil. Your Memorialists submit that the proper solution of the difficult administrative problems which now confront India, and the alleviation of discontent where it exists, will be found in raising the status, officially and socially, of the higher branches of the provincial services. The existing cleavage extends not only to the Government Departments proper, but is perpetuated in services of the larger Municipalities and the Port Trusts.”

Mentality of the Hindu Mahassbha

 

  At present the Musalman electors are a little immune from their direct attack, be-cause our votes have no substantial use for them, where were, we before separate electorates came in? Hindus in these days advance the argument that separate electorates breed communal tension and should therefore be done away with. That is hardly a correct diagnosis of the present communal trouble through which the country is passing. The present upheaval is due to the uncertainty of the future form of the Indian Swaraj Government; that is the reason why we see so much activity of the Hindu Maha Sabha and the consequent preparation by Musulmans; Separate electorates have not the remotes connection with the communal troubles. We have seen how under the able guidance of the late Deshbandhu C. R. Das our community returned through separate electorates Mussulman Swarajists to the Bengal Legislative Council who stood with Hindu Swarajists in the Council. In those provinces in which the Hindu mentality did not undergo any rapid change and nationalism lingered Jonger, Musulam electorates sent members of strong nationalistic tendencies to the Legislatures in nearly exactly the same proportion as the Hindu did it. When the communal wave had engulfed the country, no Musulman organization even then ran any candidates on a purely “Communal” ticket as the Hindus did, though there was sufficient provocation to imitate them.

 

Candidates with Communal Libels

 

  We have witnessed the sorry spectacie of the Hindu Maha Sabha running its

own candidates on aggressively communal lines. In many cases the Hindu Maha Sabha candidates were adopted as congress candidates or the congress candidates were taken up as Maha Sabha candidates, which was in both the cases the same thing. Acceptance of mixed electorates by Muslims cannot and will not change the Hindu Maha Sabhai mentality will not cure them of their aggression. On the contrary the weakening of the position of Musulmans in mixed electorates will give them greater appetite for worse communalism than the Maha Sabha has yet shown. So far as things at present stand we see communal ists, after singing hymns of hate against Mussulmans all the day long, quietly walk into the Congress or the A.I.C.C.meetings and lecture there the Muslim community on nationalism. The amusing part of it all is that guilty as they are of creating communal strife in the country, they feel no compunction when they try to sit in judgment on others. When so thin is the nationalism of such people what guarantee have we that they.

 

  (The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 31, October, 1918)

 

 

SIND A SEPARATE PROVINCE

Entitled to Special Form of Government,

 

SIND SACRIFICED TO BOMBAY

No Deisre for Amalgamation with the Punjab

 

WEIGHTY ARGUMENTS FOR THE VICEROY

 

Sind Muhammadan Association’s Views.

     

      Following is the full text of a petition sent by the Sind Muhammadan Association to His Excellency the Viceroy;

 

       “The humble Memorial of the Sind Muhammadan Association to His Excellency the Right Hob’ble Lord, Chelmsford, P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., G.M.S.I, G.M.I.E., I.S.O., Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

 

        “That the position of Sind has, since it came under British rule, been a most anomalous one, and is a matter of grave concern to the people of the Province, who view with disquietude its continued inclusion in the Bombay Presidency, and inclusion necessitated situated by special conditions at a time when none of the contiguous areas had come completely under British domination and been formed into provinces, as they now are, Sind is, from every point of view— geographical, ethnological and lingual, distinct from the Presidency proper, and in view of the suggestions made in para, 246 of the Montagu- Chelmsford Reform Report—that whenever redistribution of areas is necessary and can be “effected by a process of consent, and attempt to do so should be made,” Your memorialists, as representatives of Muhammadan interests in the Province, most humbly and respectfully submit to Your Excellency this memorial for a re-adjustment of the system under which the province is governed and administered, your memorialists firmly believing that such re-adjustment would work for greater effeciency in administration and would conduce to the greater welfare of the population. 

 

         2. That the re-adjustment is both necessary and desirable for weighty reasons which may be set forth as follows:-

          (1) Sind does not under the present system obtain a fair share of its revenue for administrative and other expenditure.

          (2)  That the Presidency Proper appropriates a portion of the revenue raised in Sind which is hardly fair or equitable.

           (3)  That the improvement of agricultural conditions has received but little attention and irrigation Schemes so indispensable for the agricultural development of the province, have not been carried out on a scale proportionate to the requirements of the population and of the areas that might be brought under cultivation.

            (4) That the interests of the Province are in all matters subordinated to those of the Presidency, and do not receive the special consideration which its characteristics and physical features demand.

             (5)  That the trade of the Port of Karachi, owing to bombay being given preferential consideration in all matters, has not expanded to the extent which owing to its favourable situation and fine harbour, it might have done.

              (6) That Sind is geographically and ethnologically distinct from the Presidency proper and there is nothing in common between the Province and other parts of the Presidency.

               (7)  That owing to its remoteness from the capital of the Presidency, public opinion in Sind does not and cannot obtain the same ready hearing as other parts of the Presidency, and that thus the requirements of Sind receive little attention. For the same reason Sind does not obtain its proper share of representation in the Bombay Legislative Council, and in the matter of higher appointments, such as High Court Judgeships, membership of the Executive Council, etc. The case of the Province, in existing conditions, is almost hopeless.

               (8) That the singular characteristics of the Province, and the conditions prevailing therein, entitle it to a special form of Government, under which it would be enabled to advance and progress and achieve a position worthy of its importance as a distinct and well defined tract of country, with a people markedly distinct from the inhabitants of the Punjab or of other parts of the Bombay Presidency and yet a component part of the great Indian Empire.

 

         3. That your memorialists beg humbly to indicate three methods which might be suggested as calculated to aid the Province in progressing on its own lines.

            

(1)  A new Province to be formed by the amalgamation of Sind and Baluchistan.

(2)   Amalgamation of the Province with the Punjab,

(3)  To constitute Sind into a separate administration under a Lieutenant Governor or Chief Commissioner with Executive and Legislative Councils.

 

        In having been stated in the Montagu-Chelmsford Reform Report that “for reasons of strategy the two frontier provinces (North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan) must remain entirely in the hands of the Government of India,” the firs suggestion is not feasible.

        

          As regards the second, amalgamation with the Punjab would not be acceptable to an overwhelming majority of the population, whose distinguishing characteristics can only be conserved to their own benefit and that of the Empire by the constitution of a new Local Government.

      

4.    That the revenues of Sind are sufficiently large to meet all expenditure incidental to, and connected with, the administration of a separate Province; while its area population justify its claim to solidification under a form of Government not subordinate to any other Local Government. Your memorialists find that in 1916-17 Assam had a revenue of Rs.1,64,85,294, while that of Sind amounted to Rs.1,65,62,563, a difference of over 1 lakh in favour of Sind, which demonstrates the capacity and inherent right of Sind to be a Province under a Lieutenant-Governor or under a chief Commissioner responsible to the Government of India, direct. Assam for over half a century has been in this position except for the brief period when it was formed into a joint Lieutenant-Governorship with Eastern Bengal; but during the period of that connection Assam in no way suffered in status. On the contrary Shillong may be said to have gained more importance as the summer head-quarters of the Local Government, with far greater powers than those hitherto possessed by the Chief Commissioner. The land revenue of Sind, which is its permanent and principal asset, exceeds that of Assam by about 45 per cent.

           

      Your memorialists, therefore, most humbly, with great assurance submit that the continuance of the connection of Sind with the Bombay Presidency is against all precedent and that its creation into a separate province under a Lieutenant-Governor or Chief Commissioner is eminently desirable and is just due; as no other large self-contained provincial area has at any time been made subordinate to a local Government since the Crown took over the Government of the country from the East India company in 1858.

 

5.    That Sind has been sacrificed to Bombay, and utilization of many of the obvious advantages the province possesses has been denied, such as the refusal to allow Karachi to be the port of call. Though so much nearer to Aden than Bombay, which refusal has been due to the consideration that the prestige and importance of the latter would be seriously prejudiced. For the same reason proposals made by mercantile associations in Karachi for direct railway communication with Bombay and with Delhi, have not received the support from the Government of Bombay which their importance merited. Your memorialistists humbly submit that Your Excellency, on full consideration of the facts, can arrive at no other conclusion than that the port of Karachi and the province of Sind suffer by their interests being sacrificed to the sentiment of up-holding the prestige of Bombay.

 

6.    That the importance of Karachi as a great seaport is in itself a sufficient reason for the establishment of a Local Government, possessing the full powers of such, in close touch with public opinion of the rising city and of the province in preference to connection with a Presidency or province with the seat of Government at a great distance from the borders of the province; and with H.E.the Governor visiting the Province only twice or thrice during the term of his office, for a few days each time only.

 

7.    Your memorialists humbly pray that due weight may be attached to the considerations set forth in this memorial and to the interests of the Mussulmans of Sind, forming four-fifths of the population.

                         For this act of grace your memorialists shall every pray.

     

(Date: 23, January, 1919)

 

AN ADDRESS PRESENTED TO SIR GEORGE AMBROSE LLOYD

GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY

(1919).

 

SIND MUHAMMDAN ASSOCOATION

 

 

                    We the members of the Sind Muhammadan Association, representing about four fifths of the entire population of the province of Sind, respectfully offer your Excellency and lady Lloyd s most hearty welcome to this, the capital of the province and desire humbly to express our feelings of loyalty to His Most Gracious Majesty the Kind Emperor.

                       

                      In making it convenient to visit a distant part of the Presidency like ours, so soon after the assumption of your high office, Your Excellency has, we feel, shown your earnest solicitude for the welfare and advancement of Sind.

                     

                      2. We rejoice the more at Your Excellency’s visit as it follows so soon after the happy end of the devastating world war, which but for the supreme effort made by the whole British Empire, it would not have been possible to win, and we tender our most loyal and hearty congratulations on the victory of right and liberty over might and tyranny, which we beg Your Excellency will be pleased to convey to His Majesty the King Emperor.

                       We rejoice also that throughout the four troublous years of war, the Mussalmans of India have remained steadfastly loyal to the Sovereign, and have been second to no other community in placing their resources at the disposal of the king Emperor, and in giving the flower of their manhood to win the war, and we ferve fly pray to the Almighty that the Peace which is now beng arranged in Paris, may bring prosperity and wealth to the Empire.

                      

                     3.  We feel that we should not be fulfilling our trust as representatives of the Muhammadans of Sind, if we let the opportunity pass of inviting Your Excellency’s attention to some of those important matters which so closely concern the welfare and advancement of our community. Foremost amongst these is the question. As Your Excellency is doubtless aware, the Muhammadans for various reasons have not been able till recently to advance in education to the extent which their Hindu fellow subjects have.

                   It is with feelings of gratification, however, that we would invite Your Excellency’s attention to the progress made by one co-religionists in the present generation. They have striven hard to make up for lost ground and that no insignificant measure of success, has been stained, is largely due to the sympathetic aid rendered by successive Commissioners in Sind and to the generous help of the Government. Very recently the Hon. Mr. H. S. Lawrence, than whom our community has had no better friend, obtained from Government a special grant of a large sum for the advancement of Muhammadan education. Much, however, remains to be done to bring our community, into line with others more advance. We earnestly pray, therefore, that Your Excellency will give to schemes for the advancement of Muhammadan education special and sympathetic consideration, and, so far as lies in your power, will further this purpose by sanctioning the grant of larger funds.

                  

                     4. For the furtherance of Muhammadan education we would respectfully urge that permission be given for the reintroduction of the Muhammadan Education Cess Bill in your Excellency’s Legislative Council and that your powerful support be accorded to the Bill. Many a useful measure does not receive unanimous approval; and our submission in this respect is, that it may be ascertained whether the community generally favour a proposal of self taxation for the special benefit of Muhammadan Education. In our humble opinion our co-religionists have shown that they would welcome a measure of this kind having for its object the provision of greater educational facilities.

                   

                  5. A committee appointed by Your Excellency’s predecessor, to consider the question of Muhammadan Education in the province, submitted specific recommendations, which have been considered by Your Excellency’s Government; but we are given to understand that some of the committee’s recommendations have not been approved of by Government, while others have been referred to the local Arts College for consideration.

 

                  6. We are apprehensive that he governing body of the Arts College may not feel greatly concerned regarding advancement of Muhammad Education. We feel bound, therefore, to express our humble opinion that the time is fast approaching when the Sind Madressah should be raised to the status of an Arts College. To effect this change much larger funds would be required than the institution can at present command; but the difficulty can be surmounted by the passing of the Educational Cess Bill.

 

                  7. We would earnestly invite Your Excellency’s attention to another aspect of the question of Muhammadan Education. It is a matter for regret that a large majority of jagirdars and mindars – the real backbone of the country – have so far remained illiterate, and have consequently been a clog on the wheel or progress. Educational institutions have, hitherto, failed to attract them. With the coming constitutional charges, the education of our community must perforce become a matter of great importance to the State. We would therefore with due submission suggest that Your Excellency be pleased to adopt special measures for the spread of education amongst these classes, which would not only simplify the administration of the Province, but would also remove many evils which have been the subject of complaint or comment.

              

                   8. The separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency is another question of the utmost importance to our community, to which we would invite Your Excellency’s consideration. It is a question which has exercised the minds of all classes of the population for over a generation. In our recent representation to Your Excellency’s Government on the Reform Scheme, we advocated that Sind should be made autonomous with a Lieutenant Governor and Council. We have since also forwarded a memorial on the subject to the Commissioner in Sind, to be submitted to His Excellency the Viceroy, setting forth at length the considerations which render such change in the Government of the province desirable. While the prospect of such a change might not find in your with certain interests in the Presidency proper, there is a decided majority in the Province which is of opinion that the Province would benefit considerably under its own local Government. We therefore earnestly hope that Your Excellency on a dispassionate consideration of the subject will be pleased to support our prayer.

 

                  9. We have learned with gratification recently made a beginning by granting power to District and Taluka boards to elect their presidents. We trust your Excellency will foster the development of the experiment so as to lead to its extension.

                   10.  In regard to Municipal Administration we are grateful to Your Excellency’s Government for restoring the suspended Hyderabad Municipality; but would beg permission to draw Your Excellency’s attention to the inadequacy of the Muhammadan representation. The number of Muhammadan elected members has been fixed at ten out of thirty seats on the basis of population; which is not always the most satisfactory basis of election. In fixing the proportion of elected Hindu and Muhammadan Councilors at Hyderabad, the historic importance of the influence it wielded before the British conquest were points that merited consideration. It may be further urged that a large number of Hindus whose real domicile is in Rajputana, go to swell the Hindu majority. These have settled in Hyderabad to earn their livelihood, such for instance as Sochis, Kalals, Jatias, and the like castes or communities. Some of these being amongst untouchables should not be included among Hindus, with whom they have little in common. Their business dealings, comprising hides, bones, skins and the like, are with Muhammadans. If these were not classified as Hindus, our community would be found to be entitled to a larger share of representation even on the basis of population. We would respectfully pray Your Excellency to review the whole question and grant our community half the total number of elected seats.

                    11. The next question we would submit for Your Excellency’s consideration is that of Land Revenue Settlements. We are grateful to Government for having recently extended the term of settlements in Sind to twenty years; but we beg leave to assure Your Excellency that the zamindar class is not yet satisfied. In the Punjab where irrigation facilities are greater, the currency of settlements is 30 years. There appears to be no reason therefore why it should be less in Sind, where the soil is less productive and irrigation facilities are most inadequately provided. We trust Your Excellency will be pleased to extent the term of settlement in our Province to at least thirty years.

                   

                 12. May we crave Your Excellency‘s indulgence to mention another matter in connection with land revenue settlement. There existed in Sind at one times a separate Survey and Settlement department, with a highly trained staff, which did the original settlements. The place of this department is now filled by the Superintendent of Land Records, who is however not authorized to revise settlement. That important and trying duty is now ordinarily performed by junior civilians having only a few years service, with little or no experience of settlement work. It is not surprising therefore that revisions made by such officers do not command the confidence of the zamindars of parties concerned.

               

                    The Association understands that Mr. Robert Giles when Commissioner in Sind, submitted a full report on the subject, recommending that a civilian of experience standing should be selected and deputed for a number of years as settlement officer. Mr. Giles recommendation was negatived the attention of Government. We beg that Your Excellency may be pleased to make a substantive appointment of a trained officer in order that settlement work so vitally important both to Government and zamindars, may be efficiently performed.

 

                 13. The war being happily ended, we pray that the Sukkur Barrage Scheme, progress of which was o long impeded by the financial stress caused by the war, may receive your Excellency’s early attention. The scheme is in connection with a big project for the construction of two canals one on each side of the barrage. Sanction to the early commencement of these works will be a boon, in as much the prosperity of a large portion of the population depends on the scheme materializing.

                  

                     A number of existing inundation canals all over the province are not what they ought to be, and require remodeling; such as the canals in the Sukkur and Karachi districts, more especially owing to the failure of the last inundation and the rains, We therefore pray that Your Excellency’s Government will be pleased to take into immediate consideration, the question of rendering these canals more useful, and will provide funds for the purpose at no distant date.

 

                 14. We are grateful to the Hon. the Commissioner in Sind, for having taken up the question of Co-operative Credit Societies which had long been held over. The appointment of an Assistant Registrar has already given an impetus to the movement, and a central bank is being organized at Karachi. The Registrar for the Presidency, has also, we understand, begun to pay periodical visits to our province and to give us the benefit of his advice and experience, which will secure further success to these Societies.

         

                   15. We would bring to Your Excellency’s notice the special circulars of the commissioner pertaining to Land Revenue Administration. Some of these, we understand, have lately been revised, while others having become obsolete have been cancelled. The revision has been carried out entirely from an official point of view. We would strongly urge on Your Excellency that from an un official point of view, these circulars need thorough change, and that such revision might well be entrusted to a mixed committee of officials and non officials.

        

                  16. We are extremely thankful to Government and the Hon. Mr. H.S. Lawrence for the recent recognition of the claims of our co-religionists to employment in some Government Departments which had hitherto been close to us. We would however draw Your Excellency’s attention to the fact that several departments are still closed to us, particularly those requiring technical Knowledge, such as Public Works, Forests, Medical Law and Education; and we pray that these may be also opened to us as soon as practicable. We assure Your Excellency that the recent widening of the range of Government scholarships, making them available for professional colleges, is very much appreciated by our community and we may assure Your Excellency, that our Young men will take the fullest advantage of the same.

               

                   17. The dismantling of the line of Railway from Hyderabad to Badin on account of the exigencies of the late war has caused very great loss and inconvenience to the zamindars of the Tando Division. Now that he War is happily over, we pray that Your Excellency will be pleased to take such steps as may be necessary with a view to the restoration of the line at no distant date.

 

                   18. Before concluding, we would humbly beg that Your Excellency will be graciously pleased to convey to His Excellency the Viceroy, the earnest prayer of the Mussalmans of Sind for the release of such of our co-religionists as are under detention under the Defence of India Act or other statutes. Such an act of grace, we respectfully submit, would have most beneficial results, now that the War is over and our Association feels there is hardly any more reason to keep these men is confinement.

             

                      19. The last matter we desire to place before Your Excellency is on closely touching our religious faith. We refer to the future care of the Holy places of Islam. The trend of foreign affairs and forecasts in the Press, of the decisions of the Peace Conference, have caused great anxiety to Muhammadans all over India, as to the future custody and preservation of the Sacred Kaaba and other Places of Muhammadan worship and pilgrimage in Palestine and Mesopotamia, as also for the continuity of the Caliphate. This anxiety in the minds of the followers of Islam might have been alleviated by the appointment of a Muhammadan to the Peace Conference to place the Islamic point of view before the Conference.

 

                  We earnestly pray that Your Excellency may be pleased to use your good offices in this behalf with a view to preserve the integrity of Islam and of the Turkish Empire; and to prevent any interference by non Moslems with the Caliphate and Holy places, for which the loyal and law abiding Muslim population of the Indian Empire will be sincerely grateful.

                           

                       20. In conclusion we desire to thank Your Excellency for the patient hearing accorded us and to assure Your Excellency of our abiding and unflinching loyalty to the person and Throne of His Most Gracious Majesty the King Emperor. We also humbly pray that Your Excellency during the term of your office will pay an annual visit to our province, thus keeping yourself thoroughly acquainted with its requirements and the aspirations of its people.

 

HIS EXCELLENCY’S REPLY.

 

          Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Sind Muhammadan Association. I must first thank you for the hearty welcome you have offered to Lady Lloyd and myself and for your expression of loyalty to His Most Gracious Majesty the King Emperor.

        

        Your Association represents so large a proportion of the population of the population of the Province of Sind that I feel I am addressing a large audience when I congratulate and thank you for your devoted and steadfast behavior throughout the course of the war. The whole Empire recognizes the proud part which the Mussalmans of India have played in the hour of need and the contributions which the zamindars of Sind have made according to their ability to the war loans which have been issued from time to time.

      

           I will now turn to the various questions of interest to your community which you have remarked upon in your address. Of these not the least important is that of education. I am glad to note that your Commissioner, Mr. Lawrence, has recently obtained from Government a special grant of a large sum for the advancement of Muhammadan education and I am sure he will in future give ready consideration to any proposal you may bring before him. You need have no doubts whatever of my sympathy in your desire to raise the standard of Moslem education and indeed your desire has the sanction and authority  of your book in which you are told I think to seek for knowledge and learning even if you have to go to china for it

       

           As regards the Muhammadan Education Cess Bill, I would only say what has been said before namely, that as soon as it is evident to Government that there is a considerable body of public opinion to back this measure my Government will give it most careful consideration. It has I am told been one of the main objects of the Administration for many years to induce the land holding class to sent their children more readily for education to Government schools and I am certain that all possible support will be given to any movement in that direction. But you must realize that any such movement must be spontaneous and not initiated only by Government.

        

           As regards your proposal for the separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency, I have read your memorial to His Excellency the Viceroy which you have recently submitted. I have noted the matter. I am sure; you do not expect me now to give a reasoned opinion on so difficult a subject. I regret that it appears to you that my Government has in the past in any way neglected the important province of Sind and I can only assure you that after this visit of mine to your province I shall take a real interest in all the problems which come up before me for settlement and I will do my best to see that consideration Sind questions is not neglected or delayed.

 

         You have noted with approval of action of my Government in regard to the election of Presidents by District and Taluka Local Boards. I myself am strongly of opinion that any encouragement of local self government or any grant of powers tending to the development of local self government is of the highest importance and I am glad to announce to you now that my Government have decided to allow the District Local Board of Hyderabad to elect its own President. The orders on this point will shortly be issued. At the same time I would take this opportunity of calling to your notice how careful these local bodies must be in using the powers, which are entrusted to them by Government. The recent case of the suspension the Hyderabad Municipality was one of those set-backs, which must, I am afraid, occur in the development of local self-government. I can only express a hope that the reconstituted Municipality will fully realise their, the responsibilities in future and that these two local bodies, the Municipality and the District Local Board, will endeavour to work with an eye to the benefit of those on whose behalf they are appointed.

          

         As regards the representation of the Muhammad community on this Municipality, Government have reserved the nomination of  one third of the municipal councilors and care will to taken in making these nominations to provide for the protection of the depressed classes which you mention in your address.

          

          The question of the term of revenue settlement in Sind is an old one and it has recently been decided after very full discussion that the term of 20 years is best suited to the conditions of your province not only for the protection of Government revenue where large improvements of irrigation are taking place but also for the protection of the interests of those zemindars whose lands are injured by the unfavorable movements of the river.

 

          As regards your request for a senior and experienced Settlement officer, I am informed that Mr. Baker ahs for some time been employed on this work and I am sure with his long experience of Sind he has effected the settlements on the best possible lines.

 

          The Sukkur Barrage Scheme which you have mentioned appears to be one of the most important problems awaiting settlement in the Province of Sind. It has been held up during the war but I trust that there will be not further delay. I propose to see the site in company with your Commissioner in Sind and I will promise you to do my best to push through this very important irrigational project. The value of such irrigational schemes is best appreciated in times of scarcity and I am sure that the immense utility of the assured irrigation which will be afforded by such a scheme must have been impressed upon every body during this year of scarcity.

 

          I am glad to hear that special facilities have been given to your community to secure employment in Government Departments but I would impress upon you that the main responsibility lies upon yourselves to make full use of the extended facilities for Muhammadan education which have recently been afforded you in order to raise the educational level of your community when all these appointments will soon become available to you.

 

           The application of the zemindars of the Tando Division to have railway from Hyderabad to Badin restored has been forwarded to the Railway Board and I have every hope that as soon as railway material is available this useful line will be put in order again.

 

             You have drawn my attention to the anxieties and apprehensions felt by your co-religionists in Sind and else where in regard to the future of the Holy Places of Islam and other kindred questions arising out of the war. I have recently had the honour of seeing His Excellency the Viceroy at Delhi and this at least I can tell you that you may rest fully assured that the Government of India has taken every step possible to secure that the feelings expressed and the point of view held by Indian Moslems on these questions will be placed before the Peace Conference. I am glad to be able further to announce to you that owing to the representations of my Government the Government of India have issued orders for the release of two of the three Muhammadans interned during the war in this province.

 

               Let me thank you once more for the cordial greetings you have offered to me and assure you that I speak sincerely when I say that I am now and have been for many years deeply interested in questions affecting Moslems not only here but in many parts of the world and that so far as I am able I shall devote attention and sympathetic consideration at all times to the welfare of your people and community.

 

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 10, February 1919)

 

 

 

 

 

The Sind Muhammadan Association at Larkana last week passed the following resolutions.

 

1.   On the subject of Dr.Gour’s Civil Marriage Bill it was proposed by Dr. Faikir Ali Mohammed Kadri seconded by Wadero Mian Pir Baksh Kartio, that if that Act III of 187 of 1872 were amended as proposed it would mean an un called for interference in our religion because such as amendment is entirely against our religion.

 

2.   That this Association declares that they have no sympathy with the Non-Co-operation movement started in the county as leading to violence and unrest, and would recommend to the Mohammadans of Sind to Adopt peaceful and constitutional methods for obtaining further political rights and privileges. That while sympathizing with the questions of khilafat and the Custody of the sacred places of Islam the Association condemns some of the methods adopted to gain the revision of the Turkish Peace Treaty. They firmly believe that more peaceful methods without trying to tamper with the allegiance to the crown of the people and troops would sooner accomplish the end in view.

 

3.   Proposed by Mr. Wali Mohammad Hassanally and seconded by Mr. Ali Bakhsh Mohammed Hussain that in as much as according to our religion a strict purdah is necessary for our women, franchise to women should not be granted.

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 29, June, 1921)

           

THE SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION

 

Larkana Resolutions of 2^nd May

 

       A meeting of the Sind Mahomedan Association was held on the 2^nd of May at 5.P.m. in the District Local Board Hall of Larkana.The President, Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto being absent due to illness, Pir Rasul Buksh Shah Sahib presided. The number of those who attended was a large one. Every district of Sind was well represented. Among those present were; Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon M.L.A.; Haji Mir Mahomed Baluch M.L.A.; Haji Mir Mahomed Baluch M.L.C.; Seth Tayebali, S.Haji Abdul Majid, Mr. Abdul-Rehman Bar-ta-law, Khan Bahadur Wali Mahomed Hassanally, Mr.Nur Mahomed M.L.C.; Syed Muhmed Kamil Shah M.L.C.; Syed Ghulam Nabi Shah M.L.C.; K.S.Abdul Hamid Khudadad Khan, Khan Bahadur Pir Buksh C.I.E.; Syed Karam Ali Shah, Mr.Allahbuksh M.L.C.; Mr. Mahomed Panah M.L.A.; Mr. Mahomed Ayub M.L.C.; Khan Sahib Ghulam Mahomed Khan Isran M.L.C.; Khan Bahadur Sirdar Chakar Khan, Khan Bahadur Haji Ameer Ali Lahore Khan Sahib Ali Hasan Hakro, Mr. A.K. Bhutto, Mr.Yar Mahomed, Pleader, Khan Sahib Mahomed Sidik, Wadero Dhani Buksh Khan Thebo, Rais Kadir Buksh Khan Jatoi.

 

The Separation of Sind.

 

            The meeting a great success. The following resolutions were passed:-

 

1.      Where as the union of Sind with Bombay Presidency; after the conquest, was a mere political accident, and historically, politically and geographically there is nothing in common between Sind and the rest of the Presidency;

                        Whereas Sind continues to be governed, as a separate unit of   administration, on behalf of the Governor-in-Council, Bombay by the  Commissioner-in-Sind under the Delegation Act 1868, which is, a negation of the Mountford scheme of reforms.

                        Whereas the union has served to destroy Sind traditions and culture, has left the population in illiteracy and ignorance and has economically ruined the agricultural classes of the province.

                         The Sind Mahomedan Association hereby resolves that every effort be made to secure for, Sind a full autonomous responsible Government, advocated for other provinces and thereby enable the province to develop on its own lines.

 

The Mixed Electorate Problem

2.   Resolved that a Committee consisting of the Mussalman representatives of Sind on the various Legislatures and of Messrs S.Abdul Majid, Khan Bahadur Chaker Khan, Abdul Rehman Barrishter, Khan Sahib Ali Hassan Hakro, Tayabali, Kazi Abdul Rehman, Abdul Hamid, Khan Bahadur Wali Mahomed(Secretary) and Dr. Nur Mahomed be appointed to consider the question of the mixed and separate electorates, in the light of the actual political conditions, prevailing in Sind, the past and present attitude of leaders of the Hindu Maha Sabha and the manifests issued by some of the Mussalman leaders assembled at Delhi in Marach last. The

     Committee should present its report at the next meeting of the       Association

                       

                                 A Political Conference of Moslems

 

3.   It is resolved that a political conference of Mussalmans of Sind be called as early as possible, under the auspices of the Association.

 

4.   Resolved that a general meeting of the Association be summoned for the 5^th of June next, at Hyderabad Sind.

 

5.   Resolved that in the opinion of the Sind Muhammadan Association, the last selection of the candidates for training as Sub-Inspector of Police, at the Police Training School Nasik, is from every point of view highly unsatisfactory, The claims of the population of Sind for proper portion in the service have been ignored, qualified and deserving Mussalman candidates from districts have been kept out, and instead of them such have got selection as will, in all probability feel to pass the Nasik test, which means the contunyues diminution of the number of Mussulman officers in the Police department. The Association views with alarm the policy pursued of late by the Administration in completely ignoring the physical fitness of the candiates recruited for Police service, which will result only in degenerating the Police force in Sind,. The Association is constrained to conclude that the Government policy alone is responsible for the systematic and alarming reduction of the number of Mussulman officers, in the higher ranks of Police Service, which has taken away the power of initiative and direction from Mussalmans in the service. The Association strongly feels that while the capacity of Mussalmans in Sind Police Department is fully recruited and taken advantage of in time of raids, dacoities and lawlessness, it is ignored when promotions to the higher rungs of service come to be made, which cannot but lower the morale of the force as a whole.

 

6.    The Sind Muhammadan Association regrets to find that inspite of the repeated requests of the Mussulaman community to open Anglo-Urdu Classes in the N.J.High School, Karachi, Government have, so far, done nothing in the matter. There being a very large Urdu speaking population in Karachi, it is impossible for Mussalmans to take advantage of the High School until provision is made for the teaching of Urdu language in the lower classes. The Associations Trusts that when Government maintains Gujrati and Marathi classes for the benefit of a small population, mostly foreign and migratory, the claims of Urdu speaking Mussalman population will not remain long ignored.

 

7.   The Association resolves that the number of seats fixed for Mussalmans in the various Government High Schools in Sind is absolutely inadequate to the requirements of Mussalmans in Sind and requests Government to fix the proportion of the admission of Mussalman boys on the basis of population as has been done in the case of Brahmins, non-Brahmins and Mussalmans in the Presidency proper.

 

8.    In view of the great backwardness of the people of Thar and Parkar district in the matter of English education, the Association requests Government to open an additional class of Standard I.in the Mirpur Khas High School.

 

9.   Resolved that the following gentlemen do represent the Association the Sind Madressah Board; — K.B. Wali Muhammed Hassanally, Mr. Nur Muhammed, Pir Rrasul Buksh Shah, Mr. Mahomed Ayub Khuhro; Mr.Haji Abdullah Haroon, Mr. Abdul Rehman, Bar-at-law.

  

 

 

 (The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 17, May, 1927)

 

 

SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION

Khan Bahadur Bhutto’s Speech

SEPARATE ELECTORATES URGED.

Sind Should Stand Alone.

 

THE UNCERTAINTY OF SEARAJ

 

    The following is the next of the speech of Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto, C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C, President of the Sind Mahomedan Association, delivered at Hyderabad on Sunday last at the meeting of the Association. —

      “ I congratulate you very sincerely on the growing interest you are taking in the affairs of the Sind Mahomedan Association, which is the only political and representative body of Mussalmans in Sind. I am sure you realise the delicacy of the various political problems facing the country to day and will agree with me that without an efficient organization we can never make our voice heard on the still more important questions that will shortly be springing up.

 

Suffering Through the Luck now Pact

 

    By this time you must be familiar with the now well-known proposals formulated by some of the Musalman gentlemen assembled at Delhi in March last, and with the views expressed thereon by the Hindu Maha Sabha and the All-India congress committee. As a result of the Luck now Pact, we, Indian Mussalmans, have suffered politically a great deal; and the worst of it is that I do not yet see the least chance of our recovering the lost ground. In our majority provinces our leaders of the Muslim league, without counting the cost, allowed our majority to be reduced to minority, in exchange for a few more seats than what the strict population basis warranted in those provinces where our community was in a minority, e.g. in Bombay. We have now worked the new reforms for a pretty long time to enable us to form our judgment. In what way has our community gained by the few extra seats we have obtained in the Bombay Legislative Council? A minority is always to be a minority, and from my own experience, I can say that the extra seats we have obtained have not brought us any special relief.

             We do not count for much in the Bombay Council, even with the added strength of the extra seats; but we have positively harmed our majority provinces by dragging them down with us. I feel that it was the superior tactics of the leaders of the sister community that carried the day at luck now. The Muslim leaders agreed in haste, only to repent at leisure. I am afraid our friends who assembled at Delhi in March last, formulated their proposals in undue haste without consulting the community and without doing even so much as taking it into confidence. When a protest is raised now from any province against those proposals, I regret to say no attention is paid to it by some of the framers of those proposals. Such an attitude would complicate matters and I venture to hope that the framers of the “Delhi proposals” would respect the expression of views of the Musulmans of different provinces.

    

The Separation of Sind

 

          Sind has all along been trying to run away form Bombay. The union of Sind with Bombay was not of our seeking. Even after the conquest, Sind remained, for a long time, a separate province under a Governor. But for the great controversy between Sir Charles Napier (the Governor) and Major Outram, and the party-spirit it created among the then administrators and the civilians Sind would have continued to remain till to-day a separate province. With the abolition of the governorship Sind was nominally linked with Bombay; but for all practical purposes it was left to be governed as quite a separate unit of administration by the Commissioner-in-Sind under the Delegation Act of 1868, whereby the Commissioner is authorised to exercise the powers of the Governor-in-Council delegated to him; and that is the form of administration we have up till now in Sind. The Hindus, who were the first among us to have political consciousness, were also the first to reaslise the disadvantages and the hardships of One-Man’s autocratic rule.

             There were proposals in the beginning to join hands with the Punjab, with which province we have much in common, At one time such a union was almost a certamty. The scheme however did not materialize and Sind drifted on with Bombay. Later on when the Montague- Chelmsford reforms were on the anvil, be it said to their credit, the Sind Hindus, with one voice, condemned the form of Sind Administration and made a clear demand for the constitution of Sind into a separate province, with separate electorates. Even the leaders of the European community and trade joined in the agitation against our remaining any longer with Bombay. But sufficient public opinion among the Sind Musulmans not having till then matured, the Sind Hindus, left unaided, were not in that strong position so as to be able to push forward the demand to its proper conclusion; and the Hindu agitation for separation could not then bear fruit. The framers of “the Delhi proposals” by asking for the separation of Sind and adopting it as a “Muslim proposal,” clearly lost sight of the fact that the separation of Sind would do incalculable good to the Sind Hindus, who, considering their political, economic and official power in Sind, must remain masters of the situation and that the Sind Hindu was bound to agitate, in his own interests, for the separation.  At present he like his Muslim neighbour is nowhere in the Bombay Presidency. By making it a “Muslim proposal,” the Muslim leaders who assembled at Delhi have merely helped to bring the militant Mahasabhas to the forefront to shed crocodile tears at the great “loss” they are to suffer by the separation of Sind from Bombay.

            

Why Separation is Demanded.

          

          Let me at once say that we ask for the separation of Sind exactly on those grounds on which the Hindus demanded it 10 years ago, namely, that our union with Bombay has crippled our growth; Sind receives (even with the fullest sympathy of His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson, the Governor) no attention wroth the name from the Government of Bombay, with the result that the education of the people of Sind remains neglected; and our agricultural and irrigation problems and difficulties are not understood and remain unsolved. Such a form of administration must necessarily deprive the people of their self-respect and independence and must inevitably set in, among them, the worst of all things, demoralization. Is it, therefore, any wonder if officials in Sind prove too much for the population, particularly when Government sitting so far away from us, must necessarily give the fullest latitude to its subordinates on the spot and must also at the same time keep up their “prestige” which can only be done by endorsing their acts?

            A pillar of militant communalism has cried himself hoarse by proclaiming from every house-top that the Sind Musulman M.L.C.’S in the Bombay Council are more pawns in the hands of the Sind P.W.D. officials, etc. Granting, for argument’s sake, that to be the case, it should put every true Sindhi to shame that there should be such a form of administration in Sind as must deprive even the representatives of the people of their freedom of speech and independence of vote.

A Mere Straggler in the Train.

 

            We need the separation of Sind, not for the benefit of Musulams not even for the benefit of Hindus alone, but for the good of all the Sind his, Hindus, Musalmans, Parsis, Christians and our European Sind his. Though Hindus, compared to Mussalmans, are in a minority in Sind, they are a most powerful minority, completely dominating every walk of life and every sphere of public activity, while the Sind Mussalman is a mere straggler in the train. No, the Sindhi Hindu is not afraid of the Musulman. He cannot be. It is true quite a different thing if some Hindu Communist, blessed with a militant mind, tries to make the docile Sindhi Musalman appear on the Maha Sabha screen as a ferocious animal with whom no human being can pass a single day in peace. That is a line of propaganda thoroughly established to be false; but it has been given impetus because the Musulman leaders assembled at Delhi, in their hurry, this time asked for the separation of Sind, before the Hindus did it.

            I would request my Sindhi Hindus friends to believe me that we, Musulmans of Sind, do not for a moment think that separation from Sind is going to do us more good than it is going to do them. I would also request them to forget that Sindh Hindu representatives on the Bombay Council have done them or our province, as a whole, any special benefit, or any good over and above the heads of their Musulman colleagues. Whenever any resolutions or a motion has been carried in the Bombay Council for the good of Sind, as a whole, it has been done at the instance of the Sind Musulman representatives alone, without the slightest aid from Sind Hindu representatives, some of whem have indeed, on occasions, gone out of their way to see such a motion defeated though it was to be the interest of both Hindus and Musulmans alike.

 

All is Not Gold that Glitters.

 

        All is not gold that glitters; and I would therefore request my Hindu and Musulman countrymen not to take on their face value all the stories set in circulation by interested persons in some of the newspapers, by a process of considerable labour and canvassing to the effect that the Sind Musulman M.L.C.’S are a drag on the Bombay Council. So great is the provincial jealousy that perhaps the day is not distant when Presidency Hindus would say the same about the Sind Hindu M.L.C.’S, if they ventured to dominate.Al-ready the Bombay Council has been relegated as I said in the Council, to the position of merely “an advisory committee,” where motions are moved only to be very hastily withdrawn; and the Nationalists not getting support even from their own party members and associates are naturally in revolt. Unfortunately Sind does not know all the happenings in the Bombay Council all that is under the surface. Let me assure over friend of Sind that Musalmans have co-operated and will co-operate on the Bombay council or any other Council with the nationalist mind; but the Mahasabhai of to-day eager only to organize the Hindu majority against the Musulman minority, does not desire Muslim co-operation, and while he remains and works in that attitude he can only succeed to make himself the laughing stock of friends and foes alike.

        I would therefore urge you gentlemen, to work for the separation of Sind, for it own sake, for the benefit of the province. The position in which we are in Sind is intolerable. There are no reforms for us we have not sufficient voice in Bombay. Ever the Ministers directly responsible to the Legislature do not care for our prayer and protests. We have at present the hollow pleasure of sending a few representatives to the Bombay Council where so constituted are the Council and the Presidency that members from Gujrat, Maharashtr and Karnatak can never even if they want to do understand much less take interest in our Sind problems. Therefore let every Sindhi, who has the good of this province at heart, cry as best as he can against this rule which is really not now so much One Man’s rule as it is practically No Man’s rule.

 

Congress Committee’s Insincerity.

 

          Perhaps, like me you also expected great things from the All-India Congress Committee recently held at Bombay. By so far as I am concerned, I am thoroughly disappointed by their resolution they have made more difficult the than ever the separation of Sind. It is now a recognized principle of the Indian constitution that, in future, provinces should be formed as far as possible on linguistic or racial basis and in reiterating that well-know general principle, the Congress Committee has said nothing very unusual; but by graciously permitting the formation of the two new provinces, Sind and Karnatak, out of the present Bombay Presidency, it has successfully pitched us against the Bombay Government. Even a child knows that the Bombay Government will fight tooth and nail against Sind and Karnatak being taken away from it, as that would have the only effect of reducing its size and importance. Only with a good deal of persuasion will it agreed to being shorn of Sind alone. But when All-India Congress Committee asks for the separation of Karnatak as well from it the Bombay Government well may laugh over the labours of the Committee. In passing that resolution the Congress Committee has made a joke of Sind and has demonstrated to the world that it is not serious in what it says.

            It appears to me that in this fight for the separation of Sind the trained politician and the diplomat will gradually recede to the back ground but not before, they have sufficiently created the Sukkur Barrage and the financial bogey, leaving you and the Government of Bombay in the arena to settle the issue. For that eventuality you must be prepared. Our case is just and we must succeed.

           While at this, I feel I will be failing in my duty if I did not say that the resolution of the A.I.C.C, regarding the reservation of seats in the joint electorates, on the basis of population and of reciprocal treatment for minorities, is not fee from a good deal of complication so far at least as the Punjab is concerned. In fact so much hedged are all the resolutions of the A.I.C.C with restrictions and reservations that I feel that a clear lead to the country has not been given. Behind every resolution passed by the committee the hand of the diplomat is clearly discernable; and the resolution greatly suffer form that great, drawback.

 

The Uneducated Indian Electorate.

 

             We have now a fair experience of the working of the general electorates, mixed electorates with reserved seats as well as of separate electorates, to enable us to form an opinion on them. It cannot be denied that the Indian elector is so uneducated that he cannot for some time, to come form any clear Judgment, regarding the suitability or otherwise of the candidates at the elections; and naturally therefore he is swayed by considerations quite foreign to the merits of the candidates. The wearer alone knows where the shoe pinches; and to fully grasp the dangers and difficulties of mixed electorates with reservation of seats, we must place ourselves in the position of the non-Brahmins, who have reserved seats. I have not yet known any real spokesman of the non-Brahmins, who has at any time, said a satisfactory word in favour of joint electorates. In fact from time to time the non –Brahmins have in our presidency made demands for separate electorates. The non-Brahmins is these days a much maligned man both o the platform to which he has no access and in the press in which he has no voice; but it cannot be denied that he is a sincere worker in the cause of the upliftment of the masses; and while so working, he naturally comes in for criticism at the hands of the vested interests who run him down as the enemy of Indian progress.

 

The Position of the Sind Hindus.

 

         In the Bombay Council at the present moment most of the “advanced Hindus” are doing exactly the same thing in supporting Government of which the non-Brahamins were so much accused. The non-Brahamin cannot therefore justly be termed as an enemy of progress and nationalism; His is merely a protest against monopolized corporations. In the general constitutencies you have seen how difficult it is for even a man like Mr. Joseph Baptista to get elected from so intelligent and enlightened a constituency as that of the Bombay University.

          Coming nearer home you know very well that in the election of the Sind landholder’s seat, voting was absolutely on communal lines. What has happened in the elections of the constituencies of the Sind non Mahomedans themselves is so fresh that I need not wait to discuss it. On what lines the Sind Hindus and the powerful sub-communities among them worked and got votes for their own candidates in is so recent a history that I need not go into details. Strongly entrenched in the political and economic power as the Sind Hindus (or the leading sub-communities of them) are both in our villages and in our towns they can, in mixed electorates, most easily spin Mussulaman voters to their desire. After all our artisan classes in the municipal areas and land holders paying Rs.32 land assessment are and will continue to be under the political and economic grip of our politically advanced Hindus and the capitalists.

 

SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION

 

(Continued from page5)

 

           Will remain true nationalists and patriots, what assurances have we that the Hindu Maha Sabhais will not relapse into communalism that we see now, if we agree to give up the separate electorates? We do not want any “concession” nor any “price” for becoming “Nationalists.” as some of the Hindu politicians would wish the world to believe. All the concession, all the price we do demand of them for throwing ourselves completely on their protection, as they want us to do, is a satisfactory guarantee that they will behave to us as good neighbours, as trusted friends and comrades and above all, as nationalists and will not in future re-introduce their bigotry and communalism, and such guarantees are not concessions.

 

Live and let Live.

 

                Not long ago the Hindu cry was to let alone Mussalmans and to win Swaraj unaided. How much bitterness was introduced in propagating that doctrine with all its, implications, among the masses is a matter of common knowledge. Perhaps it was all due, as is coming out now, to the sympathetic guestures of some of the Labour leaders in England. We will always be happy to see the Hindu labours bear fruit; and if any time Hindu leaders would seriously ask us to put our shoulders to the wheel, they will not be disappointed. But we will not agree to be stampeded into abject submission to even their unreasonableness as some of the aggressive Hindu politicians would wish, simply because they have the direct or indirect support of any party or a politician or a group of politicians in England. All that we ask of the Hindu is to learn to live and let live. Until that change of mentality comes over them, I am afraid we cannot but stick to the separate electorates—the only guarantee of self-preservation we have at present in a country so divided and sub-divided as ours is. To me the separate electorates appear to be the only best form of the exercise of franchise so far invented, for a population living under most peculiar circumstances, unknown in other parts of the world. Strongly and sincerely as I hold these views, I am always open to conviction and I would suggest to you to keep your minds always open, on this as on the other questions. I would therefore urge that we should appoint a small committee from amongst us to be available to discuss these questions affecting the welfare of the province, with the representatives of other communities and other public bodies.

 

Thanks to Jamshed and Swami.

 

       Before I sit down, I would tender our thanks to Mr.Jamshed Mehta, Swami Govindanand, Messrs, Jethmal Paarsram, Sidhva, Jeswani, the sincere disciple of Sadhu Vaswani and to others who stand to-day for the separation of Sind just as they stood before the Montford reforms, came in before the present atmosphere of distrust suspicion and of agrgrssion invaded our public life. We are all very grateful to Professor Bhathija also for the splendid lead he has given to our rising generation at shikarpur. Men like him are the hope of Sind and India; and to us it will always be a pleasure to co-operate with them, for the good of this our great land, whose history and culture, whose very soil are a permanent protest against its remaining tacked to the distant tail of the Bombay Presidency.

 

(The Daily Gazette Karachi Date: 10, June, 1927)

 

 

 

SIND MOHAMMADAN ASSOCIATION

Many Matters Discussed.

 

            A meeting of the “Sind Mohammadan Association” was held on the 12^th December, 1927 at 10.00 a.m. at the Bunglow of K.B. Wali Md. Hassanlly at Karachi. Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C. presided. Prominent among those present were; K.B.Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto, K.B. wali Md. Hassanally, Hon’ble Mr. Ali Bux, Syed Ghulam Murtaza Shah, Wadero Allah Bux Khan M.L.C., Mr. Mohammed Ayoob Khohro, M.L.C., Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon M.L.A., Syed Ali Asgher Shah Zaminder of Titkhar, Seth Khudadad of Larkana, Seth Ahmeddin of Larkana, Seth Haji Abdul Shakoor Sahib of Karachi, Syed Shah Nawaz Shah of Thatta, Seth Mohd. Jaffer Khuwaja, K.S.Ali Hassan khan Hakro, Mr. Abdul Majid Hassanally Bar-at-Law, K.S. Shaikh  Kaim Khan of Kamber, Mr.Ghulam Hyder of Karachi, Shaikh Haji Abdul Majid Sahib, Molvi Din Mohd. Vafai, Mr. Din Mohammed Alig, Mir Allah Bux Khan Talpur and Kazi Abdul Rahman Sahib.

               

           The President first explained how it was necessary to have convened, without much previous notice, an emergent meeting of the Sind Mohammedan Association on Saturday 12^th November, 1927 at which a resolution praying for the extension of the term of His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson, Governor of Bombay was passed. The meeting approved of that and the resolution passed at the meeting was confirmed.

         

          As there was no full quorum of 30, only 26 members being present, the opinion of the meeting was that the rule regarding it will have to be amended for the future so as to decrease the quorum required; and in the meantime proceedings were begun with the hope that they will be further approved and confirmed by a larger number of members later on. In the meantime 6 more members having arrived, the following business was transacted:-     

           

I.  The letter received by the President, from His Excellency the Governor of Bombay regarding the Muslim College, Scheme was Considered and it was resolved that the following members do constitute a sub-committee to consider over the whole question of Muslim Higher Education and draft a suitable reply to be sent to His Excellency the Governor of Bombay:-

1.   K.B.Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto C.I.E., O.B., M.L.C.

2.   K.B.Wali Mohammed Hassanally.

3.   Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon, M.L.A.

4.   Kazi Abdul Rahman, B.A.

5.   Mr. Abdul Rahman, Bar-at-Law

6.   Mr.Noor Mohammed M.L.C

7.   Mr. Mohd.Ayoob Khuhro, M.L.C.

8.   Mr.Shaikh Haji Abdul Majid Sahib

 

Proposed Division of Karachi District.

II. It was unanimously resolved that “This meeting is of opinion that the  separation of the mofussil area of the Karachi town for the purposes of judicial administration and bringing it under the Judicial Jurisdiction of the Hyderabad District and sessions Court, will besides depriving the Karachi district mofussil people of the right of trial by jury be most harmful to the economic and judicial interests of the rural population who will have to undergo great inconvenience and incur heavy costs by going to Hyderabad courts. Therefore the Bombay Government be requested not to introduce the contemplated charges in that connection.”

 

III. It was unanimously resolved that “The Karachi Municiple Corporation and the Government be requested to so arrange that for the burial of each indignant Muslim dying in Karachi at least a sum of Rs.15 should be paid instead of the present small amount which is altogether insufficient for the most necessary expenses.”

 

IV. It was unanimously resolved that “This meeting reaffirms the resolution passed at the meeting of 5^th June,1927 for the separation of Sind from Bombay Presidency and its being constituted as a separate province with full provincial autonomy.”

 

V. Shaikh Haji Abdul Majid, seconded by Mr. Allah Bux Khan Talpur, moved a series of resolutions in connection with the sufferings of Larkana Muslim and as there was some difference of opinion as regards the wording of the resolution and as all were unanimous in the matter of expressing sympathy with the Larkana Muslim suffers and give expression to their feelings and sentiments in the matter it was decided that in order to achieve unanimity in passing these resolution, they should be referred to a sub-committee consisting of Bahadur Wali Mohammed Hassanally, Mr.Abdul Rahman who were requested to confer and meet immediately and submit their report with all necessary changes in the draft resolutions.

 

                           The meeting adjourned at 1.00 p.m.

        The proceedings were resumed again at 4.00 p.m., when the draft resolution as suggested by the sub-committee (the meeting of which was held at 1.p.m. three of the four members, being present and Mr. Abdul Rahman Bar-at-Law, being absent) were considered clause by clause and with further modifications were passed in the following form unanimously:-

 

1. This meeting of the Sind Mohammadan Association expresses its heart felt sympathy with Abdullah Khokhar and Dilawar khan of Larkana on their children having been forcibly converted and concealed by Hindus, and with profound regret protests against the undue indifference and carelessness of the Sind Government which, not with standing the search warrants issued by the District Court of Lankana, has not uptillnow made any great effort to trace out the suffering children of these poor grieved persons and urges upon the Government to take legal action against those Hindus in whose houses the children against their wishes, were sent by the order of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and find out the children and restore them to their parents.

 

2.  Having fully considered over the committal order passed by the special Magistrate regarding the case tried by him in connection with supposed Larkana riot, the Sind Mohammadan Association resolves as follows:-

  

         (a)  This Association expresses its regret at the attitude of the District Magistrate of Lankana for having refused to grant the request of a reasonable Muslim deputation of Larkana which request they made to him in the form of petition praying that the Larkana riot case should be with drawn for doing which there sufficient ground even in the committal order passed by the lower court; and further the Association requests the Bombay Government to order the withdrawal of the said case.

 

          (b) This Association expresses its regret on and condemnation of the   attitude of the Civil Surgeon of Larkana, who, in spite of the opinion of the competent and qualified medical practitioners of Larkana that Shaikh Abdul Razak was suffering from heart disease and was unfit to be confined in jail, did not certify him to be unfit for being detained in jail, the result of which was that Shaikh Abdul Razak, a prominent Muslim leader and Municipal Councilor, was ultimately sent to his house in a dying condition where he expired with in ten minutes. The Association draws the attention of the Surgeon General to the Government of Bombay and local authorities to such treatment of the Civil Surgeon and request that he should be given exemplary punishment for the same.

   

          (c)  The attitude of the sessions Judge also in connection with late Shaikh Abdul Razak Sahib is objectionable because when the case was pending in the lower court, he had released Shaikh Abdul Razak on bail on medical grounds but after committal to the sessions Court, in spite or the same strong reasons he rejected his bail and put him in jail, which resulted in his death.

 

          (d) It is apparent from the committal order that the Resident

Majistrate, Mr.Rupchand had most tyrannically and mercilessly arrested and put in jail innocent Musssulmans and his irregularities, tyranny and falsehood are proved from the committal order. Therefore the Government is requested to take necessary action against him.

       

           (e) It is apparent from the said committal order that the Public

Prosecutor, Mr. Parmanand, himself also took part in the criminal act of getting innocent Mussulmans arrested and this Association regrets to note that the same man was put incharge of conducting the case as Government Prosecutor. Further the fact that Shaikh Abdul Razak was released on bail on medical grounds by the same sessions Judge when the case was pending in the lower court, was not revealed by Mr.Permanand when he got his bail rejected and got him put in jail which also clearly proves that Mr. Parmanand has not faith fully discharged his duty as public prosecutor. Therefore this Association urges upon the action against him.

               

                     (f) This Association expresses its heartfelt Mussulmans who died when under –trial in jail an urges upon the Government the necessity of taking legal action against those who were responsible for having arrested them and giving adequate compensation to the families of the deceased.

 

                      (g) It is show in the committal order that among the accused Mussalmans, eleven Muslims are those against whom there is not a particle of evidence produced and even no one comes forward to say who attested them, and yet pending the trial for months they have been made to suffer the rigorous of jail life. The Association condemns such a tyranny and strongly demands from the Government that those guilty of having arrested these innocent Mussulmans must be traced and found and proceedings taken against them and there victims of tyranny should be adequately compensated for the damage done to their honour and means of livelihood.

                      

                      (h)  Legal action should be taken against those people who arrested and gave evidence against thoe other Mussulmans who according to the Judgment of the Special Majistrate were proved not guilty and released and all those innocent Mussalmans who have undergone the hardships of jail and suffered financially should be adequately compensated for the damage done to their honour and means of livelihood.

                    

                      (i) This Association regrets to find that from among the accused Mussalmans who were proved not guilty in the lower court and released, five have been proceeded against again; and got committed to the Sessions Courts, and efforts are being made to have still more of them committed to the Sessions court. This Association impresses upon the Government that such excesses are harmful to the fair name of British justice; therefore they should be checked.

               

                         (j) The arrests of innocent Mussulmans the cloak of the larkana riots, keeping them in jail, trying to have more arrested and put in jail, all this, this, in the opinion of this Association is done by the Local Government having been prejudiced by artificial agitation, which this Association views with great regret.

                           (K) Copies of the resolutions to be sent by the President to the Commissioner-in-Sind, His Excellency the Governor-in-Council and the Press.

 

An Emphatic Protest.

 

                          (l) This Association draws the attention of all the Musclemen representatives of Sind in the Council of State the Indian Legislative Assembly and the Bombay Legislative Council to the necessity of their resigning their memberships of those councils as a protest against the Government policy, if within three months the Government does not withdraw the case against the Mussalmans committal to the Sessions Court and if justice is not done to Mussalmans as show in the above resolutions.

                                  

                            (m) This Association requests all Muslim Anjumans, Societies and committees to hold public meetings in every town and village, and also in meetings of their respective Bodies to pass the above resolutions and continue to pass these resolutions in every mosque after every Friday prayer as long as justice is not done to Mussalmans in the above matters connected with Larkana cases.

          

                             (n)  This Association fixes Friday, the 13^th day of January 1928 A.D. i.e., 19^th Rajjab 1346 A.H. as the Day of Prayer and Mourning for passing the above resolutions, every where and offering prayers for peace to the souls of the deceased victims of Larkana tyranny and appeals to all the Mussalmas of Sind to observe that day as “Larkana Day” every where, and in every village and town a committee of at least three Mussalmans should be appointed which should begin from that day to collect donations from people for the purpose of giving relief to the families of the deceased and help the released Mussalmans to restart  their avocations and to meet the expenses connected with the cases. All amounts thus collected should be sent to Wadero Mian Mahamed Ayoob Khuhro M.L.C. Secretary and Treasurer of the Anjuman Tanzemul Musalmeen, Larkana.

            

The Statutory Commission

 

                        (3) Unanimously resolved:-

               (a)          That an amount of Rs.500 is sanctioned to be spent for getting the Larkana Special Magistrate’s Committal order printed in book form in English and Sindhi for circulation among official and non-official members of the Bombay Legislative Council and other members of the public, and also for publication of the above resolutions for the information of Sind Muslims.

                         

               (b)          In this connection thanks of the Association should be communicated to Wadero Mohammad Hussain Sahib Memon of khahi Rahu Taluka Naushero Feroze for his generous offer made through Kazi Abdul Rahman of a donation of Rs.100 for the expenses and it is hoped other Mussalmans will follow his example and assist the Association financially as liberally as possible.

  

           VI- Unanimously resolved that the Sind Mohammadan Association regrets to note that the Royal Statutary Commission has been compared of purely British element to the entire exclusion of the Indian element, which is a matter of deep humiliation but having regard to the present condition of the country, boycott of the Simon Commission would be in effective impolitic and detrimental to the best interests of the country in general and the Mussalmans in particular. Therefore the Association appoints the following sub-committee to prepare a Memorial of demands to be presented to the Simon Commission and given evidence before the commission when it arrives in India for the purpose.

 

                                  Sub-Committee:- k.B.Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto, M.L.C.  , K.B.Wali Mohammad Hassanally, Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon M.L.A. , Mr. Mohammed Ayoob Khuhro, M.L.C., Mr. Noor Mohammed M.L.C., Mr.Kazi Abdul Rahman, B.A. ., Mr. Allah Baksh, M.L.C., Mr.Syed Shah Nawaz  Shah, Tatta, Hon’ble  Mr. Ali Bakhsh, Mohammad Hussain, Sirdar Wahid Bakhsh Khan Bhutto, M.L.A.

 

        VII. Unanimously resolved that:-

(a)      This Association sympathises with the Zamindars and all  agriculturists of the Hyderabad and Thar and and Parkar District in their terrible losses caused by the heavy rains and floods and earnestly begs of the Government to give relief and takavi on a mere generous scale than hither to.

(b)       This Association also sympathises with the Zamindars of the Karachi District on the serious damages caused to their  crops this year and views with regret the un sympathetic attitude of the collector of Karachi, who, not with standing the resolutions and requests of the Tatta Division Zamindars Association and other Zamindars Association and other Zamindars has not applied the rules of general remissions, as is usual in such circumstances, and requests the Commissioner, in Sind to order the land revenue assessment of 8 annas per acre of Rabbi Crop and grant of takavi loans on a convenient and generous scale.

 

Karachi District Zamindars.

 

VIII.-Unanimously resolved that this Association strongly protests against the reception arrangement made at the Karachi cantonment station for receiving His Majesty the King of Afghanistan, inasmuch as the members of the Bombay Legislative Council including the President of this Association were not given the honour to be invited to be present at the station at the time.

 

IX. – Unanimously resolved that this Association deplores the attitude of late adopted by the Government of Bombay in going back upon its promises for going adequate share of posts in public Services to the Muslim Community, inasmuch as the post of the Judge of small causes Court was Confirred on a Hindu gentlemen, ignoring al together the rights of deserving Mussalmans

already in the service. The Association, however, hopes the Government will hereafter do full justice to the Muslim claims by giving the post of additional small cause Court Judge, the two vacant posts of sub-Judges, to be soon filled to deserving Muslim candidates; and also by appointing a Mussalman as city Majistrate of Karachi when that post falls vacant.

 

      X. – Unanimously resolved that each member of the Association should consider it is duty to enroll, within two months of this date, atleast 10 more members of the Association, preferably Life-Members on payment of Rs.20.

 

    XI. – Unanimously resolved that the Annual Meeting of the Association for the purpose of electing office-bearer and members of the Managing Committee of the Association, under the new constitution, and transacting any other business, should be convened on some convenient date in January 1928 at Larkana.

                         With a vote of thanks to the chair, the meeting terminated.

 

(The Daily Gazette, Date: 10 January 1928)

 

 

 

 

SIND MOHAMMEDAN ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

IMPORTANT RESOLUTIONS PASSED

NEW OFFICE MEMBERS ELECTED

 

             The annual General Meeting of the Sind Mohammaden Association was held on 27 January, at 4 P.M. in the Shah Nawaz Bhutto Hall at Larkana under the President ship of Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C. It was very largely attended. The attendence exceeded 200 members from different corners of Sind, most prominent of whom being;

              

               Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C. President; Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon, M.L.A.; Mr. Muhammad Parmah Drakhan  M.L.A.; Khan Sahib Ghulam Muhammed khan Isran M.L.C.; Khan Bahadur Haji Ameer  Ali Khan Lahore; Mr. Mohammad Ayoob khan Khuhro M.L.C.; Mr.Allah Bux M.L.C; Syed Ali Muhammed Hamid Shah Rashdi, Mr.Ahmed khan Bhutto, Mian Fiaz Mohammad Thalne, Mr.Kazi Ali Reza B.A.; Kazi Ali Muhammaed of Rohri, Mr. Abdul Hamid khan Bahadur Khudadad Khan of Sukkur, Haji Imam Bux Kalhore, Wadero Khair Mohammed Pohal, Mr. Muhammad Aslam Dentist, Haji Rasool Bux Ghanghro, Wadero Sahib khan Junejo, Wadero Dost Md. Khuhro, Wadero Md. Nawaz Khan khuhro, Mian Ali Bux of Mahota, Wadero Imam Bux Khan Mahote Pir Amir Assadullah Shah Rashdi, Wadero Gul Md.Khan Phul, Wadero Wahid Bux Khuhro, Wadero Pir Mohammed Khuhro, Wadero Yar Muhammed Khuhro, Molvi Abdul Hakim Sahib, Sayed Jamaluddin Bujhari of Karachi, Sayed Shah Nawaz Shah of Thatta, Shaikh Abdul Majid Sahib, Moulvi Mohammed Sulleman, Syed Mian Jeewan Shah of Dadu, Mohammed Chhutal Soomro of Larkana, Haji Allah Bux Hakro, Master Mohammed Parial, Hakim Moulvi Mohammed Alam, Pir osman Shah Rashdi, Dr.Foujdar Khan Durani, Dr. Gul Md. Wadero Ghulam Farid Khemtio of khairpur state, and Wadero Sardar Allah Bux Jalbani.

 

        Sir Leslie Wilson.

 

         The resolution which already appeared in the English and Sindhi press approved by the 26 members present in the Karachi Meeting held on 12^th December,1927 in Khan Bahadur Hassanally’s Bungalow came up for discussion as the quorum under the Bye-laws of the Association fixed at 30 was not obtained throughout in that meeting. The Quorum to commence with was short of four and similarly there was no quorum towards the end. It was therefore decided in that meeting that either the consent of the required number of members be obtained by circulation of the resolution should be confirmed in the next meeting that was to be held at Larkana, as decided there. The President consequently placed all these resolutions before the meeting for final approval. The meeting unanimously and in some cases by majority decided the resolutions to be considered as finally approved and passed in the following amended and original form:-

        

               1. Resolution praying for the extention of the term of His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson Governor of Bombay was passed in the following form:-

            “The Sindh Mohammedan Association unanimously resolves that in view of the fact that His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson during his period of regime as Governor of Bombay has proved himself the most Excellent Administrator and sincere well wisher of the people of this presidency having best interests of the Muslim Community at heart, His Excellency the Viceroy is requested to forward the earnest desire of this Association that the term of the office of His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson as Governor of Bombay be extended by a few more years. This will afford greatest pleasure to the musalmas of Sind the members of this Association.”

Moslem Higher Education Sind.

 

           2. Sub-Committee of the following Members be appointed to consider over the question of the Muslim Higher Education in Sind in view of the letter of His Excellency the Governor of Bombay and to draft a suitable reply, was unanimously approved.

          Members of the Sub-Committee:- Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C; Khan Bahadur Wali Mohammed Hassanally B.A., L.L.B.; Mr. Mohammad Ayoob Khuhro M.L.C.; Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon, M.L.A; Mr. Abdul Rahman Bar-at-Law; Mr. Nur Mohammed B.A., LL.B., M.L.C.; Mr. Kazi Abdul Rahman, B.A.; Mr. Shaikh Abdul Majid.

           

           3. It was unanimously resolved that this meeting re-affirms the resolution passed at the meeting of 5^th June,1927, for the separation of Sind from Bombay Presidency and its being constituted as a separate province with full provincial autonomy.

           

            4. It was unanimously resolved that this the Sind Mohammaden Association regrets to note that the Royal Statutary Commission  has been composed of purely British element to the entire exclusion of the Indian element which is a matter of deep humiliation, but having regard to the present condition of the country, boycott of the Simon Commission would be ineffective, impolitic,

and detrimental to the best interests of the country in general  and the mussalmans in particular. Therefore the Association appoints the following Sub-Committee to prepare a memorial of demands to be presented to the Simon and give evidence before the Commission, when it arrives in India for the purpose:-

 Sub-Committee:-

Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto, C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C; Khan Bahadur Wali Mohammed Hassanally; Mr. Mohammad Ayoob Khuhro M.L.C.; Mr. Noor Mohammed M.L.C.; Mr. Kazi Abdul Rahman, B.A.; Mr. Allah Bux  M.L.C Mr. Abdul Rahman Bar-at-Law; Mr. Muhammad Pannah Khan Drakhan  M.L.A.; Hon’able Mr.Ali Baksh Mohammed Hussain; Wadero Wahid Bukhsh Buthho, M.L.A.

           5. It was unanimously resolved that this Association strongly protests against the reception arrangements made at the Karachi Cantonment Station for receiving His Majesty the king of Afghanistan inasmuch as the members of the Bombay Legislative Council including the President of this Association who was the Chairman of the Reception Committee as well were not given the honour to be invited to be present at the station at the time.

                                                   

Attempts to Convert Moslem Children.

         

           6. In place of resolution No.1 which was already published the following resolution was passed by the majority only 7 members dissenting who also agreed to the resolution with the exception of the words expressing sense of gratitude to Government and the Sind C.I.D. for securing the woman and children of Abdullah khokhar and Dailawar Macchi. The resolution passed by the vast majority is the following:

              (a) This Association while thanking the Government and the Sind C.I.D for their successful efforts in securing the children and the woman of Abdullah khokhar and Dilawar Macchi unanimously resolved that the Government of Bombay and the Commissioner-in-Sind should be approached to direct proper authorities file criminal prosecutions against all those persons who had a hand in wrong fully, confining, kidnapping and forcibly converting these Mussalman children and woman.

             (b) This Association congratulates and thanks Dr.Gul Md.Durani who put forth all his efforts in such a meritorious cause and rendered most useful and much needed support in securing children and the woman.

              (c) This Association therefore decided to get a Golden Medal prepared from the Association funds and to present it to Dr.Gul Mohammed Durani in recognition of his meritorious work and at the same time thanks Seth Tayeb Ali for his donation of Rs.25 towards the cost of this Medal.

              In connection with the Larkana riot case the following resolutions were passed:-

             (a)  This Association expresses its regret for the District Majistrate Larkana having refused the request of a responsible Muslim deputation of Larkana with request they made in the form of a petition praying that the Larkana Riot case should be withdrawn for doing which there were sufficient grounds even in the committal order passed by the lower Court and further the Association requests the Bombay Government to order the withdrawal of the said case. Opposed by K.B.Ameer Ali, M.S. Khuhro, Seth Khudadad, Mr.Nazar Ali, Seth Ahmeddin and 46 others members and supported by 58.Remaining members not voting. The resolution was accordingly confirmed.

                (b) This Association expresses its regret on and condemns the attitude of the Civil Surgeon of Larkana who inspite of the opinion of complete and qualified Medical Practitioners of Larkana that Shaikh Abdul Razak was suffering from heart disease and was unfit to be confined in Jail did not certify him to be unfit for being detained in Jail, the result of which was that Shaikh Abdur-Razak a prominent Muslim leader was altimately sent to his house in a dying condition where he expired within ten minutes. This Association draws the attention of the Surgeon General with the Government of Bombay and the local Authorities to such treatment of the Civil Surgeon, and requests that he should be given exemplary punishment for the same.

                 (c) It is apparent from the Committal order that the Resident Majistrate Mr. Rupchand had most tyrannically and mercilessly arrested and put in Jail innocent Mussalmans and his irregularities tyranny and false hood are proved from the committal order. Therefore the Government is requested to take necessary action against him.

                  (d) It is apparent from the said committal order that the public Prosecutor Mr. Permanand Himself also took part in the criminal Act of getting innocent Mussalmans arrested and this Association regrets to note that the same man was put in charge of conducting the case as Government Prosecutor.

                     

                    Further the fact that Shaikh Abdul Razak was released on bail on medical grounds by the same Sessions Judge when the case was pending in the lower court, was not revealed by Mr.Parmanand when he got his bail rejected and got him up in Jail which also clearly proves that Mr.Parmanand has not faithfully discharge his duties as Public Prosecutor. Therefore this Association urges upon the Government the necessity of taking necessary action against him.

                   (e) This Association expresses its heartfelt sympathy with the families of these innocent Mussalmans who died when under trial in Jail and urges upon Government the necessity of taking legal action against those who were responsible for having arrested then and giving adequate compensation to the families of the deceased.

                     (f) It is shown in the committal order that among the accuseds Mussalmans, 11 Mussalmans are those against whom there is not a particle of evidence produced and even no one come forward to say who arrested them and yet pending the trial for months they have been made to suffer the vigorous of Jail life.

               This Association condemns such a tyranny and strongly demands from Government that those guilty of having arrested these innocent Mussalmans must be traced and found and proceedings taken against them and these victims of tyranny should be adequately compensated for the damage done to their honour and means of livelihood.

                     (g) Legal action should be taken against those people who arrested and gave evidence against those other Mussalmans who according to the Judgment of a Special Majistrate were proved not guilty and released and all these innocent Mussalmans who have undergone the hardships of Jail and suffered financially should be adequately compensated for the damage done to their honour and means of livelihood.

                     (h) The arrests of these innocent Mussalmans proved by the lor court and keeping them in Jail for all these months and ceaseless efforts to have more arrested and put in jail all this in the opinion of this association is the result of the artificial agitation of  Hindus of Larkana which has ever continued in this direction. This Association views it with great regret.

                     (i) Copies of the resolution to be sent by the president to His Excellency the Governor in Council the commissioner-in-Sind, the press and all concerned.

                     (j) This Association requests’ all Muslims Anjumans, Societies and committees to hold Public meetings in every town and village also in meetings of their respective bodies to pass the above resolutions and continue to pass these resolutions in the amended form approved by this meeting in every mosque after every Friday prayer as long as justice is done to the Mussalmans in the above matters connected with Larkana cases.

                      (k) This Association fixed Friday, the 13^th day of January, 1928 A.D. (that is 19^th Rajib, 1346 A.H.) as the day of prayer and mourning for passing the above resolutions every where and offering prayers for peace to the souls of the deceased victims of Lankana tyranny and appeals to all the Mussalmans of Sind to observe that day as Larkana day every where and in every village and town a committee of at least 3 Musssalmans should be appointed which should begin from that day to collect donations from people for the purposes of giving relief to the families of the deceased to help the released Mussalmans to restart their arocations and to meet the expenses connected with the cases. All amounts thus collected should be sent to Wadero Mian Mohammed Ayoob Khan Khuhro, M.L.C., Secretary and Treasurer of the Anjuman Tanzimul Musalmin Larkana.

 

Various Muslim Matters.

 

                  8. (a) It was unanimously resolved that an amount of Rs.500 is sanctioned to be spent for getting the Lankana Special Majistrates committal order printed in book form in English and Sindhi for circulation among official and non-official members of the Bombay Legislative Council and other members of the Public and also for publication of the above resolutions for the information of Sind Mussalmans.

                          (b) In this connection thanks of the Association should be communicated to Wadero Muhammad Hussain Sahib Memon of khahi Rahu Tal: Naushahro Feroz for his generous offer made through Kazi Abdur Rehman of an donation of Rs.100 for these expenses and it is hoped other Mussalmans will follow his example and assist the Association financially as liberally as possible.

 

                  9. It was unanimously resolved that this meeting is of opinion that the separation of the mofussil area of the Karachi town for the purposes of Judicial Administration and bringing it under the Judicial Jurisdiction of the Hyderabad district and sessions court will, besides depriving the Karachi District mofussil people of the right of trial by jury be most harmful to the economic and judicial interests of the rural population who will have to undergo great inconvenience and incur heavy costs by going Hyderabad Courts, therefore the Bombay Government be requested not to introduce the contemplated changes in that direction.

                   10. It was unanimously resolved that the Karachi Muncipal Corporation and the Government be requested to so arrange that for the burial of each indigent Mussalman of the present small amount which is altogether insufficient for the most necessary expenses.

 

Sympathy with the Zamindars.

 

                        11. Unanimously resolved that:-

                           (a) This Association sympathises with the Zamindars and all agriculturists of the Hyderabad and Thar and Parkar districts in their terrible losses caused by the heavy rains and floods and earnestly begs of Government to give relief and Takavi on a more generous scale than hither to.

                              (b) This Association also sympathises with the Zamindars of the Karachi districts on the serious damages caused to their crops this year and views with regret the unsympathetic attitude of the collector of Karachi who not withstanding the resolutions and other requests of the Tatta division Zamindars Association and other Zamindars, has not applied the rules of general remissions as usual in such circumstances, and requests the Commissioner-in- Sind to order the land Revenue assessment of 0-8- per acre on Rabi Crop and grant of Takavi loans on a convenient and generous scale.

                     It was unanimously resolved that this Association deplore the attitude of let adopted by the Government of Bombay in going back upon its promises for giving adequate share of posts in Public Services to the Muslim Community in as much as the post of the Judge of the small Causes Court was conferred upon a Hindu gentlemen ignoring altogether the rights of deserving Mussalmans already in the service. The Association however hopes the Government will here after do full justice to the Muslim clains by giving the post of additional small cause court judge the two vacant posts of Sub-Judges to be soon filled to deserving Muslim candidates and also by appointing a Mussalman as City Majistrate of Karachi when that post falls vacant.

                      It was unanimously resolved that each member of Association should consider it his duty to enroll within two months of this date at least ten more members of the Association preferably life members on payment of Rs.20.

 

The new office Bearers

                The following office-Bearers were elected at a meeting of the Association. Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto, C.L.E., O.B.E., M.L.C., President; Mr.Mohammed Ayoob Khuhro, M.L.C.; Vice-President and Treasurer; Sayed Mohammad Kamil Shah Vice-President; Khan Bahadur Wali Mohammed Hassanally, General Secretary; Sayed Ali Mohammed Hamid Shah Rashdi Joint Secretary.

          The following gentlemen were elected members of the Managing Committee:-

          Larkana District: – Khan Bahadur Ameer Ali Lahore, Khansahib Ghulam Md.Isran, M.L.C.; Sardar Wahid Bux khan Bhutto, M.L.C.

         Sukkur District: – Mr.Mohammed Pannah Drakhan, M.L.A; Mr. Allah Bux M.L.C.; Mr. Abdul Hamid khan Khudadad khan; Khan Bahadur Jan Mohammaed Khan.  

          Jacobabad District: – Khan Bahadur Chakar Khan Suhriani; Mir Noor Mohammed Khan.

         Nawabshah District: –Mirza Farukh Beg Bar-at-Law; K.S.Murad Ali Shah; K.B.Imam Bux Jatoi M.L.C.

        Hyderabad District: – Mr.Noor Mohammed M.L.C.; Mr.Meeran Mohammed Shah.

        Thar and Parkar District: – Khan Bahadur Sayed Ghulam Nabi Shah, M.L.C.; Mr. Jan Mohammed Khan Bhurgri, M.L.C.; Mir Allahdad Khan.

         Karachi District: – Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon, M.L.A.; Mian Ghulam Murtaza Shah; Main Shah Nawaz Shah of Tatta.

                  It also decided in the meeting that the Headquarters of the Association should continue to remain at Karachi for the present and that all the funds of the Association should be handed over to the Treasurer Mr.Mohammed Ayoob Khuhro appointed by the meeting unanimously.

 

(The Daily Gazette Date 13, February, 1928)       

 

 

 

 

Sind Mahmomedan Association

 

Memorial to Sir leslie Wilsom

 

The interests of The Community

 

Claims Of Sind Moslems.

  Below is the text to a memorial sent to his Excellency the Governor of Bombay by the Sind Mahomedan Association through its President, khan bahadur S.N.Bhutto:-

          The Association is grateful to your Excellency’s Government for your Excellency’s sympathy towards the aspirations of the Mussalmans of the Sind, and for the promulgation of the orders regarding the appointments of 50 per cent.Musalmans in Government offices. But the Association regrets to observe that this rule is not being given proper effect to in several departments; and prays that Your Excellency will be graciously pleased to secure its proper observance. In some offices for instance, in spite of the orders of Mr.Cadell, late Commissioner-in Sind to the contrary, a demand is made for Matriculates only for junior appointments; or again a previous experience of office routine or a know ledge of type-writing, or of Accounts, is demanded which it is impossible for poor mussalmans to offer at the commencement of service but which can easily be acquired after joining.

          Your Excellency’s Memorialists beg to point out that the Hindu sabha has made a demand that more Hindu be taken up in Police Service in the Province. And the Association has reason to believe that in order to placate the Hindus, a much larger number of young men from that community were  selected for the police training school on the last occasion, than heretofore, to the disappointment of your Memorialists. The police has hitherto been the one Department where the mussalmans have been considered more useful for reasons not far to seek, but Your Memorialists are grieved to notice of late a tendency on part of local offices to deprive them of their legitimate share of Government patronage in that department.

       Your Memorialists would now turn to some of the more important posts in the gift of your Excellency, and would in the first instance refer to the recent temporary appointment of the Additional Judge of the Small cause’s court at Karachi. The Association had the honour to represent this matter to Your Excellency in their address presented in 1925 and understood that the Judicial Appointments would not necessarily be reserved for the Bar. Yet not only the

acting appointment of the Additional Judge was bestowed upon a Hindu

member of the Bar, but more recently even the permanent appointment of the permanent Judge has also been conferred upon a non-Muslim. While no exception can be taken personally to these fortunate recipients the Muslim members of the Judiciary have a legitimate grievance in so far that while their Hindu brothers enjoyed the offices in question for over a decade, since the appointments were thrown open to the Subordinate Judicial service, that service has been deprived of the appointment when the turn of Mussalman come to fill them, and two of the most promising members of our community have been-deprived of their rightful promotion in quick Succession. Not only this, but it is rumoured that even the next vacancy of a permanent Additional Judge (which its is said will soon be created) has been already promised away.

     That our community is apprehensive that the interests of the members of our community might similarly be ignored in the selection for the post of the City Magistrate of Karachi which is shortly to fall vacant on account of the retirement of Mr. Richardson. Unfortunately the Bar cannot at present provide a sufficiently senior member of our community for the post, but it is hoped that the Provincial service in Sind will be in a position to provide sufficiently competent and experienced members of our community from whom a selection can be mad, The Association therefore prays earnestly (1) that none of the appointments referred to in paras 2 and 3 be reserved for any particular class (2) that the post of the Additional Judge of the Small Causes Court as well that of the City Magistrate of Karachi be conferred upon suitable Mussalmans of the Province so that our community may have some share in the administration of the premier city of the Province from which they have been rigorously excluded heretofore.

      In connection with these Judicial appointments the Association would further beg to point out that the number of Mussalmans Sub-Judges in the Province is by no means adequate. The commissioner-in Sind has recently advertised for two recruits and we would humbly request that both these appointments should be made from among Musalman Law Graduates, with a view to at least equalize the number of the two communities.

     The Association is grateful for the policy followed of late to give one appointment each community by turn. The last selection having been made of a Hindu gentlemen, the turn now is of a Mahomedan for one of the appointments advertised for; but in as much as a sub-Judge belonging to our community recently died, we beg to submit that our request now that both these appointments do go to members of our community will not be considered out of place.

      That  the Association has viewed with great regret the policy of the Bombay Government in the past in generally excluding men of the Provincial Service from acting appointments of District Collectors while in other sister Provinces such posts are almost invariably conferred upon senior members from among Deputy Collectors. More recently some such acting posts were given to Deputy Collectors and one Hindu gentlemen of that grade in Sind was even made to act

for a long period to time until he retired. Yet we are grieved to notice a reversion to the old policy; and raw and inexperienced civilions with barely 3years service being recently preferred to act as a collector who was under orders of transfer out of the Province. The net result of such a policy is that while a Hindu gentleman gets benefit of such acting promotions no Sindhi Mahomedan can aspire to it. And earnestly beg that a policy which would be equitable towards both the communities should be perused in future and Hindus and Mussalmans of the Province will can’t an equal chance.

        The Association trusts that Government will be pleased to accord the due recognition to the claims of the Mussalmans of Sind in this respect both on account of its numerical importance and sustained loyalty to Government especially when the community is in a position to afford suitable officers for such posts.

        For which act of kindness your Memorialists shall ever pray.

 

 

(The Daily Gazette Date 16 February, 1928)

 

 

 

 

 

                           SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION

 

 

Recent Resolutions Passed.

More Requests To Government

 

 

Below is the next of the resolutions passed by the Sind Mahomadan Association held on the 17^th of June 1928 at Jumani Hall, shikarpur (Sind).

 

      Resolution No: 1 — This Association strongly young’s upon the Government of Bombay to give the Educational portfolio in change of the Mussalman Minister to be appointed in place of Sir Ghulan Hussain Hidayatulla, by effecting redistribution of the portfolios among the present Ministry. The necessity of this demand is due to the conspicuous backwardness of the Muslim community chiefly in Sind, in education.

 

      Resolution No: 2–This Association urges upon the Government of Bombay to issue definite orders to the Barrage and Revenue authorities in Sind to the effect that of any mosque, in whatever condition it may be, falls within the alignment of any Barrage Canal or its distributary, should not be touched, but that alignment should necessarily be diverted to save the mosque. The past attitude of the Barrage authorities regarding the mosques has been re-Government will take early stops to show grettable and one that deserves condemnation from the Muslim public of this Province.

 

       Resolution No: 3– This Association requests Government to adopt more sympathetic attitude towards the Primary Education of this Province and hopes that the Government in future will show more promptness and aptitude to sanction such schemes that are meant to enhance and expand primary education in this Province, and that greater response in financial demands of the District School Board.

 

        Resolution No: 4– This Association is mush dissatisfied to hear the Government of Bombay’s intention to stop the grant of Rs.21, 000 of Sind Madressah, Karachi, awarded since the last 2or 3 years to save that institution from ruin. The Sind Mardressah is the institution that is most useful the Muslims of this Province and its starvation and deterioration will greatly hamper the progress of Secondary Education of Mussalmans on this province. It is therefore earnestly prayed that this grant should be continued. The retrenchment so far made by the standing Committee will even prove most injurious to the best interests of this institution and no further retrenchment is at all possible.

        The Association further hopes that His Highness the Mir of khairpur will be pleased to restore the annual grant of Rs.12, 000 to this institution.

         The Association most emphatically appeals to all Mussalmans of this Province to come forward liberally and contribute toward the funds of the Sind Madrssah-tul-Islam in order to increase the endowment fund so far as to make the institution independent.

 

       Resolution No: 5–This Association respectfully invites the attention of Government of the real object underlying the recent appeals made by the Hindus of larkana to the Government of Bombay against the order of the Sessions Judge Mr. Norman and his successor Mr.Mose in connection with the larkana Riot Case, acquitting the innocent Mussalmans who were accused and implicated in this incident. The intention obviously one of mischief.

 

       These poor innocent Mussalmans have undergone a very severe punishment by having been kept in lock-up as under-trial prisoners for months together, which resulted in the death of three of them in Jail and an expenditure of about a lakh of rupees in defending themselves.

 

      This Association wishes to impress upon Government that this severe punishment was not in the least deserved by these innocent victims. The judgment and the order of the Trying Magistrate clearly indicate that this case was a concocted one and was the result of a previous conspiracy on the part of the larkana Hindus, to ruin Mussalmans Physically and financially and thus make the justice bleed under the iron rod of communal bias, by flagrant injudiciousness practiced by the Hindus officials. The Association strongly requests the Government of Bombay to consider this matter very seriously and reject the most unjustified and coercive demand of the Hindus.

 

      Resolution No: 6–The Association further humbly draws the attention of the Government to the order of the committing Magistrate and the Judgment pronounced by Mr.Noman, Sessions Judge, who have held Mr. Rupchand, Resident, Magistrate’s proceedings false and based on communal bais.

 

     The Association also requests Government to institute legal proceedings against those Hinds who have had hand directly or indirectly in forcibly converting, wrongfully confining and abducting the children of Abdullah Khokhar and a daughter of Dilawar Machi.

 

      The Association views with full sympathy the steps proposed to be taken by Seth Khudadad, a leading Mussalans of Lankana town, to obtain sanction for launching prosecution against those Hindu officials who falsely implicated him in the incident and involved him in heavy expenditure and loss of his business and reputation.

 

       Resolution No7—Resolved that in view of the fact that the agricultural lands in this Province have so very rapidly passed away from the hands of the agriculturists into those of non-agriculturists which will ultimately culminate in serious consequences this Association strongly urges upon the Government of Bombay to bring a piece of legislature on the lines of the Punjab land Alienation Act, the one proposed and notified by the Government with due modifications, at the earliest opportunity. It is humbly prayed that there is a very great and urgent demand of such a measure to save the agriculturists (Mussalmans) and extricate them from the clutches of money lenders hence this proposed legislation should kindly be pushed through the council and made into law during the course of this year.

 

      Resolution No: 8– This Association strongly protests against the highly objectionable attitude shown by Hindu lecturers in showing filthy language upon the Holy Book and Holy Prophet at the time of the annual meeting of Arya Samaj at Mirpurkhas which greatly injured the susceptibilities of Mussalmans. There fore this Association requests for the sanction of proceedings against the offenders in the interests of Public peace and tranquility.

 

       Resolution No: 9– This Association here by resolves that the members of the standing committee should present an address to His Excellency the Governor of Bombay on the occasion of his ensuing visit to Sind.

 

        Resolution No: 10—This Association authorizes the President, the vice President, and the General Secretary to draft and forward the Memorandum to Simon Commission in light of the points placed before the meeting of the Association by Mr. M .S. Khuhro, M.L.C., and as ultimately adopted by majority in each case.

 

(Date: 30 June 1928)

 

              

BOMBAY GOVERNOR’S FAREWELL VISIT TO KARACHI.

Private Arrival at Kiamari This Mornin Accompanied

By Lady Wilson.

 

 

VISIT TO SIND MADRESSAH AND ST.PATRICK’S HIGH SCHOOL

 

Presentation of Three Addresses at the Frere Hall.

 

Three Received by Bombay Governor.

         The approaches to the Frere Hall and the Hall inside were tastefully decorated with flags and bunting and green foliage on the occasion of the visit of His Excellency the Governor Bombay to the Frere Hall at 11.30 a.m. to day to receiving address form (1) The Sind Mahomedan Association, (2) The Sind Hindu Association and (3) the joint address from the Karachi Indian Merchants Association and the Buyers and Shippers’ Chamber.

            His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by Mr. W.F.Hudson, C.I.E., I.C.S., Commissioner-in-Sind, and two members of his personal staff, arrived punctually at 11-30 a.m. at the Frere Hall.

            Mr. R.E.Gibson, C.I.E., I.C.S., Collector of Karachi was already at the Frere Hall. On arrival His Excellency the Governor was received by Mr.R.E.Gibson, and was conducted to the Hall upstairs.

             The members of the Sind Mahomedan Deputation, who were seated inside the Hall, rose as His Excellency entered and remained standing till His Excellency had taken his seat on his dais.

 

 SIND MUHAMMADAN ASSOCIATION ADDRESS.

           The Collector of Karachi (Mr.R.E.Ginbson) presented to His Excellency the president of Sind Mahomedan Association (Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Bhutto, C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C) who with His Excellency’s permission read the following address:

            May it please Your Excellency._

            We the President and Members of Sind Muhammadan Association, take the liberty of offering our most cordial welcome to your Excellency and Lady Wilson on your visit to our Province, so kindly undertaken by Your Excellencios at great personal inconvenience. This being the last visit of Your Excellencies, we deem it a good fortime as having affored an opportunity to show our appreciation for the able administration and good government of Your Excellency., which was chiefly characterised, all along by Your Excellency having always readily sympathised with the legitimate aspirations and granted the entire legislation proposed by him. The tables on which he bases such a far-reaching measure are to his admission hopelessly contradictory and unreliable. We are your Excellency, already face to face with class conflicts and this measure will only heighten class consciousness which has begun to grow with elements of suspicion and hatred, envy and jealousy. This association therefore, earnestly prays that this legislation may not be proposed in the Bombay Legislative Council.

Mohammedanizing the Services.

            The second matter in which this Association requests immediate relief is the Mohammedanizing of the services in Sind, which is being carried on in utter disregard of the rights of Hindu employees who entered the various services when the Government rules clearly laid down that promotions and appointments would go by seniority and merit. The Hindu in services have been superseded not only by Mahomedans but also by Christians much junior to them. The advocates of communal principle in services often argue as if the point at issue is the just distribution of offices between the diverse Communities in India, losing sight of the fact that it is individuals and not Communities that are appointed to offices. Religion is a personal affair of the individual. The policy of distinctions in the matter of appointments and promotions on the score of religion has adversely affected the standard not only of efficiency but also of purity among the public servants. A word here may not be out of place as to an inconsistency involved in this policy. While in Sind Hindu Minority is not allowed an open door to the public services, the Muslims of U.P., Bithar and C.P. are actually enjoying as a minority a share of the posts in the public services much in excess of their population ratio.

 

Primary Education in Sind.

       The third matter in which this Association would request some immediate relief is the Act for making better provision for the management and control of primary education in the Presidency of Bombay, Act No. IV of 1923. So far only fourteen municipalities have been authorized by Government to manage their own school boards, with the result that the primary education of Sind has suffered considerably. This Association earnestly requests that the remaining Municipalities may also be authorized by Government to manage their own school boards. The latest official report on the working of reforms admits that during the preceding three years, the growth of “Hindu-Mahomedan tension in certain parts of Sind has had a serious effect on the administration of the local self-governing bodies,” that “in nearly all the Districts of Sind the School Boards elected under the primary education Act of 1923 consist mainly of Mohomedans and many of the members have little education or administrative experience.”

         In conclusion, we beg to offer your Excellency and Lady Wilson our sincere good wishes for your health and happiness. The interest that you have evinced in the development of our Province has earned you its deep gratitude. It surely will be its fervent wish and prayer that you may hereafter be enabled to render greater services to India and to the Empire to which it belongs.

         We beg, as in duty bound, to subscribe ourselves,

        Your Excellency’s humble servants,

S.C.Shahani, M.A., President; Sobhraj Chetumal, Vice-President; Shivrattan Mohatta; Haridas Lalji; Rewachand Fatehchand, Jethanand Pritamdas(Mukhi),  Ratanchand Fatehchand, Lalchand Navalrai M.L.A., Murlider J.Panjabi(Diwan Bahadur); Hiranad Khemsing(Rao Bahadur), Pribhdas Shewakram(Rao Bahadur), Lokamal Chellaram, Issardas Ramchand, Mulchand Khialdas, Suganchand Kimatrai, Atmaram Himatsing Sugnomai Sobhraj; Nirbhdas Naraindas Tolasing Khushalsing,B.A.,LL.B., Soukatrai Vohromal, Sukhramdas Dharamdas, Rishinchand Wadhamal, B.A.,LL.B.,Kanyalal Hiranand, Kishinsing Chimansing, Kewalram Goverdhandas, Lukhnichand Essardas, Metharam Ajitsing(Rao Sahib), Parsram Ghanshamdas. Monubhoy Dongersi; Sunderdas Dharamsey, Ludha Udhovji, Kanvailsing  Pohoomad, Ba.c., Tilokchand Alimchand, Thakurds Knemchand, Lilaram Jethmal mal, Naraindas Pohoomal, Gobindsing Hassasing, Mulchand Kouromal(Rao Sahib), C.A.Buch, Dingomal Hukommatrai, C.H. Primalan, F.R.C.S., Jethanand Hiranad, Thanverds Manghumal, Kewalram Techchand, B.A.,LL.B., Jt.Secy;and D.G.Advani, D.P.H., L.M., L.R.C.F & S.,(Hon. Secretary).

 

THE GOVERNOR’S REPLY.

        His Excellency replied as follows:-

          Mr. President, and Members of the Sind Hindu Association,—It is a great pleasure to me to meet you all again on this occasion, which I fear must be my last visit to Sind, and on behalf of Lady Wilson and for myself I desire to thank you for the very generous welcome you have extended to us. As you rightly point out, your Province differs very widely from other parts of the Presidency, and the problems of Sind are in many ways different from those which the people of the other Divisions have to face. Recognizing this I have as you know, made a point of paying a visit to Sind every year, and receiving at first hand the views of thre representatives of the various communities.

           The first matter to which you have drawn my attention is the draft Sind Land Alienation ill, and you have explained the grounds on which you strongly object to its introduction in the Legislative Council, With regard to this Bill, I can only say that Government have invited the opinions of all associations and public bodies likely to be interested in it, and that when all the views have been received by Government, they will be very carefully considered with a view to do what is on the whole, best for the people of Sind.

 

Do People Know What is Best for Them?

          

       I observe that, in the course of your remarks, you say that the proposed legislation will not be good even for the Mahomedan community. That is no doubt an expression of your genuine opinion in the matter., which must receive due consideration, but it is one of the theories of democracy that every section of the public is supposed to know what is best for itself. For my own part—although, in this connection, I do not want it to be inferred that I am in any way referring to the Sind Alienation Bill—I am not quite certain that people always do know what is best for themselves and as one of our poets has said;–

           “We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own hurt, which the wise powers

Deny us for our good.”

 Though the theory that people know what is best for themselves is one that cannot, perhaps, be universally defended, there is no doubt that it enjoys a great vogue in those days, but, whether the theory be true of false, I am sure you will agree with me that we cannot omit to consider the views of a particular community in regard to a proposal which they think will be to their lasting benefit. Consequently it is our duty as a Government to hear both sides and after giving due weight to the arguments that may be put forward, to reach a decision to the best of our ability. As the whole question is under the consideration of Government, I cannot go further at present than to say that this course will be followed in the case of the Land Alienation Bill.

 

Equality of Opportunity.

         The second point to which you refer is what you describe as the Mahomedanising of the services in Sind, which in your opinion is being carried out in utter disregard of the rights of Hindu employees. You will remember that, three years ago, in reply to your Association, I dealt with this question at some length, and I explained that our object in making appointments in this Province was to ensure equality of opportunity in the public service to all communities, a principle which your Association apparently accepted. I also explained that this was no new policy on the part of Government, but that is was declared as far back as 1881, and that, for various reasons into which I need not enter, very little had been done to give effect to that policy till 1895.

         In view of the remarks which you make in your present address, I have examined the question of the appointment that have been made since I dealt with this question in November 1925. I find that, in these three years 12 prominent appointments of Deputy Collectors have been made of these 9 have gone to Hindu, 2 to Mahomedans, and 1 to member of another community. During the same period, 27 permanent appointments of Mukhtyarkars have been made. Out of these, 10 are Hindus, 15 are Mahomedans, and 2 are members of other communities. It appears to me, therefore, that, since I met you last, the Hindu have no reasonable cause for complaint in the matter of permanent appointments.

The Position of the Hindus.

 

            I have also looked in the existing position, and I find that out of a total number of 29 Deputy Collectors, 12 are Hindus, 12 are Mohammedans, and 5 belong to other communities; while out of 78 Mukhtyarkars, 40 are Hindus, 32 are Mahomedans, and 6 are members of other communities. Having regard to the fact that by far the greater proportion of the population of Sind is Mahomedan, I do not think it can fairly be said that the Hindus do not still occupy a very strong position in the public services of this Province. With regard to your remark that the Hindus in Government service have been superseded not only by Mahomedans, but also by Christians mcuch junior tothem, it is difficult for me to deal with a general statement of that kind if your Association will being to my notice any particular case in which a Hindu has been in your opinion improperly superseded, I will cause the fullest enquiries to be made into the facts of any such particular case.       

 

Primary Education.

 

       The third question to which you have invited my attention is that of the management of Primary Schools by Municipalities and District Local Boards, and you state that so far only 6 Municipalities have been authorised to manage their own schools. I find, however, that no less than 14 out of 26 Municipalities in Sind have been declared to be local authorities under the Bombay Primary Education Act, and that the schools of the remaining 12 Municipalities are managed by the District Local Boards concerned. I can assure you that Government are not at all anxious to prevent any Municipality, which is able and willing to do so, from managing its own schools. In each particular case the question is one for the Municipality itself to raise in the first instance, and any request made by a Municipality that it should be declared a local authority will receive the most careful and sympathetic consideration, from Government.

         I thank you all again, Gentlemen, for your very kind welcome and for your good wishes to Lady Wilson and myself. It is gratifying to me to know that you have appreciated the efforts I have made for the development of Sind, and in bidding you farewell I need not assure you that we shall look back with great pleasure to out visits to this Province, and that we shall always be interested in your welfare and happiness.

 

Karachi Indian Merchants Associations Address.

 

      The following is the text of the joint address of the Karachi Indian Merchants Association and the Buyers and Shipper’s Chamber was read by Mr. Jamshed N.R.Mehta, Chairman of the Buyers and Shippers Chamber.

            May it please Your Excellency.—

        We, the members, of the Karachi Indian Merchants’ Association and the Buyers’ and Shippers’ Chamber, feel great pleasure in offering our hearty welcome to Your Excellency and Lady Wilson on your visit to is City and Port.

         This Port enjoys a most unique position in the Province being the nearest Indian Port to the West and Middle East and having a vast and fertile hinterland extending from Eastern Persia to the United Provinces. As the first Aerial Port of cell in India, Karachi has justly drawn the world’s attention to her importance and she is soon going to own an aerodrome that would be one of the best in the Empire. As a Sea-Port her importance can be gauged from the phenomenal growth of her maritime trade, during the first quarter of this century;

        Year,                                    Total Maritime Trade

        1900-1901                                Rs. 14, 90, 02,320

        1926-1927                                Rs.  75, 28, 67,519

We are sure of a still greater prosperity to show, if this Port and City receive a closer co-operation from your successor’s Government. The Port Trust and Municipality have achieved enormous progress during the last few years. The major part of the West Wharf Scheme, which was undertaken at a cost of Rs.2,75,00,000 is now well under completion, and a further important measure was adopted recently when it was decided to build Transit Sheds, a facility which is regarded invaluable for a modern port. Though anxiety is felt in some quarters about the economic working of this scheme in view of its heavy outlay, we are of opinion that the great future which awaits Karachi in view of the Sukkur Barrage Scheme, will, ultimately, justify those heavy outlays of the Port authorities. We feel, Your Excellency, that the scheme, would ultimately, work successfully in the interests of the trade concerned. This anxiety is founded mainly on the fact that the heavy cost of these improvements will augment Port Trust charges on trade. Only very recently the wharfage on cotton has been increased by 50%. This measure, we feel is likely to arrest the enormous progress achieved in this trade during recent years. It is unfortunate, therefore that the increase should have been effected at a time when Bombay is trying it’s almost to reduce its charges.

Karachi Municipality.

 

     The Karachi Municipality made vast advances and consequent commitments by providing water, supply drainage, roads, lighting and other civic amenities to meet the needs of this expanding city. The steady popularisation of Co-operative Schemes of farming, banking, Housing, etc., also is keeping pace with this expansion, and it is earnestly requested that the Government should assist in supplying the urgent needs of Karachi and Sind, by helping the formation of Co-operative Land Mortgage Banking, and granting of lands on easy payment and concessional terms to the Co-operative Farming Societies, without which the progress of whole Sukkur Barrage Scheme and its success are likely to be impeded.

       For years we have been urging Karachi-Bombay Railway construction, and though the central Government seen to be moving in the and we hope your successor’s Government will urge acceleration scheme another which the Government many early action of the Central Government, is the construction of Feeder Railways. The progress of the Lloyd Barrage also necessitates that establishment, at an early date; transport facilities between rural and urban areas by providing well laid roads for vehicular traffic to facilitate the removal of produce from the farms to the nearest Railway Stations.

 

 

SIND HINDU ASSOCITION’S ADDRESS.

 

      The following is the text of the address of the Sind Hindu Association read by Mr. S.C.Shahani.

        May it please Your Excellency,

We the undersigned on behalf of the Sind Hindu Association, beg to tender your Excellency, and Lady Wilson, a most cordial welcome to our Province. We regret very much that this should be your Excellency’s last visit to us. But since that is inevitable, we feel very thankful that with your multifarious duties your Excellency has in your official term of five years found time to visit our Province thrice. Our Province is not only cut off from the other divisions of the Presidency, but is widely different from them in geographical features and climate, no less than in the language, dress, customs and pursuits of the people and we feel highly grateful that your Excellency should on that account have bestowed on the affairs of our Province some personal care and attention. Your Excellency has now first-hand knowledge of the disabilities and drawbacks from which the Hindus of this Province suffer. But as this is to be your Excellency’s farewell visit, we shall not recount them all and request their reconsideration for mitigation or removal. We shall content ourselves with reference to some three matters in which this Association respectfully solicits immediate relief at your Excellency’s hands.

 

 

Sind Land Alienation Bill.

 

       The first of these matters is the Draft Sind Land Alienation Bill, which this Association considers utterly unsuitable, as it stands or in any amended form. If in Sind agriculture is regarded as a Mahomedan monopoly, the ideas of superiority and inferiority will be engdered, and distinctions made, in vocation, which will have a tendency to discompose and degrade Sindhi Society. The officer placed on special duty to advise Government in this matter speaks of agriculture as the original occupation of Mahomedans, when the fact is that Mahomedans became nationals of India, not mere raiders or sojourners, only in the days of Babur’s on and grandson who made their homes here. Prior to that agriculture was done by Hindus, and the greatest glory of Indian agriculture is indisputably to be attributed to the golden age of the Hindu Rule. The proposed legislation will not be good even for the Mahomedan Community. If the Mahomedan Community is to realise its potentialities, it must share a certain community, a sense of belonging together for good or evil, and must do agriculture in a spirit of service to the common weal.

 

Evil Forebodings.

        This Association, your Excellency, respectfully submits that the whole Province will suffer from this proposed over-exertion of Government, if in agriculture individual effort declines. If this bill becomes an act, and the Collectors determine by notification who shall be agriculturists and apply the Act to the notified tribes, the reign of law will be suspended and Mabapism of the Government official will be enthroned in its place. The Act will tend to foster a subservient mentality and will stunt the growth of a virile sense of legal rights among the people. With compulsory education and the Co-operative Movement, the agriculturist should stand in small need of protection. The Government Adviser in this matter has in his report expressed opinions which call for evidence and argument which are not supplied, and several of the facts known to him admitted by him will be found to be most damaging to the correctness of his chief generalizations. His statement that “it is most difficult to give an answer based on reliable and satisfactory statistics to the question how far the original classes in Sind have been losing their land to the non-agricultural classes” undoes the necessity of the aged; but this must have, as a natural consequence, an extension of secondary education, which should al o receive its share encouragement.

        St.Patrick’s should really be a boarding School and with possibilities for development to the status of a College, for more of which there is need in this province. It has pupils not only from Karachi, but also from all over Sind, and even from Iraq and Persia, and these have to make their own private arrangements as best they can, since this School is in no position to help them. Though essentially a Christian establishment, it is open to all castes and creeds. Many a pupil has through out its existence, passed, through its early training, into the higher spheres of life, both in government as well as civil employment. Not to mention such inferior occupations as clerks, mechanics, railway men, telegraph operators, and men in the lower grades of public service, more and more of its ex-students are proceeding to England and elsewhere every year to further their studies, and become useful members of the Indian Empire as lawyers, doctors, engineers, educationalists and members of other professions. We hear the cry from all sides for higher education; we know the eagerness of the present generation in our province for learning and more learning: we feel all the needs and necessities; but we can only do little; our efforts are cramped.

 

Out-Lived its Original Purpose.

         Your Excellency will see with your own eyes how confined we are for want of accommodation and to what makeshift arrangements we have to take recourse. St, Patrick’s has really out-lived the purposes for which it was originally intended, namely to educate about two hundred boys. Now the number has passed the seven hundred limit and it is difficult to admit fresh applicants. Your Excellency’s government has promised to help us to enlarge our building and the plans have been approved of; but for the last four years we are always being put off till some future time, when funds are available. Already before the Great War began some Rs.30, 000 were sanctioned to build an hostel, but owing to the trouble of the time, this gift could not be made avail of, and consequently lapsed. Similarly, the military authorities tell us to wait till the Cantonment area is handed over to the Municipality. In this way our activities are hemmed in and confined to vague hopes of the future. We are helpless. Our resources are limited and we cannot expect much from the public.

         Your Excellency, we claim with justice, that we are in our own way helping your government by training up good men and useful citizens and we can say, without any fear of contradiction, that St. Patrick’s High School holds a high place in the estimation of the public for its sound education, moral, mental and physical, and we hope your Excellency’s government will help us to maintain and further these ideals.

          Again we thank your Excellency for your condescension in visiting us and we assure you that this visit will ever remain a red letter day in the annals of St.Patrick’s. We beg to subscribe ourselves your Excellency’s devoted and loyal subjects.

         The Principal Staff and Students of St.Patrick’s High School.

 

THE GOVERNOR’S REPLY.

         His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson, Governor of Bombay, replied as follows:

             Mr. Principal, and Students of St.Patrick’s High School, —It is a great pleasure to me to pay a visit to your school this morning, and to have this opportunity of seeing for myself the work which is being done here for the higher education of all classes and creeds in Karachi. I am very grateful to you. Mr. Principal for all you have said regarding my interest in education, and I can assure you that I am always glad to meet a gathering of students such as I see here to-day.

            I entirely agree with the view that secondary and higher education are both of much too great importance to the future of this great country to be entirely neglected, but we as a Government, do in fact spend very considerable sums every year in support of both these branches of education, and I think it must be generally agreed, and I know that this view is fully supported by the legislative Council, that the first duty of Government in educational matters is to endeavour to bring primary education within the reach of all, and to remove the dark shadow of illiteracy that retards the political, social and economic progress of the people of this Presidency, Nor should it be forgotten that the spread of primary education itself operates automatically to increase the public interest, and the public demand for, secondary and higher education, and thus gradually tends to contribute greater sumort  to both these branches, both from the state and the public.

Educate Your Masters.

        As the Government of Bombay is constituted to-day, our educational policy is guided largely by the wishes of the Legislative Council, and ultimately of the great body of electors and as a great statement once observed, we must begin by education our masters, the general electorate. As they progress in education, the public demand for secondary and higher education is bound to increase and along with this the public support to institutions such as St.Patrick’s High School, which provides a high standard of secondary education. We have already had under consideration for some years your plans for additional buildings, and had it been at all possible we should have bee glad to contribute towards their construction; but a Government cannot make promises which it is unable to carry out, and consequently your scheme, like many other excellent schemes in recent years, has had to postponed.

       We have also been edeavouring  for some years to obtain for you the additional land that you require for expansion, but it will not be possible to do anything in this direction until the Land Exchange Scheme between the Civil and the Military authorities here begins to take effect. I am informed that there are now good prospects that this Scheme will go forward, and when the sites in the neighbourhood of the School are surrendered by the Military authorities, every endeavour will be made to meet your requirements in this matter.

 

Congratulations.

            In spite of the difficulties under which your work is carried on, I am glad to able to congratulate both the staff and the students on the excellent results that have been achived by the schools. It is especially gratifying to note that students of all communities mingle here in friendly rivalry, both in work and play, and thus make many friendships and gain much valuable experience which must stand them is good stead in after life.

          It has given me great pleasure to meet you all this morning, and if I may offer only one word of advice to you students, it is to make the best of the opportunities which you enjoy here, both in your studies and in your games, and to do your best to grow city and country and now in bidding you farewell, I wish every success to the staff and students of St.Patrick’s High School.

           The senior members of the staff of St.Patrick’s High School were then presented to His Excellency, who then visited the building, and after bidding “Goodbye” to those assembled left for Government House.

 

 (The Daily Gazette, Date: 31, October, 1928)

 

 

 

MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY THE SIND MUHAMMADAN

ASSOCIATION TO THE ROYAL STATUTORY COMMISSION

(SIMON COMMISSION) ON INDIAN REFORMS, November 1928

 

 

Preliminary

 

       The Sind Muhammadan Association have viewed with great interest the appointment of the Royal Commission and the object with which it is connected i.e., the furtherance of India in obtaining further instalments of Self Government. The constitutional principle embodied in the declaration of the British Parliament is “the responsible Government with in the British Empire.” This Association accepts the principle and hopes that it will be worked out in conformity with the tendency of the age on democratic lines taking into consideration the peculiar features of the country like the variety of castes, creeds and religions, the predominance of one community over another and rank communalism dividing the people. Any constitution providing self-Government for India which does not contain adequate provision for safe –guarding the interests of the minorities will not suit our vast sub-continent.

         In framing the present statement for consideration of the Royal Commission the following are the necessary fundamental principles to be taken into view:-

 

Franchise and Electorates

 

     The Association proposes to deal first with the two important questions of franchise and electorates as they form the basis of the constitutional structure.

   (a) Franchise:-

                  There is a great cry from the Hindu Section of the Indian public about the lowering of the franchise or adult suffrage for our legislative Councils Central as well as Provincial, but the Muslim Section has not favoured it so far because of the comparatively very low standard of education and literacy among the masses of India most of whom we must sadly admit cannot exercise their vote properly. But in view of the advancing times and the spirit of the age this Association is of opinion that the grant of adult suffrage need not be delayed and longer.

(b) Electorates:-

                  This Association strongly favours the retention of the present system of separate communal electorates as it is essentially necessary in the present conditions of this country. The artificial cry raised by a certain section of the Hindu politicians that separate communal electorates are the cause of the existing Hindu Muslim tension, is entirely devoid of justification. As a matter of fact the system has removed the ever-recurring cause of friction between the two communities as is evident from the evidence before the Muddiman committee of M.C.Y.Chintamoni, late Minister of United Provinces wherein he says that the system of separate electorates has promoted mutual cooperation and good will between the two communities.      

              The greatest evil of joint electorates is that the voice of the minority however important and advanced she may be, will merge in that of the majority and there will be no real and true representatives in the Councils. Separate electorates is, we submit, the most necessary safeguard against the evil.

                Connected with these two questions is that of the size of our Legislative Councils. Compared with the legislatures of all democratic Governments in the west, the size of our Legislative Councils is extremely inadequate to secure effective representation of the Indian population. The Association therefore suggests that is future the number of the members of the Council of State should be raised to 150 and that of the legislative Assembly to 400. The Association further desires to voice the feeling of Indian Mussalmans in regard to their representation on the Central legislatures by urging that, in view of the vital interest involved, the Mussalmans of India should in no case have less than 33% representation on these two Bodies, as well as on the Councils of those provinces when Muslim population falls below 1/3^rd, in order to secure effective representation of the Muslim community. The Membership of various Provincial Legislative Councils should be increased to provide representative for each unit of a lakh in the population.

           The other point which the Association incidentally desires to consider in this connection is the method of election. At present there are only two classes of electorates viz; Muslim and non-Muslim.

            The word “Non-Muslim” is so very vague and wide that it includes all minor communities in the term of “Hindu.” This operates adversely on the depressed classes, Christians and other communities. In fairness to these communities and to revive their political importance which they have suffered by the present system, it is necessary to adopt a different method of election. The Association is, therefore, strongly of opinion that in future the electorates should be divided into four classes viz; Muslim, Depressed classes, miscellaneous communities and caste Hindus, instead of the two Muslim and non-Muslim.

             In conclusion the Association deems is desirable in the best interest of the country, strongly to recommend that as in the case of the Council of state and the British Parliament the life of the other legislative Bodies in India be increased from 3to 5 years.

 

               Muslim representation in the Punjab and Bengal

        Out of the nine reformed provinces the Punjab and Bengal are the only two Provinces wherein the Muslim Community claims the majority of population, viz; 55% of the entire number. But in spite of it, the representation of the community in the two Legislative Councils is only 44% in the case of the Punjab and about 40% in the case of Bengal. This is incompatible with the political status of the important community and the Association, therefore, impresses upon the Royal Commission the urgent necessity of redressing the grievance by as far as possible, adopting in this particular case, the population basis for representation in the respective legislative Councils.

 

          Reforms in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan.

       The over-whelming majority of the population of these provinces has been demanding (and justly too) reforms for the last several years, but their this demand has not been satisfied merely because the Hindu minority is alleged to have opposed it. This state of affairs is very unfair; the Association, therefore, strongly recommends that immediate steps should be taken to bring the Settled Districts of the N.W.Frontier Province and British Baluchistan in line with the rest of India. This demand on their part has a wholehearted support of the whole Muslim India and even the Indian National Congress and the majority of the Bray Committee have recognized the justice thereof.

      

Separation of Sind

         The Province of Sind has absolutely nothing in common with the Bombay Presidency. The union is based neither on ethnological, geographical, linguistic, agricultural nor any other sound considerations. A mere accident that it was the army of the Bombay that conquered Sind is responsible for this un-natural arrangement. Our Province has suffered very much on this account. Educationally, economically, politically and socially we are far behind the Presidency. Even the development of the port of Karachi has been impeded on account of the jealousy of the Bombay harbour.Looking to these and several other circumstances, this Association strongly urges that the Province of Sind should be separated from the Bombay Presidency and given its own executive and legislative machinery. This is the demand of the majority of Sind population, which includes Mussalmans, Parsies, Christians, Business people belonging to different communities and a large section of the broad minded Hindus. The entire Muslim India is also strongly in favour of this proposal and even the Indian National Congress has recognized the justice of this demand.

 

Future Constitution of India and the Residuary Powers

      India is a vast sub-continent divided into Presidencies and Provinces, inhabited by peoples speaking different languages, possessing diverse characteristics and living under their own respective Provincial Governments. It is therefore inevitable that the constitutional development of the country must be towards the evolution of the Federal State for India within the British Empire, each territorial unit forming a State in itself and all being governed in matters of important common concern by a Central Federal State. In other words the final goal of administration in India should be the ultimate creation of a United States of India within the British Empire, the future constitution of the Federal States being on the lines of the United States of America, the Central Government possessing only such powers as may expressly be reserved by it and all the “Residuary Powers,” being vested in the individual States. The Association is therefore of opinion that the next stage in Indian constitutional advance should be so devised as to facilitate this end.

Secretary of State for India and India Council

         The powers of superintendence and control over India vested in the Secretary of State under Section 2 of the Government of India Act of 1919 are of an embarassing character and inconsistent with the spirit of the declaration of the 20^th August 1917. The Association is, of course, cognizant of the fact that the time has not yet arrived when the administration of Foreign and Political affairs, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force can be safely transferred to the popular control but it is strongly of opinion that the powers the Secretary of State in matters relating to the internal administration of the country should be completey relaxed, as this unlimited exercise of power by British Politician, sitting in his office 6000 miles away, with practically no experience of the complicated Indian situation is opposed to the principles of sound administration and the best interests of the country.

          The introduction of this reform will render the costly machinery of the India Council absolutely unnecessary, if, at any time, the Secretary of State for India stands in need of advice on matters of foreign administration, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, he could rely, as he now does, on the experts of respective departments. In any case, the reform suggested will evidently result in the substantial saving of expenditure now incurred on the personnel and staff of the India Council.

Central Government and Legislature

             A further constitutional advance towards the ultimate goal of responsible Government within the British Empire being necessary, the Association respectfully suggests the under mentioned alterations in the machinery of the Central Executive Government.

        (a) Taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances existing in India which are unknown in all civilized countries of the world (viz: variety  of religions, rank-communalism, caste-prejudice etc;), the Association deems it necessary to suggest that the appointments in the cabinets of the Provincial as well as Central Governments should be so filled as to give the Muslim community an adequate representation therein consistent with their importance in the political sphere and their voting strength in the respective Councils.

       (b)  Should there be any minor provinces (like Delhi & Coorg) under the direct control of the Government of India, the system of administration followed in those tracts should be similar to the one followed in the reformed provinces, the Central Government being made responsible to the Central legislature for the administration, of transferred subjects in the territories directly under the charge.

        As a measure of advance towards the ultimate goal of responsible Government, the members of the Central Cabinet particuarly those in charge of our Universities and the work of coordination of provincial activities in the administration of the transferred subjects should be selected from among the elected members of the Central legislature and made responsible to it for the due administration of those subjects.

       (c) The control of the Central legislature over the country budget should be sufficiently widened by increasing the number of votable items, particularly with regard to the All India Service except (if absolutely necessary), those relating to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Foreign and Political affairs and law, order and Justice.

        

The Provincial Governments and Legislatures

         In regard to the Provincial Governments the Association submits the following changes:

(a)  A unitory Form of Government should replace the Diarchy in the Province as in actual working; the latter has disclosed enormous practical difficulties and complications.

(b)  As a measure of a substantial advance towards the ultimate goal of responsible Government, full autonomy should be conceded to the Province, placing all Provincial subjects in charge of Ministers responsible for their administration to the Provincial legislatures, the Governor being the constitutional head of the Provincial Government.

            In this connection the Association is sadly coguizant of the unhappy events which have disturbed the peace of this country during the last few years. It might therefore be argued (and perhaps rightly too, to some extent) that time has not yet arrived when the subject of law, order and Justice can safely be trusted to the popular control. To meet the situation and only as a temporary measure, the Association suggests that the subject of law, order and justice might be placed under the direct control of the Governor himself, full autonomy being restored when the disturbed conditions settle down.

(c)  The control of the Provincial legislatures should be widened over the Provincial budgets in the manner suggested in regard to the Central legislatures.

         This Association is strongly in favour of the immediate separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency, but if unfortunately this united Muslim demand is not immediately possible of compliance, this Association desires strongly to emphasize the urgent necessity of adopting the population basis in the matter of distribution of the Muslim seats (in the Council and Assembly), between the Province of Sind and the Presidency Proper. Under the present arrangement looking to the comparative figures of population we notice that the Bombay Presidency has been treated favourably while Sind has not had her due share. There is no justification for this inequitable distribution of seats between the two sections of the same community. The Association therefore respectfully urges upon the Statutory Commission the need of an equitable redistribution of the Muslim seats under the new constitutional arrangement.

The Services

            The rate at which, Indianization of services by direct recruitment of Indians to the Imperial service as well as by provincializing the services, has been progressing, is rather slow. Even the halting recommendations of the Lee Commission have not yet been put into effect in their entirety. But at the same time the Association is of opinion that time has no yet come when the Civil administration of this country should be run by Indians alone independent of European Civilians. Unfortunately the communalism and caste hatred in India, is yet so very high that there is every apprehension of one community dominating the other. In the interests of justice and equity it is very essential to still maintain such proportion of European Civilians in service that it may command sufficient influence over the internal administration of the country in holding the balance between the different communities. The Association there fore taking into view all these fundamental points which could not go overlooked makes the following recommendations;

(a)  The Indian Civil Service is a costly machinery and therefore to make the administration a little cheaper and on the other hand to encourage better class of people to enter the subordinate service, it is necessary to raise the proportion of the Provincial service men holding posts of District Collectors and District Judges. The Association is of opinion that 40% all round will be a fair proportion for the men belonging to Provincial service.

(b)  The remaining 60% appointments should be held by the I.C.S.people. Out of that 2/3^rd of Europeans should necessarily Civilians will have 40% Indian Civilians 20% and Provincial service men 40%.

(c)   In order to safeguard the interest of the Muslim minority in the case of men belonging to Provincial Service holding these high posts, the Muslim Community should have its proportion equal to its population in each province; and on the other hand in the case of Indian Civilians special effort should be made to secure 1/3^rd of Mussalmans in service. Till Mussalmans are able to secure this reasonable share in the open competition 25%of the seats allotted to Indians be filled with Mussalman suitable by way of nomination.

Equitable Recruitments

                  The unanimous demand of the entire Muslim community in India for their proportional share in the administrative machinery of the country is perfectly consonant with the principles of justice and equity. The very grounds hitherto urged by the Indian politicians for the Indianization of our services apply equally to an equitable adjustment of the claims of the various communities to a proper share in the administration of the various departments which manage the affairs of the country and look after the welfare and happiness of the people. Indeed it is not so much Legislative Councils which comes into direct contact with the Indian masses as the various departments of our administration and it is in reality in the hands of the latter that the welfare and contentment of the vast population of the country lies. It is obvious, therefore, that it would not be only unjust but would also constitute a grave political danger to allow the services which administer the various departments to become the monopoly of a class. The existing position, undoubtedly, is that with the exception of our fighting forces and the police, there is an overwhelming majority of caste Hindus almost monopolizing all branches of our public services and the Muslim community, in spite of its educational progress and political importance is inadequately represented in our administrative machinery.

            The Association earnestly hopes that means will be devised as a result of which, consistently with the needs of efficiency the Muslim community would obtain its due share in the services in order to secure the happiness and contentment of all alike.

 

Separation of Judicial and Executive functions

           For several years past, the Indian public opinion has unanimously demanded separation between the Judicial and Executive functions of the administrative machinery. This Association is aware that for obvious (including the one of expenditure) it is not immediately possible to carry out this much needed reform, but it hopes that a substantial step will be taken in that direction in the near future. The separation between the two functions may be gradual but the time has come when it should be taken in hand forthwith.

 

The Agricultural Class

             The Association views with great regret the fact that the economic position of the agricultural class of this country is rapidly deteriorating owing to the heavy burden of taxation. The agriculturists pay varying from 25 to 50% of their income towards the State; where as all the other classes and industries contribute maximum 1/8^th of their income towards the State. This fact has made the agriculture the least paying industry in India. India’s main industry is agriculture and therefore it is the bounden duty of Government to put forth special efforts to ameliorate the condition of the poor agriculturist in the Mufassil. In other civilized countries of the west, just as Great Britain, the land owners pay only income tax just as business people and the people of all other classes. This procedure exempts the peasant proprietors from the heavy burden of taxation and allows them to make their living out of their small bit of land with contentment, without seeking any other occupation. The principle enunciated in India by the British Government that the ownership of soil vests in the State is without any foundation and does not find support from any section of public. The Indian Taxation Inquiry Committee recently appointed by the Government of India has expressed the view that the ownership of the soil vests in the individual owner and not the State. This opinion of the Committee is supported by various facts. This is one of the main reasons why the state of the agriculturists in India is getting worse day by day. The Association therefore urges upon the Royal Commission to recommend to the British Parliament any such measure that it considers advantageous and beneficial to the agriculturists of this country. So that the great bulk of population of British India may live in peace and contentment.

The safe guards for the Muslim minority

     The following are the safe guards that the Association considers necessary to be provided before any step is taken to grant further instalments of self government to this country. If the British Parliament does not provide these safe guards, the association is quite confident that self government in India will operate adversely on the Muslim community and other minorities and it will be a complete failure in this country, peculiarly constituted as it is.

(a)  The retention of present system of separate electorates.

(b)  Adequate representation of Muslim community and other minorities in the Central and Provincial Cabinets.

(c)   To maintain due proportion of Mussalmans in services high and low in view of the recommendations made in the special para on the subject.

(d)  To allot 1/3^rd representation in the Central legislature and in those Provincial legislatures where the population falls below one third.

 

 

S.N.BHUTTO                                            W.M.HASSANALLY                                    

  President                                                General Secretary

Sind Muhammadan Association              Sind Muhammadan Association

 

M.S.KHUHRO

Vice President

                         Sind Muhammadan Association

 

 

SIMON COMMISSION IN KARACHI

 

Opening Sitting at New Courts of Justice.

 

EVIDENCE OF SIND MAHOMEDAN ASSOCIATION HEARD.

 

CONFERENCE POMISES TO EXAMINE WHOLE

QUESTION FAIRLY AND THOROUGHLY

 

Transfer of law and Order Opposed.

 

             The members of the Simon Joint Free Conference entered upon their task to-day armed not only with the study of documents but also with the knowledge of its problems as gained by informal conversations over the dinner table last night at Government House. The opening sitting of the Conference was held in the palatial new Courts of Justice on the Artillery Maidan which have still to be declared open for mally. Considerable interest centres round the Sind evidence as a great deal of communal and political controversy has of late been revolving round the question of the separation of Sind.

             The visit by the members of the Conferce to the Sukkur Barrage and their decision to hear Mr.C.S.C.Harrison, Chief Engineer of the Lloyd Barrage and Canals Construction should enable them to get into possession of part of the financial issues bearing on the subject of Sind being constituted into a separate province.

             The Memoranda submitted by both the Sind Mohammedan and the Sind Hindu Associations are diametrically opposed. In fact, though on a smaller scale, the communal differences between these two associations reflect the intensity of the differences shown at Lahore among the Muslim and Hindu deputations who appeared before the Simon Conference.

Sind Mohammedan Association

         The first body to be called in for evidence this morning was the Sind Mohammedan Association, and the Conference, as re-constituted, include the Bombay Committee. The Sind Mohammedan Association deputation was led by Mr.M.S.Khuhro, M.L.C, as Khan Bahadur Bhutto, Chairman of the Association and Chairman of the Bombay Committee, did not go into the witness box. The other members of the deputation were the Hon’ble Mian Ali Bux, Member of the Council of State, Khan Bahadur Wali Muhammad Hussanally, ex M.L.A, Sardar Wahid Bux, M.L.A;Mr.Abdur Rahman, Bar-at-Law, Khan Bahadur Jan Mohammed Khan, M.L.C, and Mir Ayub Khan, Bar-at-Law.

          The Sind Muhammedan Association Deputation, examined by Sir John Simon, summarised its main demands. They stood for the separation of Sind as an autonomous province, the continuance of separate electorates and their extension to all institutions and bodies where elections took place.

           Sir John Simon asked whether they would insist on a separate electorate even if Sind were separated, because in that case the Muhammedans would be in an overwhelming majority.

 

Sind Moslems Voting Strength.

 

          Mr. Khuhro replied that the Muhammedans had, practically the same voting strength as the Hindu, and the influence of the Bania and Hindu officials and the educational backwardness of community made it necessary for them to stand for separate electorates.

         Sir John Simon looked into the figures and discovered that against 67,000 non-Mahomedan votes there were 59,000 Mahomedan voters, which fact he said was very striking as the Mahomedan population was two and a half millions out of the three and a quarter million population of Sind.

          In other respects the deputation urged a claim identical with that put forward by the Bombay and Punjab Muslim deputations. The educational expenses should be the first charge on the revenues of the Presidency with a view to remove the illiteracy the Sind Muslims.

           Sir John Simon asked whether these claims for the protection of the minorities would apply equally to the other minorities in case of Sind was separated.

       Mr. Khuhro replied that these were based on the assumption that Sind was a part of the Bombay Presidency.

       The deputation stated that the Commissioner-in-Sind exercised in many respects, the powers of a local Government without the non-official influence or advice.

       Sir Simon was informed they had not worked out the details of the scheme of separation such as the question of loans and the need for either curtailing expenses on the nation-building departments or raising fresh revenue, whereupon Sir John Simon assured them that the Conference would examine the whole question fairly and thoroughly but declared that the problem was not solved by merely saying “Distribute the provinces on a linguistic basis,” The whole scheme as a practical solution must be examined.

        Lord Burnham asked whether they would agree to the postponement of separation till the financial difficulties were got over.

        The deputation did not agree,

         The deputation of the Sind Mahomedan Association apposed the transfer of law and order, wanted a strong Central Government as protection for minorities. It was in favour of adult suffrage if separate electorates were kept intact, Mr.Khuhro was opposed to Indianization, if it was to lead to domination of the services by one community.

          The Conference rose for Lunch.

SHIKARPUR MOSLEMS.

 

Welcome to Simon Commission.

          The leading Mussalmans of Shikarpur__ a city third in importance in the Province of Sind__met at the Bungalow of Honourable Mr.Ali Buksh, Member of the Council of state, and adopted unanimously the following resolutions.

1.   The Mussalmans of Shikarpur extend a cordial welcome to Sir John Simon and members of the commission to the Province of Sind.

2.   The Mussalmans of Shikarpur condemn the Nehru report as harmful to the interests of the Mahomedan Community and pray that no notice be taken of it.

3.   The Mussalmans of Shikarpur do not recognize the representative character of those Mussalmans who are siding with the Nehru Report and do not feel themselves bound by the views of those individuals. Such individuals have no right to act in the name of the community.

4.   The Mussalmans record their emphatic protect against the demand, in the Nehru report, of Domination Status, and joint electorates, Such demands are highly injurious to Muslim interests and are calculated to create Hindu domination over the whole of British India in the place of the British rule.

5.   The Mussalmans strongly urge the necessity of separating the Province of Sind from the Bombay Presidency as the claims and grievances of Mahomedan Community in the Province of Sind are not properly and fairly considered, even though the population of Mahomedans in Sind is over four times that of Hindus because of longer distance and larger jurisdiction resulting in incalculable loss to Mahomedans. The Present administration of Sind is one man rule with all its attendant drawbacks, as the Government of Bombay rarely interfere with actions of the Commissioner-in-Sind and as such the present form of administration is incompatible with all modern ideas of Government.

6.   The Mussalmans of Shikarpur strongly urge that the principle of separate electorates in all elected bodies for the minority communities must be adhered to in the interests of the minorities otherwise the identity and interests of the minorities will be completely wiped out. Such a safeguard is necessary in the present conditions of India. Without such a safe-guard the minorities will be at the entire mercy of the Majority Community and will be subjected to unfair treatment.

 

SIMON COMMISSION IN KARACHI.

        Arrival at Cantonment Station.

          BLACK FLAG DEMNSTRATORS.

 

            The Journey to Karachi.

 

           Sir John Simon and the six other members of the Indian Statutory Commission arrived by special train at the Cantonment Station yesterday morning at 7-20. They were received on the station platform by Mr.W.F.Hudson, Commissioner-in-Sind; Mr.A.G.Wild, Judicial Commissioner of Sind; Mr.R.E. Gibson, Collector of Karachi; Mr.J.M.Sladen; M.W.N.Richardson, City Magistrate; Mr. Wentworth Stanley; Khan Bahadur A.H.Mama; Mr.Allahbux Gobal; Mr.Hatim Tyabji; and Mr.E.E.Turner, Deputy Inspector General of Police in Sind. Sir John Simon’s son was also present to meet his father, having journeyed from Calcutta specially to do so, where he is employed in Messrs, Mackinnon Mackenzie and co.

             Greetings exchanged, Sir J.Simon said he had enjoyed the journey to Karachi, and added that it was not so dusty as he had been warned that it would be. The Commission spent four hours at Sukkur on Saturday inspecting the Lloyd Barrage, and Sir John remarked that he was very glad of the experience which was specially valuable after having seen the newly-opened Wilson dam in the Bombay Presidency Proper. The Simon Commissioners then joined their respective hosts and entered waiting motor cars.

“Simon Go Back”.

           At the Carlton Hotel corner a mass of Simon commission boycotters had collected and lined both sides of the road as far as the entrance to Woodlands. Most of them carried black flage, which were waved aloft frantically as the first car containing the Commissioner-in-Sind and Sir John Simon approached. They shouted; “Simon Go Back: India Does not Want you,” alternated with “shame,” repeated with parrot like precision. Now and then a few boycotters forgot themselves and yelled out “Hurrah.” The whole crowd seemed to be bubbling with geniality, and the commissioners were highly amused as they drove past the sea of smiling faces—faces which did not suit the epithets they were uttering. The demonstrators were orderly and had just completed a procession through the city which began at 5 a.m. The police arrangements were excellent, and there were no untoward incidents of any kind.

          After the Simon seven had passed through the lines of the demonstrators the cars conveying the Indian Central Committee—whose special train arrived ten minutes after the first one—made their appearance and were greeted similarly by the Simon Commission boycotters. The members drove to their respective residences and the demonstrators afterwards and were not seen during the remainder of the day.

Accommodation.

      The even Simon Commissioners are being housed in Karachi as follows.

            Name.                              Staying At or with.

  Sir JOHN SIMON,                                Govt.Home

  LORD BURNHAM                               Govt.Home          

  RT.HON.VERNON HARTSHORN           Mr.E.E.Turner

  MAJOR ATLEE                                     Mr.E.E.Turner

  RT.HON.G.R.LANE FOX                       Mr.A.C.Wild.

  HON, E.C.G.Cadogan                        Mr.A.C.Wild.

  LORD STRANHCONA                           Mr. Wentworth Stanley

       Mr. Stewart, Secretary to the Simon Commission, is also staying at Government House, while Mr. Carter, Assistant Secretary, is the guest of Mr.S.C.Mould.                                                  

At Holy Trinity Church.

 

       At 9-30 Sir John Simon, his son, and the six other Commissioners accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. W.F Hudsin, attended the special Armistice Day Parade Service at Holy Trinity Church; where the Bishop of Lahore preached an inspiring seem on “Toc H.”

        At 10-30 a.m. the Commissioners were present at the Frere Hall to observe the Two Minutes Silence on the terrace, after which Sir John Simon and the Commissioner-in-Sind headed a procession to the Cenotaph and laid wreaths in memory of the fallen. The Commissioners them took up a position near the base of the cenotaph and watched the “March Past” of all garrison troops, ex-service men and Boy Scouts. The party then drove to their respective residences.

 

DINNER PARTY AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE

 

Simon Commission Attends.

         The following dined at Government House last night.

          The Right Hob’ble Sir John Simon, the Right Hon’ble Viscount Burnham, the Right Hon’ble Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, the Hob’ble Edward Cadogan, the Right Hon’ble Vernon Hartshorn, the Right Hon’ble Colony Lane Fox, Major Attlee, Mr. S.F.Stewart, Mr.R.Stopford, Mr.G.Simon, the Hon’ble Sir Sankaran Nair, the Hon’ble Sir Arthur Froom, the Hon’ble Sardar Shivdevsing Uberoi, the Hon’ble Rajah Nawab Ali Khan, Nawab Sir Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Dr. Sir Harising Gour, Dr.A.Suhrawardy, Rao Bahadur M.C.Rajah Mr.H.H.F.M.Tyler, Khan Bahadur Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto, the Bishop of Lahore, Mr.A.C.Wild, Mr.Rupchand Bilaram, Sir Jehangir Kothari, Mr.J.R.N.Graham, Haji Abdulla Haroon, Mr.W.B.Hossack, Mr.E.L.Price, Mr.C.S.Wentworth, Mr.W.McCulloch, Rao Bahadur Shivrattan Mohatta, Khan Bahadur Wali Mahomed, Mir Ayub Khan, Mr.W.N.Richardson, and Rao Bahadur Shewaram Dewanmal.

AN INDIAN PRESS AGENCY.

 

Admission Pass Suspended.

           On the eve of the meeting of the Simon Conference to-day the following notice was found placed in the Pres Room. “The attention of the Conference has been called to the repeated action of one of the Indian Press Agencies in issuing for publication what purports to be a comprehensive summary of the confidential memoranda which had been entrusted to the members of the conference in strict confidence. In the interests of the other press agencies and news papers which endeavour to respect the convention under which the Conference is working it is necessary for the Conference to mark its sense of disservice done by such conduct to its enquiry. The Pass hitherto granted to the effending Agency for admission to the Conference Room is therefore suspended.”

 

SIMON COMMISSION AT SUKKUR

 

Visit to the Lloyd Barrage.

                                              

Sir John Simon on “Publicity”.

    SUKKUR, Saturday.

            “This work will be more permanent than the Himalayas,” was the enthusiastic remark of one of the engineers when the Simon Commission and the Central Committee spent a most interesting four hours visiting the world’s greatest barrage work at Sukkur.

             The Commissioners were received at Sukkur by Sir Ghulam Hidayatullah, General Member in Charge of Public Works, Mr.R.T.Harrison Secretary to the Bombay Government, P.W.D. Mr.C.S.C. Harrison, Chief Engineer,Sukkur Barrage, and Mr.Musto Superintendeng Engineer and Mr.Satarawala, Chief Engineer, of irrigation Proper. They motored to the Barrage works where various officers of the Irrigation Department explained the progress of the work. The visitors were for instance informed that nine tenths of the real masonary work in the river bed had now been covered for ever and they were shown under construction canal regulators, the central one being called the rice canal, as it would water millions of acres of rice land and is the biggest canal in the world. It is stated that it will be two and a half times the size of the Suez Canal.

           Sir John Simon was interested to learn that this would cultivate an area as large as the arable land England and Wales, and what amazed Lord Burnham was the fact that this Barrage alone would do more irrigation than all the irrigation works in Egypt put together. Sir John Simon was also heard remarking that this was practical Socialism for such a large work to be done by a Government Department. He said that private contractors in any other part of the world would have advertised it and illustrated papers would have been full of pictures but the Government officers were doing their work without getting any notice. He was particularly pleased to find the old system of cultivation through bullocks drawing water from the well side by the side of this great irrigation works. He remarked that irrigation officials could have no better form of advertisement than a picture of this well.

           Lord Strathcona found in it an instance of the East meeting the West, while Dr. Suhrawardy remarked that it was a case if the unchanging East and the impatient West.

            The visitors were interested to find the stone laid recently by Sir Leslie Wilson commemorating his interest in the Lloyd Barrage works. They visited the power house and proceeded to the left bank by the tug Kalabagh.They were particularly interested in the stone dressing shop and the Rohri Quarry.

             In taking leave of Sir Ghulam Hidayatullah and the officers of the Barrage and the P.W.D. Sir John Simon expressed their in debtedness to them for a most interesting time. He was interested to learn that they were working twenty-four hours by shift which he said was as bad as work on the Statutory Commission. A most enjoyable afternoon was spent and it proved very instructive to the members of both bodies. —- Associated Press.

 

(The Daily Gazette, Date: 12, November, 1928)

 

 

 

SIND MUHAMMAD ASSOCIATION

(Great mention at Sukkur, presided

over by Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto,

held on 21 May 1930.)

 

Following Resolutions were passed:

 

The Resolutions,

1.   A loof from Civil Disobedience.

The first resolution was moved by Nawab Mahrab khan, Chief of Bugti, C.S.I., C.B.E., and seconded by Khan Bahadur Mahomed Panah khan, M.L.A. It ran as follow:-

 “This meeting deplores the lamentable attitude of the followers of the Extremist school of thought in rejecting the friendly offer of a Round Table conference extended by His Excellency the Viceroy, designed for the good and welfare of the country; and instead, adopting destructive measures such as civil Dis-obedience, calculated to harm the best interest to the country, and which has brought in its train disorders, riots and blood shed. This meeting therefore urges all Indians, particularly Mussulmans, to keep themselves a loof from it.

 

2.   An Apperal to Sister Communities:-

The second resolution was moved by Nawab Ghaibi khan, Chief of Chandies and seconded by Khan Bahadur Khuhro, M.L.C. It ran as follows:-

“This meeting further appeals to the Sister Community and those representing the Congress in particular to discontinue their present political tactics, as the sad experience at Peshawar, Delhi, Chittagong, Sholapur and other places convinces all of the terrible consequences that are bound to follow. If they be determined continue and preech lawlessness, more so in the districts of Upper Sind, the results of the general spread of lawlessness would be disastrous both to Hindus and to Mussalmans.

 

3.   Round Table Conference Representation.

The third resolution was moved by Hon’ble Mian Ali Bux, Member of Council of State, and Seconded by Khan Bahadur Jan Mohammed Khan M.L.C. It rans as follows:-

“This meeting appeals to His Excellency the Viceroy to give Mohammedans of Sind, who form two-thirds of the entire Muslim Population of the Bombay, Presidency, and adequate representation at the Round Table Conference.”

 

4.   Publicity.

The fourth resolution moved by Sardar Wahid Bux Khan Bhutto, M.C. and seconded by Khan Bahadur Sardar Sher Mohammed Khan, Bijarani, and M.L.C. was as follows:

“This meeting further resolves that wide publicity should be given to the decision arrived at in this meeting among the masses through the agency of the press and by distribution of one lakh of leaklets.”

 

 

             (The Daily Gazette, Date: 05, May, 1930)

 

 

 

 

SIND MUHAMEDAN ASSOCIATION

 

Election of General Secretary Postponed

 

 

        The General meeting of the Sind Muhammadan Association was held at Sukkur on 2^nd July, under the president ship of Shan Nawaz Bhutto, Kt.

       The first question on the Agenda was that of the election of the General Secretary. There were two candidates in the field viz, Mr. G.M. Syed President D.L.B Karachi and Mr. Noor Mahomed Sujawal, M.L.C., B.A., LL.B.,

        Mr. Alimuhamed Rashidi, seconded by Syed Mahbubali Shah proposed the name of Mr.Syed while Khan Sahib Allahbuksh, M.L.C., supported by Hon. Main Alibuksh, M.C.S, proposed an amendment that the election should be post poned till the ensuing general election of officer bearers next January.

          Eventually, Khan Sahib Allah buksh’s amendment, suggesting that the election of the General Secretary be postponed till the ensuing election of all office-bearers (in January, 1931) was carried.

           The following resolutions were adopted:-

       

1.   Resolution requesting Government to give adequate representation to the Muslims of Sind on the Boundary Commission.

2.    Resolution expressing re-sentment at the Simon Commission Report regarding Muslim demands and expressed that no constitution will be acceptable to Muslims until the important demands like Sind Separaton, Reforms to N.W.F. Province, Muslim representation in various Provinces were acceded to.

3.   Resolution requesting Government to appoint a Muslim Registrar in the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of Sind.

4.   Resolution requesting Government to reduce the rate of land revenue.  

5.   Mr. G.M.Syed was appointed to inquire into the matter of mujawar war for the Karachi wakf property.

6.   Resolution sympathy sing with the Muslim workers of Sukkur in the matter of Hindu trouble over the Nebha Mosque and well.

                        The meeting then ended.

 

                         (Date: 08, July, 1930)

 

                         

SIND MUSLIM LEADERS MEET

Yesterday’s Discussion Of communal Award.

RESOLUTION DEPLORING ABEYANCE OF SIND SEPARATION PROBLEM.

 

    The work of the political conference convented by Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto started bungalow of K.B.Wali Mahomed Hassanali at 10 a.m. yesterday. Forty-two Muslim leaders and representatives representing all parts of the province participated in the meeting.

LEADERS PRESENT.

      Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, Kt., C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C., K.B.Mahomed Ayub khubro, M.L.C., Larkana, K.B.Jan Mahomed Khan Pathan, M.L.C., Sukkur; Shaikh Abdul Majid, M.L.C., Karachi; K.M.Imam Bux, Khan Jatoi, M.L.C., Nawabshah; Pir Bakdar Shah Zamindar and President, Matiari Municipality; Mr.Katchi B.A. Zamindar of Dadu; Moulvi Mahomed Muaz, President Khilafat Committee, Nawabashah; Seth Ghulam Hussain Chagla, Karachi; Mr.Abdulmajid khan, K.S.Fazul Illahi Khan, Karachi; K.S.Burhamkhan, Karachi,  Mr.Ahmedkhan Bhutto,Larkana; Mr.Ghulam Hussein Bhaledino, Pleader, Syed Mahmoodshah Ghazi, Karachi; Mr.Mahomed Usman, Soomro; Mr.Kazi Abdul Rahman, K.S.Allahbux Gabol and K.B.Wali Mahomed Hassanaliy , of Karachi; K.S.Mirza Farukhbeg, Nawabshah; Mahomed Alim shah, K.B. Allahbux Jaibani, Sukkur, Mehar; Wadero Nur Mahomed Thebo; Serai Pir Bux Khuhawar, K.S.Dost Mahomed khan, Rais Najamaldiakhan,Syed Nurmahomed Shah Syed Muradali Shah; Mr.Ghulam Hussein Khan, Editor Mian Fakir Mahomed; Jam Murad Ali Khan; Mr. Kazi Abdulaziz, Mr.Abdulkadir, Syed Miran Mahomed Shah, Hyderabad; Syed Haji Abdul Rahim Shah,Karachi;Mr.Kazi Khudabux, Pleader Karachi; Syed Wali Mahomedshah, Zamindar; Mian Badarldin, Shahdadkot.

         The convener thanked them all for the trouble they had taken and drew their attention to the letter of invitation in which the objects of the conference had been defined.

DISCUSSION INITIATED.

          Thereafter Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto was formally elected President of the conference. He called upon Shaikh Abdul Majid to explain the terms of the Premier’s communal Award to the meeting which the latter did, thus initiating a general discussion.

           A good number of those present made interesting speeches and bitterly deplored the question of Sind Separation being thrown into abeyance. Shaikh Abdul Majid was of the opinion that no constitution. Whatever its terms as regards the other demands of the Muslim community, will be acceptable to the Muslims of India unless it embodied the separation of Sind as an accomplished fact.

 

K.B.KHUHRO.

         K.B.Khuhro who followed him drew the attention of the Muslims to the agitation of Anti-Sind separation of the so-called Nationalist Hindus. He said that he had been to Bombay recently where a willful campaign of misrepresentation about Sind Separation had poisoned the minds of some of the leaders of the Presidency proper.

          Mr. Abdul Hamid Khan advised the acceptance of the award — of course if Sind is separated from Bombay and he further opined that one reason why all that Muslims demanded had not been conceded, may be due to the suspicion of the Government that Mussalmans were somewhat slippery friends.

           He was a given a retort by Kazi Abdur Rahman that Government who had been all along trying to placate the Congress and the Hindus was more slippery than the Muslims, who he said did desire an alliance with the party which accepted their demands.

JOINT ELECTORATES.

               Seth Ghulamali Chagia favoured joint electorates hoping thereby an amicable settlement.

                Wadero Md. Usman Soomro made an appeal to the Muslim leaders to mix with the poor people, to visit their homes and villages, if they wanted to do real good to the community. Some other gentlemen also spoke on various aspects of the communal award. Before the conference dispersed at 3 o’clock, a set of resolutions the main one given below were unanimously passed.

RESOLUTIONS PASSED.

                  The following resolution were adopted unanimously;–

       Resolution 1. — This conference of leading Moslems of Sind extends its whole hearted support to the resolutions passed at the recent meeting of the Executive Board of All India Moslem Conference held on 21^st and 22^nd August at Delhi and fully approves of the views expressed and the resolutions adopted by the said Board with regard to the Communal Award.

              This conference further desires to express dissatisfaction at the treatment meted out to Moslems of the Punjab, Bengal, and Bombay Presidency Proper in so far as the Punjab and Bengal have been deprived of the statutory majority and so far as Bombay Presidency is concerned the Mussalmans have been allotted only 17 per cent, with population of 9.p.c as against 22 p.c. allotted Hindus and Sikhs in North Western Frontier Province with population of 8 p.c. only. It is sincerely trusted that His Majesty’s Government will be pleased to reconsider position taken by them with regard to this and other points mentioned in the resolutions passed by the Moslem conference.

               The resolution was proposed by K.B. Khuhro, M.L.C., and seconded K.B. Jan Mahomed Khan Pathan M.L.C and was unanimously adopted.

            Resolution No. 2— This conference of leading Moslems of Sind while appreciating the action of His Majesty’s Government of having recognized the principle of Sind Separation feels constrained to express its strong disapproval of Government having allowed the question of Sind Separation to continue to remain in suspense although the case for constituting Sind into separate autonomous province forthwith is very strong and unchallengeable.

            The Conference emphatically urges upon Government to effect sepation of Sind immediately failing which His Majesty’s Government will forfeit the entire sympathy and support of Moslem community as a whole.

             Proposed by Shaikh Abdul Majied M.L.C., and seconded by K.B.Ghulam Nabi Shah M.L.C, Pir Bakadar Shah and Kazi Abdul Rahman and unanimously adopted.

SIND SEPARATION DAY.

                It was resolved to organise a Sind Separation day on the 16^th September. Further it was decided to hold a Sind Separation Conference on 15^th November 1932 at Hyderabad.

                A permanent Sind Separation Committee was to be formed and in order to enable it to function and further the cause of Sind Separation a permanent fund was to be instituted and an English daily started.

                 A deputation was formed to wait upon His Excellency the Viceroy in connection with the question of Sind Separation.

 

 

(The Daily Gazette, Date: 02, September, 1932)

 

AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY SIND MUHAMMAD ASSOCIATION TO GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY.

               At the Frere Hall on 13.01.1933 His Excellency the Governor of Bombay received an address from the Sind Muhammadan Association where President Sir Shah Nawaz khan Bhutto, K.T., C.I.E., O.B.E., M.L.C., was presented to the Governor by the Collector of Karachi.

               Sir Shah Nawaz read the following address:-

                To His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Fredrick Hugh Sykes, P.C., G.C.I.E. , C.B.E. , K.C.B. , L.M.G. , Governor of Bombay.

                May it please Your Excellency,

                We, the President and members of the Sind Muhammadan Association on behalf of ourselves and the Muhammadans of this province respectfully offer our most sincere and hearty welcome to Your Excellency and Lady Sykes on this your third Visit to Sind.

                Your Excellency is perhaps aware that the people of Sind have just reasones to feel proud of their country. Historically as you know Sind presents a few outstanding features. The recent excavations at Mohen-Jo-Daro have revealed to the world that while many parts of the Globe were yet in the dark Sind had attained a very high standard of culture and civilization. And she may rightly claim to be the gateway of Islam. It was through her portals that Islam conveyed to India the gospel of peace, learning and good government. It is noteworthy, Your Excellency that there are very few countries in the world which  have experienced such swift changes of ruling powers as Sind has; which were of far reaching effect. And although life in these circumstances must be hurried and changeful, the soil and stone of Sind still reveal the achievements of distant past. The sum-total of British contributions to the prosperity and well being of Sind we leave to the future historians to record; but we can not help mentioning here that we are proud to belong to a country which has become the home of the greatest Engineering feel in the world. Lastly it is an obvious fact that in on other part of India have the people maintained such high traditions of loyalty towards the Crown, as have the Mussalmans of this Province. While they are no less anxious to get reforms than other communities, they have kept themselves singularly aloof from all anti-government activities of the extremist element. Even in the recent civil dis-obedience movement they have not in any way allowed themselves to be carried away by the subtle persuasions of those who have tried sedulously to win them over to their side. For this profound sense of loyalty and unremitting self-restrait Sind has every reason to feel proud.

 

Governor’s Solicitude.

 

      We are gratified to note that personally your Excellency has always evinced deep solicitude for the welfare of the people of this province, although your sympathy has not found the found full scope it desired on account of the financial difficulty which has always confronted your Government. We are fully alive to the fact that if economic depression had not cost its blight on the world your regine would have added a golden page to the annals of Sind’s progress. Nevertheless, your name will be shrined in memory’s light for the completion of the great Barrage Scheme will always be associated with you. And let us hope that this great achievement will prove a source of never failing benefit to the people of Sind. It is very likely that on account of the separation of Sind at no disant date your Excellency may be remembered as the last Governor of Sind, as a part of Bombay Presidency.

          That your Excellency has always cherished warm sympathy for the agriculturists of Sind is evident from the rebate allowed by your Government in the land assessments during the last few years. It is however regretable that the land Alienation Bill has not yet been passed much to the detriment of the Sind agriculturists whose condition is deteriorating rapidly for want of such an enactment.

 

RUINED ZAMINDARS

           Your Excellency, the economic depression which has been prevailing for the last three or four years has utterly ruined the Zamindars of Sind. It is a stern fact that they cannot pay their land assessments at the present rates. It is therefore imperatively necessary to grant them a liberal concession. The Governments of the Punjab and United Provinces have, in the last few years evinced deep anxieity to allay the distress of their people by granting them greater rebates than those granted by other governments in India so far. We venture to submit that your Excellency will be graciously pleased to persuade your government to follow the example off these governments and give us responsible relief in the shape of a rebate in the land assessment this year also. The Sind agriculturists while fully appreciating the financial difficulty of the Government are justified in submitting, much to their disappointment that it is not possible for them to satisfy the land revenue demand without a rebate. We sincerely trust that your Excellency will take early steps to apply a soothing balm to the distressed Zamindars of Sind.

 

NEED FOR ECONOMY

             Although we expect that before long Sind will be constituted a separate Governor’s Province, yet till that happens we would respectfully beg to bring a few important matters to your kind notice:-

             The expenditure which at present is being incurred on administration is out of all proportion to the carrying capacity of the province. It is no doubt, satisfactory to note that your Excellency’s Government realizing this fact appointed a reorganization committee which has just finished its lasours, but much still remains to be done in this direction. If some money is saved by effecting retrenchment it may be spent on education and on those nation building departments which at this moment are realy in a state of starvation. Compulsory education has not yet been introduced on a wide scale and the ever growing demand of opening new Schools for girls has not received adegnate response. If financial difficulties be allowed to hamper educational progress to the existing extent, the consequences will be grave. Quite a number of youths of schooling age will have to go without education and will thus become a Perrennial burden both on Government and the people. The real problem too deserves on equal amount of consideration, for much of the economic welfare of the people, particularly welfare after the Barrage, will disappear before you lay down the reins of government and that you will be in a position to leare behind a useful programmer for the advancement of the people of this Province.

                                           ADVISORY COMMITTEES.

 

            The Barrage canals here just come into operation, and the relutionary developments that must take place as consequence in the agricultural problems of Sind necessity the formation of Advisery Committees of the representatives of Zamindars, elected by their respective Zamindary Associations after the system prevailing in the Punjab. These committees should remain in constant touch with the officials to whom the grievances of the agriculturists should be easily conveyed without employing with cumbersome formalities and tedions technicalities. This arrangement will enable Zamindars to exchange their views with the authorities off and on and seek their advice in agricultural and irrigational matters; we hope that your Excellency will hear no objection to acceding to this legitionate request of ours.

     

            The problem of services affecting the Moslems is Sind in also worthy of mention her. We venture to submit that your Excel, Personal attention is needed to make the policy, laid down in the recent past more effective.

            

              Your Excellency, we are indeed very sorry to contemplate that this may be your last visit to Sind as Governor of Bombay. But we assure your Excellency that the memory of your rule will ever remain with us as one of your most precious possessions. In your good self Sind had always had a sympathetic Governor, whose administrative ability was second to none.

 

                  We are glad that your Excellency has give us this opportunity f meeting you before you leave the presidency and we wish you and lady Sykes farewell and bon-voyage.

 

 

MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATON

                      We beg to subscribe ourselves Shah Nawaz Bhutto (K.T) CIE, OBE, MHC (President).

            MD.Ayoob S.khuhro, KB, MLC, (Vice President) and ag.General Secretary.

            Karachi City and District:-

            

             Messrs, Seth Haji Abdullah Haroon, MLC, K.B.Wali Muhammad Hassanaily, Hatim A.Alvi, Shaikh Abdul Majid,M.L.C., K.S.Allah Bux Gabol, K.S.Abdul Shakoor, Mir Ayoob Khan, Bar-at-law Pir Ghulam Hydershah, M.L.C.Syed Abdul Rahim Shah, Wadero Mohd, Usman Sumro, Syed Shah Nawaz Shah, Abdullah J.M.Haji Dossul.

            Hyderabad District: – Messrs.Makhdoom Ghulam Hyder of Hala, Mr.Miran Mohammad Shah, M.L.C., Mr.Noor Mohammad B.A.LL., Pir Baqadar Shah, Mir Bundahally Khan Talpur MLC.

 

           Dadu District: Mr.G.M.Syed, K.B.Mohmed Partal Kalhoro, Waderp Mohamed Ismail Mahessar, Mr.Najamdin B.A., LL.B.

         

           Larkana District: – Messrs.K.B.Haji Amir Ali Lahorei, OBE, Wadero Nabi Bux Bhutto M.L.C., K.B.Ali Hassan Khan Hakro, K.B.Ghulam Mohamed Isran.

        

         Sukkur District: – K.B.Jan Mohammaed Khan M.L.C., K.B.Allah Bux, M.L.C., K.B,Mohamed Pannah Dakhan, K.B. Kaisar Khan Bozdar, K.S.Pir Rasool Bux Shah, The Hon-ble Main Ali Bakhish, Mr.Rahim Bux Wd, K.B. Pir Bux C.I.E., Mr. Abdul Hamid Khudadad khan, Main Karamali Shah Syed.

 

          U.S.F District: – K.B.Sher Mohamed Khan Bijarani, M.L.C., K.B.Dilmurad khan Khoso, K.S. Sardar Abdul Rahim, K.B. Shakar Khan Suhrani, M.S.Jaffar Khan Burdi, Wadero Noor Mohammed Khan Golo.

 

         Nawabshah District: – Messra K.S. Mirza Faruk Beg, Mr. Mohamed Azam, K.B.Imam Bux Jatoi, K.B.Jam Jan Mohd, MLC. K.S. Gul Mohammad Khero.

      

        Thar and Parkar District: – K.B Ghulam Nabi Shah, MLC, Rais Jan Mohomed Bhurgri, M.L.C., Nawab K.B Jam Kambhu Khan, K.B. Mir Allahad Khan.

 

GOVERNOR’S REPLY

 

        In reply his Excellency the Governor Sind.

       

       Mr. President and Members of the Sind Mahomadan Association.

      

       I am very glad indeed to find myself amongst the organised representative of the largest community in Sind, and to have this opportunity of listening to the presentation of your aspirations and some of your grievances. As you rightly say, I have always been very interested in and feal the meanest sympathy with Mahomdans of Sind. I admire hem as a virile race, with their pride in their country, its history and its position in Islam, and I am very glad, too, to associate myself with what you say in regard to the attitude the large bulk of your community has taken up in regard to the political situation—that of working a strenuously as anyone for political progress but keeping rigidly aloof from the agitation against Government which has been carried to by other sections of the populations.

   

     Good Sense.

   

       While thanking you for the loyalty which your community has so consistently shown towards the crown and the Government I hope I ways also congratulate you on your good sence and sound political judgement, I think events have now unmistakably shown that those who have adopted your outlook have contributed for more to accelerate the progress of political reform than those who have adopted the disastrous policy of causing all possible trouble to Government.  

      

       I congratulate you also in that you seem likely to obtain that which you have so long pressed for – the separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency, without saying any thing about the merits of such separation, I can only say that you have considently worked for it and now seem likely to obtain it, a result which it may be considered doubtful whether you would have obtained had you adopted the policy of unconstitutional agitation.

 

       Misleading Comparisons.

 

       I am glad that you appreciate that Government have been able to do for you in the matter of granting rebates in the land assessment during the last few years feel, however that it is perhaps unfortunate to attempt to draw comparizons between what we have done and what has been done by the neighbouring Governments of the Punjab and the United Provinces, There is a saying that comparisions are obvious, but however this may be, they are certainly part to be misleading, and if a detailed examination of the rates levied in Sind and in the Punjab is made, I think it will show that even after all the concessions that have recently been given by our neighbours to their cultivators are still paying an assessment fully a high as yours.

 

     I quite appreciate your disappointment about the Land Alienation Bill having been dropped by Government but I think you realize that he occasion is hardly prepitions for taking  up this matter again now, as the decision not to proceed with the measure was taken as recently as 1929, and although I agree that with the opening of the barrage conditions may be held to have changed sufficiently to justify a reconsideration, it would heard by seem justifiable to embark upon legislation of this nature so soon before the introduction of the reformed constitution.

 

     Measures of Economy

    

      I am very glad to hear that you appreciate that efforts that the Government are making towards economy, and I have every hope that ultimately very considerable results may be obtained by introducing some of the recommendations of the Re-organisation Committee. I would say however, that any tendency to expect too rapid results should be avoided, as many of the proposals are by their very nature such as cannot be introduce in full for some time to come. As you say, whilst feeling the greatist solicitate for innumerable aspects of immense importance such as education, the last few years have been terribly crippled by finance.

 

       In Sind, however, I hope that now that the Barrage has been completed and the new Canals opened we shall be able to effect some saving at an early date by curtailing the Irrigation establishment. Our Present establishment is based on the fact that we are engaged in a change over from inundation canals to Barrage irrigation, which is sound to cause a certain amount of dislocation which might be seriously aggravated unless there were an adequate staff to deal with it, As soon as the new system gets satisfactorily established, the extra establishment will be dispensed with and considerable savings thus effected.

 

        Road Communications

 

         My Government are fully alive to the necessity for the provision of real communications in Sind, but here again they are seriously hamptered by finance, Nevertheless as you know, the two Government of India experts, Messrs, Mitchell and Kirkness, recently met the Sind Communications Board, and the question of the development of the necessary communications in the area of the barrage canals on proper lines is receiving careful attention all round.

 

         Turning to the all-important question of education, I am very glad that you stress the paramount necessity of education for your community, I would ask you, however to consider whether the system of scholarships now onwarded on a growing scale by local bodies are achieving that end, I fully realise that this system has produced good results in the past, and has enabled youths of humble percentage to obtain educations sufficient to fit them for holding comparatively high positions.

 

         But it is for consider whether this system has not reached the limit of its usefulness and wether it is capable of coping with the ever widening demand for higher education that modern progress has developed, In may other countries of the world well-to-do people are prepared to pay themselves in order to secure for the their sons the best possible education, and I think their must be many well-to-do persons among the Zamindars of Sind who could affored at least to contribute towards the expenses of providing higher education for the rising generation. May I also say on this subject how glad I am to hear that there is a noticeable and growing desire for female education amongst your community.

        Suggestion to be investigated.

 

          Turning to your request for the formation of advisory committees of Zamindars elected by their Zamindari Association I will certainly have this further investigated but would not your suggestion appear to conflict with what I have heard of the traditions of Sind, where the prevailing practice has been for individuals to approach the district officers direct, and where the system has been brought to yield excellent results? As I say I do not wish in the least to forward your suggestion for advisory Committees elected by Zamindari Associations and will have it looked into with the proviso of course that it would be necessary to systematize the establishment of such associations so that it could be ensured that they were truly representative. I under stand, incidently, that the desire of Government for the formation of Zamindars association on systematized lines has met on the whole with poor response, although rules in this connection were promulgated in 1923.

 

            I think I have now said some thing in regard to most of the questions you have mentioned, but I will in any case have the all thoroughly examined on my return to Bombay.

 

            Gentlemen, the last few years have, as I have said been difficultious, but I am sure that if we all sink out comparatively small differences and work to-gether the horizon will soon clear and the introduction of the new constitutions will be of great advantage to all the people of India.

 

             Let me conclude, I thanking you once more very much for the welcome you have extended to lady Sykes and myself, and for the kind words you have spoken in your address. This may be last visit of a Governor of Bombay including Sind, and I am afraid, as you say, that this is probably the last time I may come to your hospitable country, but you may be sure that I shall always continue to follow the fortunes of your land and your community with great sympathy and interest.

 

              Following his reply Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto presented the members of the Sind Mahomadan Associations to His Excellency. This terminated the proceedings and the Governor then returned to Government House.

 

 (The Daily Gazette, Dated 16, January, 1933).

 

         

 

 

 

انگريزي دور جي سياست – هڪ جهلڪ

 

تعارف :

انگريزن جي راڄ واري عرصي جي سياسي تاريخ کي پنجن مکيه دؤرن ۾ ورهائي سگهجي ٿو . پهرين دؤر کي ”بيزاريءَ جو دؤر“ ، ٻئي دؤر کي ”بيداريءَ جو دؤر“ ، ٽئين دؤر کي ”هنگامي دؤر“ چوٿين دؤرکي”ڇڪتاڻ جو دؤر“ ۽آخري دؤرکي ”نئين احساس جو دؤر“ چئي سگهجي ٿو .

پهرين ، يعنيٰ ”بيزاريءَ جي دؤر “ جو آغاز 1843ع کان ٿئي ٿو ، جڏهن سنڌ واسي پنهنجي قومي آزادي وڃائي دنيا جي وڏي حصي تي حڪمراني ڪندڙ فرنگي سامراج کان بيزار ۽ متنفر ٿي چڪا هئا . سنڌ واسين جو ملڪ، جو فرنگي راڄ جي اثر هيٺ اچڻ کان اڳ پوري ننڍي کنڊ جي تاريخ ۾ گڏجي حڪومت ڪرڻ جو هڪ ڪامياب تجربو ڪري چڪو هو ، سو ، نڀاڳي نيپئر جي اچڻ کان پوءِ صوبائي حيثيت به وڃائي بمبئي پرڳڻي جو حصو بڻجي ويو هو . هيءَ هيڏي ساري تبديلي سنڌ واسين کي فرنگين کان بيزار ڪرڻ جو باعث بڻي . ڪن ماڻهن انهيءَ بيزاريءَ ۽ نفرت ۾ پنهنجي وطن جا وڻ ڇڏي ڏنا . باقي هتي رهيل ماڻهن انهيءَ بيزاريءَ سبب پنهنجي نئين پود کي فرنگي سرڪار جي ٻولي ، تهذيب ۽ تمدن کان پري رکڻ جي ڪوشش ڪئي .

اهو ”بيزاريءَ وارو دؤر“ 1857ع ۾ پهچي ”بيداريءَ وارو دؤر“ ۾ بدلجي ويو . انهيءَ سال جڏهن سموري ننڍي کنڊ ۾ بغاوتون ٿيون ته سنڌ به انهيءَ ڏس ۾ پٺتي نه رهي . انهيءَ سلسلي ۾ سڀ کان پهريون 8 سيپٽيمبر 1857ع تي حيدرآباد جي فوجين بغاوت جو منصو بو سٽيو ، ليڪن اڳ ۾ ئي سرڪار کي خبر پئجي وئي ، جنهن اٺن (8) ڄڻن کي گولين جو نشانو بڻايو ۽ باقي ملوث سپاهين کي ملڪ بدر ڪري ڇڏيو . 13 سيپٽميبر 1857ع تي وري ساڳئي ئي نموني سپاهين کي پڪڙيو ويو ، جن مان يارهن (11) ڄڻن کي انهيءَ هنڌ تي توب جي منهن ۾ ڏنو ويو . جتي اڄ ايمپريس مارڪيٽ اڏيل آهي . شڪارپور ۽ سکر جي باغين کي به ڪاميابي حاصل نه ٿي ، جن مان چئن (4) کي ڪورٽ مارشل ڪري گوليون هنيون ويون هيون .

هن جنگ ۾ رڳو سپاهين ئي بهرو نه ورتو هو ، ليڪن سنڌ واسي به ساڳئي نموني سان ساڻن ڀاڱي ڀائيوار رهيا . نه رڳو ايترو پر هيءَ هڪ تاريخي حقيقت آهي ته سپاهي ته پوءِ صبر ڪري ويٺا پر سنڌ واسي سسيءَ ۽ ساهه جي پرواهه نه ڪندي فرنگين جو مقابلو ڪندا رهيا . جيڪب آباد جي مير درياهه خان ۽ مير دلمراد خان انهيءَ سبب ڪري ڪاري پاڻيءَ جي سزا ڪاٽي . 1857ع جي انهن واقعن کان پوءِ کين هڪ اڌ دفعو ڪراچيءَ ۾ فرنگين تي حملو ڪيو ، هن طرف وري ڪرڻ سنگهه ٻن هزار ڪولين جو جٿو ٺاهي ٿر پارڪر ۾ مختيار جي ڪورٽ ساڙي بغاوت جو جهنڊو بلند ڪيو .

جيئن ته آزاديءَ جي هن ويڙهه ۾ عوام کي ايتري ڏٺي وائٺي فتح حاصل نه ٿي ، ان ڪري هن بندوق بدران تدبر جي گوليءَ کي استعمال ڪرڻ گهريو ۽ ائين سنڌ توڙي هند ۾ سياسي جماعتن ٺهڻ جو رواج پيو . انهيءَ سلسلي ۾ سنڌ جي پهرين سياسي جماعت ”سنڌ سڀا“ هئي ، جيڪا آل انڊيا ڪانگريس ڪاميٽيءَ کان به اڳ يعنيٰ 1882ع ۾ جڙي ، ائين سنڌ جي سياسي تاريخ ۾ ”هنگامي دؤر“ جو آغاز ٿيو .

هن ”هنگامي دؤر“ جي سياست اڳتي هلي ڪيترائي رنگ بدلايا ، وقت جي حڪومت ”ويڙهايو ۽ حڪومت ڪريو “ جي حڪمت عملي اختيار ڪئي انهيءَ سبب رنگ ،نسل، ذات پات ، ۽ دين ڌرم جهڙا عنصر اسان جي سياست تي اثر انداز ٿيڻ لڳا . ۽ سنڌ جي سياست ”ڪشمڪش ۽ ڇڪتاڻ جي دؤر“ ۾ داخل ٿي . هن دؤر کي وري ڪانگريس ۽ مسلم ليگ عروج تي رسايو ، جنهن ۾ ڏٺي وائٺي ڪاميابي مسلم ليگ کي ملي .

جڏهن پاڪستان جي قيام جو تصور هڪ حقيقت بڻجي چڪو هو ، تڏهن سنڌ جي هڪ طبقي ۾ هڪ ”نئون احساس“ پيدا ٿيڻ لڳو ، ۽ ان الڳ حيثيت سان پنهنجي جيءَ ۾ جهاتي پائڻ شروع ڪئي، ليڪن وقت جي وهندڙ نديءَ کي روڪڻ ناممڪن هو . ”نئين احساس جي دؤر“ ڪرَ ئي نه موڙيا ته هندوستان جو ورهاڱو ٿيو ۽ ائين انگريزي راڄ واري عرصي جي سياسي تاريخ جو پويون باب به پورو ٿي ويو .

مختلف روپ

جيئن ابتدا ۾ انگريزي دؤر جي سياسي تاريخ کي مختلف دؤرن ۾ ورهايو ويو آهي ، تيئن انهن مختلف دؤرن جو ، مختلف روپن کان به مطالعو ڪري سگهجي ٿو ، انهيءَ دؤر جي سياست کي اسان ڪيترن ئي حصن ۾ ورهائي سگهون ٿا ، جيئن ، ”جاگيردارن جي سياست“، ”غيرفرقيوارانه سياست “، ”مسلمانن جي سياست“، ”هندن جي سياست“ ، ”سرڪاري سياست“، ۽ ”مارڪس وادي سياست “ . اچو ته پنهنجي وڏن جي سياست جا اهي روپ به ڏسندا هلون .

جاگيردارن جي سياست :

انگريزي راڄ کان اڳ سنڌ غير منظم جاگيرداري نظام جي پنجوڙ ۾ ڦاٿل هئي . انگريزن انهيءَ غير منظم گروهه کي منظم ڪري سنڌ جي مٿان هڪ مصيبت مڙهي ڇڏي . 24 مئي 1843ع وارو ڏينهن سنڌ جي تاريخ جو اهو منحوس ڏينهن هو ، جڏهن نيپيئر کي سنڌ تي قبضي ڪندي اڃا آڱرين تي ڳڻڻ جيترا ڏينهن ئي مس گذريا هئا، جو سنڌ ۾ برطانيه جي راڻيءَ جي سالگرهه ملهائي وئي . ان موقعي تي سر چارلس نيپيئر حيدرآباد ۾ هڪ درٻار ڪوٺائي ۽ سنڌ جي جاگيردارن ، وڏيرن ۽ پيرن کي پنهنجي سامراجي حڪومت جي سياسي بعيت ڪرڻ جي آڇ ڏني . انهيءَ موقعي تي وقت جي سرڪار طرفان اهو به اعلان ڪيو ويو ته ”فقط انهن جاگيردارن کي زمين تي قبضي رکڻ جي اجازت ڏني ويندي ، جيڪي اچي درٻار ۾ حاضري ڀريندا ، باقي ٻين جاگيردارن جو جاگيرون ضبط ڪيون وينديون .“

هن درٻار ۾ سنڌ جا ڪيترائي جاگيردار ، پير ۽ وڏيرا شامل ٿيا ، ۽ ايئن پهريون دفعو سنڌ جو مٿيون طبقو عوام کان ڇڄي ڌار ٿيو . هن طبقي مطالعي هيٺ آيل دؤر ۾ رڳو ٻن مفادن جو بچاءُ ڪيو : ”پهريون سرڪاي مفادن جو ، ٻيو پنهنجي طبقي جي مفادن جو ، انهن مفادن جي حفاظت لاءِ انهن پنهنجيون الڳ پارٽيون به ٺاهيون .

جيتوڻيڪ سنڌ جا جاگيردار ، زميندار ، وڏيرا ۽ پير شروع کان وٺي سياست تي حاوي رهيا ، پر جڏهن سياست ”عام “ ٿي وئي ته هنن کي ”خاص“ ٿيڻ لاءِ نج پنهنجون جماعتون به ٺاهڻيون پيون . انهيءَ سلسلي ۾ 1920ع ۾ لاڙڪاڻي ۾ هڪ گڏيل ”سنڌ زميندار ائسوسيئشن“ ٺاهي وئي ۽ اڳتي هلي سنڌ جي هن طبقي ۾ اعزاز ، عزت يا شهرت جهڙن مسئلن تي ڏڦيڙ پيو ته هنن پنهنجي الڳ الڳ هڪ سر جي مسيت ٺاهن شروع ڪئي تان جو اها هڪڙي جماعت ”لوئر سنڌ جاگيردار ائسوسيئشن“ ۽ ”اپر سنڌ جاگيردار ائسوسيئشن “ ۾ ورهائجي وئي . ان اختلاف جو ڪارڻ قومي خدمت نه پر مقامي مفاد يا اعزازن جو حصول ئي هو . ڳالهه وڃي اتي دنگ نه ڪيو ليڪن جيئن جيئن معاشرو دين ڌرم ،ذات پات ، ۽ رنگ نسل جي وبا ۾ وڪوڙيو ويو ، تيئن تيئن اهي جاگيردار به ٽڪرا ٽڪرا ٿيڻ لڳا ، تان جو خير سان ”سنڌ هندو زميندار سڀا“ به پاڻ پڌرايو .

غير فرقيوارانه سياست :

جيتوڻيڪ ”ويڙهايو ۽ حڪومت ڪريو“ فرنگي سرڪار جو سياسي حڪمت عمليءَ جو بنيادي اصول هو ، ۽ انهيءَ اصول جتي ڪٿي پنهنجا رنگ ڏيکاريا ، پر ان جي باوجود سنڌ جي سرزمين تي اهڙين پارٽين به جنم ورتو جن غير فرقيوارانه بنيادن تي ڪنهن وقت تائين عوام کي متحده پيلٽ فارم مهيا ڪنديون رهيون .

”سنڌ سڀا“ انهيءَ قسم جي پهرين جماعت هئي ، جيڪا 1882ع ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي ، سنڌ ۾ انهيءَ کان پوءِ ”سنڌ سوراج سوسائٽي “ ، ”سنڌ ليگ آف پروگريس “، ”نيشنل ڪميونيڪيشن ڪلب “ ، ”سنڌ پولٽيڪل ڪلب “ ۽ ”سنڌ اسيمبلي ڪوئيليشن پارٽي“ جهڙيون پارٽيون غير فرقيوارانه بنيادن تي ٺهيون ۽ جنهن ڪنهن حد ۽ ڪنهن وقت تائين سنڌ مان مذهبي ڪٽرپڻي ، سياسي تنگدليءَ جون پاڙون پٽي رکيون .

انهيءَ سياسي پارٽين ، ڪلبن ۽ سوسائٽين کان سواءِ ”سنڌ پرونشنل ڪانفرنس“ کي به اسان غير فرقيوارانه سياست جي حصي ۾ شامل ڪري سگهون ٿا . هنن ڪانفرنس جو آغاز 1896ع ۾ سڏايل ”نائين ممبئي پرونشل ڪانفرنس“ ، منعقد ڪراچيءَ کان ٻارهن سال پوءِ يعنيٰ 1908ع کان ٿيو ، اهي ڪانفرنسون پنهنجي دؤر ۾ هندو مسلم اتحاد جو عملي مظهر هيون ، انهن ڪانفرنسن ۾ هندو ، مسلمان ، سک ۽ پارسي وغيره شامل ٿيندا هئا .

مسلمانن جي سياست :

سنڌ ۾ مسلمانڪي سياست جو آغاز ”مجمع محمدي“ جي قيام سان گڏ ٿيو ، جيڪا 16 مارچ 1884ع تي قائم ٿي ۽ ٿوري وقت اندر انهيءَ جون سنڌ جي مخلتف هنڌن تي شاخون به کليون . ان جماعت ئي اڳتي ”سنڌ محمدن ائسوسيئشن“ جو روپ ورتو ، جيتوڻيڪ جماعتن جي حڪمت عملي سرڪار کان هٿ ٻڌي پنڻ تي ٻڌل هئي ، پر پوءِ به سنڌ جي سياسي ارتقا ۾ هن جماعت جي سياسي ، سماجي ، مذهبي ۽ تعليمي خدمتن کي نظر انداز ڪري نٿو سگهجي . اها ٻي ڳالهه آهي ته هي جماعت اڳتي هلي سرڪار جي ”جي حضوري“ جو نادر نمونو بڻجي وئي .

”سنڌ محمدن ائسوسئيشن“ جڏهن عوام جو اعتماد وڃائي ويٺي ، ته ان جي ضد ۾ 1917ع ۾ ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ قائم ٿي . هي ليگ هڪ الڳ ۽ خودمختيار جماعت هئي جنهن جو عملي طور تي ”آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ“ سان تر جيترو به واهپو يا واسطو نه هو . ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ جي تاريخ ۾ به ڪيترائي دؤر آيا ، ان کي 1920ع ۽ 1934ع ۾ نئين سر منظم ڪيو ويو . هي جماعت 1930ع تائين فعال رهي .

”سنڌ محمدن ائسوسيئشن“ ۽ ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ “ کان سواءِ سنڌ جي مسلمان اڳواڻن ٻيون به جماعتون ٺاهيون ، جن ۾ ”سنڌ پيپلز پارٽي“ ، سنڌ آزاد پارٽي“، ”يوننسٽ پارٽي“ ، ”سنڌ يونائيٽيد پارٽي“، ” سنڌ مسلم پوليٽيڪل پارٽي“، ”پروگريسيو مسلم ليگ“، ”سنڌ ساگر پارٽي“۽ ”مسلم نئشنلسٽ پارٽي“ جا نالا ڳڻائڻ لائق آهن .

سنڌي مسلمانن جي سياسي تاريخ ۾ ”سنڌ جي ممبئي کان علحدگي واري تحريڪ “ کي به نمايان حيثيت حاصل آهي . ابتدا ۾ جيتوڻيڪ هي مسئلو سنڌ جي هندو توڙي مسلمانن جو گڏيل مسئلو هو ۽ ان کي ”سنڌ پراونشل ڪانفرنس“ 1908ع ، 1917ع ۽ 1918ع ۾ بحث هيٺ آڻڻ وارا به هندو ئي هئا ، پر پوءِ اڳتي هلي هندن توڙي مسلمانن هن مسئلي تي الڳ الڳ دڳ ورتا، تان جو انهيءَ مسئلي تي 1932ع کان وٺي مسلمانن کي خاص ڪانفرنسون سڏرائڻيون پيون ، جيڪي ”سنڌ آزاد ڪانفرنس“جي نالي سان مشهور آهن . انهيءَ سلسلي ۾ پهرين ڪانفرنس ، 18 اپريل 1932ع تي ڪراچيءَ ۾ ، ٻي 15 نومبر 1932ع تي حيدرآباد ۾ ، ٽين 26 اپريل 1934ع تي سکر ۾ ۽ چوٿين 28 جولاءِ 1934 تي ڪراچيءَ ۾ سڏائي وئي . هن ڪانفرنس مان ٻئي نمبر ڪانفرنس جي موقعي تي ”سنڌ آزاد ڪانفرنس “نالي هڪ جماعت به قائم ڪئي وئي .

هندن جي سياست :

1884ع ۾ حسن علي آفندي ۽ ڏيارام گدو مل جي وچ ۾ ”سنڌ سڀا“ جي هلندڙ اجلاس ۾ لارڊن رپن کي مانپتر ڏيڻ جي سوال تي اختلاف پئدا ٿيو ۽ حسن علي آفنديءَ وڃي ”مجمع محمدي“ کي مضبوط ڪيو ۽ ائين سنڌ جي سياست ۾ مذهب جي بنياد تي الڳ ڌڙي بندي ٿي ، انهيءَ اختلاف کان پوءِ 1885ع ۾ ”ڪانگريس ڪميٽي“ ٺهي ۽ سنڌ جا هندو ان طرف راغب ٿيا . ”ڪانگريس“ جي قيام کان پوءِ سنڌ جي هندن کي هڪ وڏو پليٽ فارم ملي چڪو هو ، ان ڪري ”سنڌ سڀا“ عملي طور تي ختم ٿيندي وئي ، تان جو اڳتي هلي جڏهن ”مسلم ليگ“ ۽ ”هندو مها سڀا“ جهڙيون پارٽيون ٺهيون ته سنڌ جي هندن پنهنجي وطن جي حالتن کي نظر ۾ رکي ”سنڌ هندو سڀا“ قائم ڪئي . هن جماعت جو ”هندو مها سڀا“ سان ڪو ماءُ ڌيءَ جهڙو رشتو ڪو نه هو ۽ ان جو صدر دفتر ڪراچيءَ ۾ هوندو هو ۽ ان جو شاخون باقي سموري سنڌ ۾ هونديون هيون ، هي جماعت به سنڌ جي ممبئي کان علحدگي تائين سرگرم عمل رهي .

سنڌ جي ممبئي کان علحدگي ٿيڻ کان اڳ سنڌ ۾ هندن جون مکيه ٽي جماعتون هيون . جيرامداس دولترام ۽ ڊاڪٽر چٿرام ”ڪانگريس“ جي اڳواڻي ڪري رهيا ، جنهن جو مرڪز سنڌ کان ٻاهر هو . ”سنڌ هندو سڀا“ ان وقت ٽيڪمداس واڌو مل جي قيادت ۾ ڪم ڪري رهي هئي . ”سنڌ هندو پنچائت“ کي وري مکي پريتمداس هلائي رهيو هو . انهن جماعتن کان پوءِ ٻيون جماعتون به ٺاهيون ويون . نومبر 1936ع ۾ سوامي گونندا نند “سنڌ پيپلز ڪانگريس ڪميٽي“ ٺاهي ، ان کان اڳ 1935ع کان هندن جي هڪ ٻي جماعت ”سنڌ نئشنلسٽ پارٽي“ به ڪم ڪري رهي هئي .

سنڌ جي ممبئي کان علحدگي ٿي ، ۽ هن طرف ننڍي کنڊ جي سياست ۾ انقلابي تبديليون آيون ، خاص ڪري پاڪستان جو تصور هڪ حقيقت جو روپ وٺڻ لڳو ته سنڌ جي هندن کي نئين تبديلين مطابق پنهنجي مفادن جي بچاءَ لاءِ منظم ٿيڻو پيو ، ائين ”سنڌ منارٽيز ائسوسيئشن “ ۽ ”منارٽيز پروٽيڪشن بورڊ“ قائم ٿيا .

سنڌ جي هندن جي سياسي تاريخ ۾ ”سنڌ “جي ممبئيءَ کان علحدگي واري تحريڪ جي مخالفت کي به نظر انداز نه ٿو ڪري سگهجي . سنڌ جي سياسي تاريخ جو اهو ڏکوئندڙ واقعو آهي جو 1908ع ۾ پهيون هرچند راءِ وشنداس سنڌ کي اڳ ڪرڻ جي ڳالهه چوري ۽ پوءِ اڳتي هلي کيس انهيءَ جي مخالفت ڪرڻي پئي ، نه رڳو ”سنڌ هندو سڀا“ ۽ ”سنڌ هندو پنچائت“ جهڙين پارٽين هن تحريڪ جي مخالفت ڪئي ، پر ان لاءِ اندروني طور تي سنڌ ۾ ”ائينٽي سيپريشن ڪميٽي“ ٺاهي وئي ۽ خارجي طور تي ”آل انڊيا ڪانگريس ڪميٽي“ ۽ ”مها سڀا“ کي به هن مسئلي ۾ ٽنگ اڙائڻ تي مجبور ڪيو ويو . نه رڳو ايترو پر سنڌ جي هندن لنڊن ۾ به ڪن گورن ماڻهن کي سنڌ جي جدائيءَ خلاف مبلغ طور ڪم آڻڻ جي به ڪوشش ڪئي .

سرڪاري سياست :

ننڍي کنڊ ۽ سنڌ جي عوام ۾ جڏهن سياسي بيداري اچڻ لڳي ته انگريز سرڪار ”ويڙهايو ۽ حڪومت ڪريو “ جي حڪمت عملي اختيار ڪئي . هن ڪن موقعن تي لڪي ڇپي سياستدانن ۽ سياسي پارٽين کي پتلي جيان نچايو به ۽ ڪن صورتن ۾ ڏٺو وائٺو مداخلت به ڪئي .

فرنگي سرڪار پنهنجي مفادن جي بچاءَ ۾ نظرين جي ڦهلاءَ لاءِ ڪيتريون ئي جماعتون ٺهرايون . 1857ع جي واقعي کان پوءِ جتي ڪانگريس پارٽي ٺهي ،اتي نج سرڪاري جماعت ”برٽش امپائر ليگ“ به قائم ٿي . هن پارٽيءَ جي شاخ 1906ع ۾ سنڌ ۾ به کولي وئي . جنهن جي پليٽ فارم تان سنڌ جي سرڪار پرست مسلمانن ، هندن ، پارسين ۽ عيسائين انگريز سامراج جي خدمت ڪئي . 1919ع ۾ جڏهن ”خلافت تحريڪ“ باهه بڻجي فرنگي سرڪار کي وڪوڙي وئي ته سرڪار جي ڪوشش سان هتي ”امن سڀا“ ، ”سوراج سڀا“ ، ”دي نيشنل سروس ليگ“ ۽ ”اينٽي نان ڪو آپريشن سوسائٽي“ نالي جماعتون ٺهيون . جن عوام جي مفادن جي خلاف وقت جي سرڪار جو ساٿ ڏنو . وقت جا سرڪاري ڪامورا انهن پارٽين جي گڏجاڻين جي صدارت ڪندا هئا ، ۽ پنهنجي مرضيءَ مطابق ٺهراءَ بحال ڪرائيندا هئا . اهو سلسلو سنڌ جي ممبئيءَ کان علحدگيءَ تائين هيو .

جڏهن سنڌ جدا ٿي ته هتان جي سياست جو آغاز ئي غلط نموني سان ٿيو ۽ وقت جي سرڪار سياسي اصولن کي ٽوڙي پنهنجي مرضيءَ مطابق وزارتون ٺاهيون ۽ چونڊون ڪرايون ، ننڍي کنڊ ۾ سنڌ ئي هڪ واحد خطو هو ، جنهن ۾ اڪثريتي پارٽيءَ کي نظرا نداز ڪندي وقت جي گورنر ٽن ميمبرن واري جماعت کي سنڌ جي وزارت ٺاهڻ جي آڇ ڪئي ، ان کان سواءِ پوري ننڍي کنڊ ۾ سنڌ جي وڏي وزير کي ئي ڊس مس ڪيو ويو هو . ائين ابتدا کان وٺي انتها تائين سرڪار پنهنجي سامراجي سڀاءُ جي ساک ڀريندي سنڌ جي سياست کي آلوده ڪندي رهي .

مارڪسوادي سياست :

پهرين مهاڀاري لڙائي پوري دنيا سان گڏ سنڌ ۽ هند تي به دور رس اثر ڇڏيا ، برطانيه سرڪار هن جنگ ۾ شريڪ ٿي ، نه رڳو سنڌ ۽ هند جي ڪيترن نوجوانن کي جنگ جي منهن ۾ ڌوڪيو پر ننڍي کنڊ جي ڪچي مال ۽ کاڌ خوراڪ جي وسيلن کي به پنهنجي جنگي ضرورت لاءِ وقف ڪري ڇڏيو . ان ڪري شين ۾ اڻاٺ ۽ قيمتن ۾ واڌارو اچي ويو . بدقسمتيءَ سان 1918ع ۽ 1919ع ۾ وري سڄي ننڍي کنڊ ۾ ڏڪر ۽ وبا گڏجي حملو ڪيو ، جن هڪ ڪروڙ ويهه لک انسانن کي موت جي منهن ۾ ڏئي ڇڏيو .

جنگ کان پوءِ سامراجي سرڪار هندوستاني صنعت ڏانهن توجه ڏنو ، جنهن ڪري هتان جي سماج ۾ ڪارخانيدارن ، سرمائيدارن ۽ مزدورن جا طبقا پيدا ٿيڻ لڳا . روزگار جي تلاش ۾ ٻهراڙين مان شهرن ڏانهن لڏپلاڻ شروع ٿي وئي ۽ پورهيت طبقو هڪ قوت بڻجڻ لڳو .

اڄ جيان انهيءَ زماني ۾ به برطانيه ۽ روس جا لاڳاپا چانڊين مگسين جهڙا هئا . ان ڪري فرنگي سرڪار خلاف جنگ وڙهندڙ عوام ، فطري طور تي روس جي تبديليءَ ۾ دلچسپي وٺڻ لڳو ۽ ائين سنڌ ۾ مارڪسوادي نظرين پکڙجڻ جون حالتون پيدا ٿيون .

1922ع تائين مارڪسوادي فڪر ۽ نظريو عروج تائين پهچي چڪا هئا . تنهن سال ممبئيءَ مان ”دي سوشلسٽ“ نالي هفتيوار اخبار جاري ٿي . جيئن ته ان زماني ۾ سنڌ به ممبئيءَ جو حصو هئي ، ان ڪري اها اخبار سنڌ تائين به پهچڻ لڳي ، نيٺ اڳتي هلي ڊسمبر 1925ع ۾ گڏيل هندوستان ۾ پهرين ”ڪميونسٽ پارٽي“ قائم ٿي .

سنڌ ۾ هي فڪر 1926ع تائين ڪتابي صورت وٺي چڪو هو تنهن سال ڄيٺمل پرسرام”ساميه واد“ نالي هڪ ڪتاب لکيو ۽ ان کان هڪ سال پوءِ وشنو شرما ”بي انصافي ڪيئن دورڪجي؟“نالي

هڪ ڪتاب لکيو . انهن ٻنهي ڪتابن ۾ سوشلزم تي تفصيلي روشني وڌي وئي هئي .

سنڌ جي مارڪسوادي فڪر کي فروغ ملڻ کان پوءِ سڀ کان پهريون 1930ع ۾ ”هاري ڪميٽي“ ٺهي . 1934ع ۾ جڏهن پاٽنا ۾ ”ڪانگريس سوشلسٽ پارٽي“ ٺهي ته ان جي شاخ هتي به قائم ٿي، ان کان پوءِسنڌ۾”سنڌپروگريسوپارٽي“،”سنڌ ليبر پارٽي“ ، ”فرينڊس آف سويت يونين“ ، ”سنڌ بلوچستان ميونسٽ پارٽي“ ۽ ”دي سوشلست پارٽي“ قائم ٿيون .

مذهبي سياست :

مطالعي هيٺ آيل دؤر ۾ سنڌ جي سياست ۾ مذهبي جذبي ۽ جنون رکندڙ ماڻهن کي وڏو هٿ پئي رهيو آهي ، ليڪن تاريخي حقيقتن ۽ نتيجن سندن ڪڏهن به پٺڀرائپ ، تائيد يا تصديق نه ڪئي آهي . انگريزي راڄ جي ابتدا ٿي ته حالتن جو ويهي مقابلو ڪرڻ بدران وطن جا وڻ ڇڏڻ وارا به عالم هئا . انهن ئي ڪيترو وقت پنهنجي پوئلڳن ۽ باقي عوام کي انگريزي زبان کان پري رکيو جنهن جي نتيجي ۾ سنڌ ۾ هندن ۽ مسلمانن جا ٻه طبقا ٿي ويا . هڪڙن کي نوڪريون مليون ۽ ٻيا ملازمتن جو تصور به ڪري نٿي سگهيا . هڪڙن کي دولت به جهڪي سلام ٿي ڪيو ۽ ٻين باقي پاڻ جهڙن انسانن اڳيان لوڙڻ باوجود پيٽ جي دوزخ جي باهه وسائي نٿي سگهي .

”سنڌ سڀا“ مان جڏهن حسن علي آفندي رُسي ٻاهر نڪتو ته مولوي الله بخش ”اٻوجهو“ ئي سنڌ ساٿي ثابت ٿيو ۽ ائين هڪ مذهبي ماڻهوءَ جي ڪوشش سان ” مجمع محمدي“ قائم ٿي . ”ريشمي رومال تحريڪ“ هلي ته ان کي به مولانا عبيدالله سنڌي ۽ سنڌ جي ٻين عالم ڪلهو ڏنو . ان کان پوءِ ”خلافت تحريڪ“ هلي ته هتان جي عالمن ”عدم تعاون“ ، ”ترڪ موالات“ ۽ ”هجرت تحريڪ“ جو بنياد رکي انگريز سامراج کي نڪ ۾ دم ڏئي ڇڏيو . سنڌ جا عالم ، سنڌي عوام ۾ مذهبي جوش ۽ جذبو پيدا ڪرڻ ۾ته ڪامياب ٿي ويا ، پر ان کي ڪا نئين راهه ڏئي نه سگهيا . هيءَ حقيقت آهي ته جڏهن مذهب عوام جي ذهنن ۽ خيالن تي پٿر جي ليڪ بڻجي چڪو هو ان وقت ”خلافت تحريڪ“ جو خاتمو ته ٿيو ، پر الله آباد واري اجلاس ۾ ”مسلم ليگ“ کي ”پاڪستان“ جي تصور پيش ڪرڻ ۾ آساني ٿي ، جنهن کي عوام خوشيءَ سان قبول ڪري ورتو . نه ته هي جماعت ڪيتري عرصي کان وٺي ”هندو مسلم اتحاد“ لاءِ ڪم ڪندي ٿي رهي . ان ڪري ائين چوڻ ۾ ڪو به واڌار ڪونهي ته عالن زمين تيار ڪئي پر ٻج مسلم ليگ ڇٽيو . ”خلافت تحريڪ“ جي زماني ۾ انگريزن جي ”ويڙهايو ۽ حڪومت ڪريو “ جي حڪمت عملي سنڌ جي عالمن کي اهڙي دڳ تي اچي بيهاريو جو هو نانگ بدران نوڙي ڪٽڻ ۾ مشغول ٿي ويا . سندن ڪيترو وقت هڪ ٻئي تي فتوائون صادر ڪرڻ ۾ صرف ٿي ويون . ”خلافت “ جو خاتمو ٿيو ته ڪن عالمن ”جمعيت علماء“ جو جهنڊو بلند ڪيو ، ائين سنڌ جي علحدگيءَ تائين اسان جا عالم سياست جو ميدان ڇڏي رڳو مذهب تائين محدود ٿي ويا . ليڪن سکر جي ”مسجد منزل گاهه جي تحريڪ“ اک ڇنڀ ۾ کين آڻي ”مسلم ليگ“ جي صفن ۾ بيهاريو . جيتوڻيڪ ”مسلم ليگ“ کين اسيمبلين جي ايوانن ۾ ته نه آندو پر پوءِ به هو مبلغ بڻجي ”مسلم ليگ“ جي مستقبل جو اهو منظر چٽيندا رهيا جنهن جو ذڪر ته ڇا پر عڪس به ان جماعت جي ڪنهن قرار داد ۾ ملي نه ٿي سگهيو .

هڪ جهلڪ :

1843ع کان وٺي 1947ع واري دؤر جي سياسي تاريخ کي ڏسجي ٿو ته سياستدانن جي حيثيت سان سنڌ واسي ”خارجي ميدان“ ۾ ته ڪامياب رهيا پر ”داخلي ميدان“ ۾ بنهه ناڪام نظر اچن ٿا . يعنيٰ هنن ننڍي کنڊ جي سطح تي عظيم ڪارناما سرانجام ڏنا ، پر پنهنجي ڌرتيءَ تي ڏيئو ٻاري نه سگهيا ! منهنجي خيال ۾ انهيءَ جو وڏي کان وڏو سبب سندن ”حد کان وڌيڪ ذهانت “ ئي هو . جيئن ته انگريزي راڄ دوران سنڌ کان ٻاهر، باقي ننڍي کنڊ ۾ قيادت ۽ صلاحيت جو فقدان هو ، ان ڪري سنڌ جي سپوتن کي اتي پنهنجي جوهرن ڏيکارڻ جو ڀرپور موقعو مليو ، ۽انهن ننڍي کنڊ جي سطح تي قائم ڪيل سياسي پارٽين جي قيادت ڪئي. مثال طور خواجن جي روحاني رهبر آغاخان مسلم ليگ ٺاهڻ ۽ ٺهرائڻ ۾ اهم پارٽ ادا ڪيو ، سندس ئي فرقي جي هڪ فرد محمد علي جناح وري انهيءَ ئي مسلم ليگ کي پنهنجي مقصد حاصل ڪرڻ ۾ قيادت مهيا ڪئي . مسلم ليگ کان سواءِ ساڳيو حشر ڪانگريس ڪميٽيءَ جو هو . ديوان گو بند ، ساڌو هيرانند ۽ڪي ٻيا پهريان سنڌي سياستدان هئا ، جن ڪانگريس جي انهيءَ اجلاس ۾ شرڪت ڪئي ، جنهن ۾ هن پارٽيءَ جو قيام عمل ۾ آندو ويو . سنڌي شروع کان وٺي انهيءَ جي ورڪنگ ڪميٽي جا ميمبر ٿيندا آيا . تان جو ڏکئي وقت ۾ ان جا سيڪريٽري به ٿيا. مطلب ته سنڌواسين کي ڪانگريس ۾ غير معمولي عهدا مليا ، ۽ هنن انهن عهدن سان انصاف به ڪيو .

ساڳي نموني سان جڏهن ”خلافت تحريڪ“ جو آغاز ٿيو ته هن موڙ تي به سنڌواسين جي قيادت ۽ صلاحيت سڄي ننڍي کنڊ کي ڪم آئي .”عدم تعاون“جو ٺهراءُ ڪراچيءَ جي ”خالقڏني هال“ ۾ بحال ٿيو. ”هجرت تحريڪ“ جو آغاز هتان ئي ٿيو ، ۽ زهر جو پيالو به هتان جي ئي رئيس المهاجرين جان محمد جوڻيجي کي پيڻو پيو !! ”خلافت تحريڪ“ سان گڏ ”جمعيت العلماءِ“ هڪ منظم تحريڪ بڻجي اڀري ته انهيءَ کي تشڪيل ڏيڻ واري اجلاس ۾ پير محمد امام ، مولانا اسدا لله شاه ، مولانا تاج محمود امروٽي ۽مولانا محمد صادق کڏي واري شرڪت ڪئي . ان کان پوءِ هن جماعت جي پهرين ورڪنگ ڪميٽي ٺهي ته ان ۾ سنڌ سان مولوي پير تراب علي ، مولوي عبدالله ۽ مولوي محمد صادق کڏي واري کي به کنيو ويو.

ساڳي نموني سان 1915ع ۾ جڏهن مائي ائني بيسنت ”هوم رول ليگ “ ۽ سندس جائنشين آرنڊول 1935ع ۾ ”انڊين نئشنل ليگ“ ٺاهي تنهن کي سڏي سڏ ڏيندڙ سنڌي ئي هئا، جن سنڌ جي ڌرتيءَ تي انهن جماعتن جون شاخون ائين کوليون ، جيئن ڪنهن هاريءَ ٻنيءَ ۾ ٻج ڇٽي ڇڏيو هجي ، ”خاڪسار تحريڪ“ کي خير خوبي سان سنڌ ۾ مقبول بنائڻ وارا به سنڌي ئي هئا ، جن مان اڄ به اڃا ڪيترا جيئرا آهن .

اهو ته هو سنڌواسين جي سياسي بصيرت ، لياقت ۽ صلاحت جو خارجي رخ ، جڏهن اسان داخلي ميدان طرف منهن ڪريون ٿا ته بنهه ائين جيئن مور پنهنجي قبيح پيرن کي ڏسي روئي پوندو آهي ، اهڙي حالت هڪ محب وطن تاريخدان سان به ٿئي ٿي . سنڌ جي داخلي سياست ڏي ڏسڻ کان پوءِ ائين ٿو لڳي ڄڻ هڪ اونداهي رات آهي جنهن ۾ تارن جي ٽمڪڻ کان سواءِ ٻيو ڪجهه به نظر نٿو اچي .

جيئن آءٌ اڳ ۾ عرض ڪري چڪو آهيان ته اسان جي بزرگن جو داخلي ميدان ۾ پٺتي پوڻ جو وڏو ڪارڻ سندن ”حد کان وڌيڪ ذهانت“ ئي هئي ، انهيءَ ذهانت سبب ڪنهن به دؤر ۾ ڪنهن به پارٽيءَ ۾ متحد ٿي نه سگهيا ، بنهه ائين جيئن ٻه شينهن هڪ ٻيلي ۾ رهي نه ٿا سگهن . انهيءَ جو نتيجو هي نڪتو ته سنڌ جي داخلي سياست هميشه اختلافن جو شڪار رهي . عهدن نه ملڻ تي پارٽيون ائين ۽ ايترو ته جلد بدلايون ويون جيئن امير ماڻهو به ايترو تڪڙو ڪپڙا نه بدلائي ! معمولي اختلافن تي لکن جون وزارتون رڳو هڪ هڪ روپئي جي ڪتر واري رٿ تي ڪيرايون ويون ، پوءِ ٿيو ڇا ؟ جيئن ڪانءَ کي لڙُ مان مزو ايندو آهي ، تيئن هتي وري ٻاهرين پارٽين ۽ انهن جي اڳواڻن جي ٻيگهي مچي وئي ، تان جو سنڌي سياستدانن مٿان اهو وقت به اچي بيٺو جو کين پاڻ سنڀالڻ جي به مهلت نه ملي سگهي ، پوءِ هو نه رڳو پاڻ طوفان ۾ لڙهي ويا پر تاريخ کي به ٻوڙيون ويا .

ذڪر هيٺ آيل ڪن پارٽين جو تعارف :

1. اپر سنڌ زميندار ائسوسيئشن :

هي جماعت سنڌ جي مٿئين طبقي جي ڏڦيڙ جو نتيجو هئي ، جماعت جي قيادت لاڙڪاڻي جي زميندارن جي هٿ هيٺ هئي . هن جماعت جا خاص مقصد هئا ، پنهنجي تر جي مٿئين طبقي جي مفادن جي حفاظت ڪرڻ ۽ ”لوئر سنڌ زميندار ائسوسيئشن“ جي مخالفت ڪرڻ .

2. امن سڀا :

1919ع ۾ ”خلافت تحريڪ“ جي ابتدا فرنگي سرڪار خلاف رڻ ٻاري ڏنو ، انهيءَ کي منهن ڏيڻ لاءِ وقت جي سرڪار پنهنجي لٺ ۽ چٺ جي زور تي ”امن سڀائون“ قائم ڪرايون انهيءَ سڀائن کي سنڌ جي وڏيرن ، پيرن ۽ آفيسرن گڏجي ڪامياب ڪرڻ جي ڪوشش ڪئي . هي جماعتون سنڌ جي ڳچ شهرن ۾ بڻايون ويون .

3. انڊين نيشنل ليگ :

هي جماعت اصل ۾ تنهن زماني جي مشهور ٿياسافسٽ ڊاڪٽر آرنڊول 8 فيبروري 1935ع تي مدراس ۾ قائم ڪئي هئي . ليگ جا خاص مقصد هي هئا ته برطانيه جي نظر داريءَ هيٺ سوراج حاصل ڪيو وڃي ۽ هندوستان لاءِ اهڙي قسم جو آئين حاصل ڪيو وڃي .

سنڌ ۾ وري 24 مارچ 1935ع انهيءَ جي شاخ قائم ڪئي وئي ، ڪراچيءَ کي ان جو مرڪز بڻايو ويو . ليگ جي پهرين وقتي ڪاميٽي هنن سياستدانن تي مشتمل هئي :

صدر : درگداس . بي . آڏواڻي

نائب صدر : ڪيولرام ڏيا رام ، جي .ايم . سيد

سيڪريٽري : جي . ٽي . ٿڌاڻي ، ريجهو مل آڏواڻي

خزانچي : ڀاڳچند چتر سنگهه

ورڪنگ ڪميٽي: جمشيد ميهتا ، ڊاڪٽر پوپٽ لال

4. اينٽي سيپريشن ڪميٽي :

هيءَ ڪميٽي سنڌ کي ممبئيءَ کان الڳ نه ڪرڻ لاءِ 1932ع ۾ ٺاهي وئي ، ڪميٽي جي سرگرم ڪارڪنن مان ديوان بهادر مرلي ڌر ، مسٽر لالچند نولراءِ ۽ پروفيسر ڇٻلاڻيءَ جا نالا ذڪر ڪرڻ لائق آهن . سنڌ ۾ ڪميٽي جا مکيه ٻه دفتر هوندا هئا : هڪڙو ڪراچيءَ ۽ ٻيو حيدرآباد . هن ڪميٽي لنڊن ۾ پنهنجا انگريز مبلغ به مقرر ڪيا هئا .

5. اينٽي نان ڪو آپريشن سوسائٽي :

هي سوسائٽي اپريل 1921ع ۾ حيدرآباد ميونسيپالٽيءَ جي سابق پريزيڊنٽ ٺاڪرداس کيمچند جي ڪوششن سان قائم ٿي . سوسائٽيءَ جو مکيه مقصد بنهه ”امن سڀا“ جهڙو هو ، هن سوسائٽيءَ جا پهريان عهديدار هئا :

صدر : ديوان ليلارام سنگ وطڻ مل

سيڪريٽري : ٺاڪر داس کيمچند

ڪاروباري ڪميٽي : ديوان هشمت راءِ (چيئرمين) ، مرزا قليچ بيگ ، محمد احسان ، مکي هرڪشنداس ، لوڪو مل گوبند بخش ، ڄيٺسنگ نارائڻ سنگ ، گوپال داس، علي اڪبر بار ايٽ لا۽ مسٽر غني بار ايٽ لا .

 

6. برٽش امپائر ليگ :

هي جماعت فرنگي سرڪار جي خيرخواهن جي هڪ آڳاٽي جماعت هئي ، جنهن جي سنڌ ۾ شاخ 5 مارچ 1906ع تي قائم ڪئي وئي هئي . سنڌ جو ڪمشنر هن جماعت جو صدر هوندو هو ۽ سنڌ جي هندن ، مسلمانن ، پارسين، ۽ ڪرستانن جا اهي ماڻهو جيڪي سرڪار پرستيءَ ۾ مشهور هوندا هئا اهي هن جماعت جا ميمبر ٿيندا هئا . 1906ع ۾ هن جماعت جا جملي 85 ميمبر هئا . غير سرڪاري ماڻهن مان پروفيسر شهاڻي ، ٽيڪچند اوڌو داس ، غلام علي چاڳلا ، نادر شاهه ڊنشا ۽ يوسف علي علي ڀائي هن جماعت جا سرگرم ڪارڪن ٿي رهيا .

7. خاڪسار تحريڪ :

سنڌ ۾ هن تحريڪ کي مانوس ڪرائڻ وارو هو حيدرآباد جو وڪيل نصير محمد . ان کان پوءِ ڊاڪٽر قاضي محمد اڪبر هن تحريڪ کي مقبول بڻايو . پير الاهي بخش جي ڪوششن سان هن جماعت جون لاڙڪاڻي ۽ جيڪب آباد ۾ شاخون قائم ٿيون ، ڪراچيءَ ۾ وري قاضي عبدالرسول وڪيل ۽ سيد حضرت شاهه ان کي اتي مقبول بڻايو .

8 .دي منارٽيز پروٽيڪشن بورڊ :

هندوستان جي ورهاڱي جڏهن حقيقت جو روپ ڌاريو ته سنڌ جي غيرمسلم عوام ، نئين حالتن مطابق منظم ٿين جي ڪوشش ڪئي ۽ هي بورڊ تشڪيل ڏنائون . هن بورڊ جو صدر دفتر ڪراچيءَ ۾ هو پر ان کي صرف سنڌ تائين محدود نه رکيو ويو هو . بورڊ جي آئين ۾ڄاڻايو ويو هو ته اڳتي هلي ورهاڱي کان پوءِ هن بورڊ جي هيڊ آفيس پاڪستان ۽ ٻي آفيس ڀارت جي گاديءَ وارن هنڌن تي قائم ڪئي ويندي .

9. دي نئشنل سروس ليگ :

هي ليگ خلافت ۽ ڪانگريس جي گڏيل نافرمانيءَ واري تحريڪ کي ٻنجي ڏيڻ لاءِ 1921ع ۾ ٺاهي وئي . ٺاڪرداس کيمچند هن جماعت جو روح روان هو .

10. ستياگره سڀا :

”رولٽ ائڪٽ“ لاڳو ٿيڻ کان پوءِ عوام سان جي آزار ٿيڻ لڳا ، انهن کي اڳيان رکي سنڌ جي سياستدانن اپريل 1919ع ۾ هيءَ سڀا قائم ڪئي . جماعت جو صدر دفتر ڪراچيءَ ۾ هوندو هو .

11. سنڌ آزاد پارٽي :

10سيپٽيمبر1935ع تي ڪراچيءَ ۾ ”خلافت ڪميٽي“، ”جمعيت العلماءِ سنڌ“ ۽ ”هاري پارٽي“ جي گڏيل اجلاس ۾ هيءَ جماعت قائم ڪئي ، جنهن جو پهريون عارضي صدر شيخ عبدالمجيد سنڌيءَ کي بڻايو ويو ۽ پير الاهي بخش ، حڪيم فتح محمد سيوهاڻي ، رئيس علي محمد مري ۽ رئيس علي محمد کيڙي تي مشتمل هڪ ورڪنگ ڪميٽي تشڪيل ڏني وئي . هن پارٽي سنڌ جي پهرين چونڊن ۾ ٽي سيٽون حاصل ڪيون ، پارٽي اڳتي هلي مسلم ليگ ۾ ضم ٿي وئي .

12. سنڌ آزاد ڪانفرنس :

هي پارٽي 15 نومبر 1932ع تي حيدرآباد ۾ سڏايل ”ٻي سنڌ آزاد ڪانفرنس “ جي موقعي تي بڻائي وئي . هن پارٽيءَ جو مقصد هو ته جدائيءَ واري مطالبي کي مقبول بڻايو وڃي . پارٽيءَ جو پهريون صدر سر شاهنواز خان ڀٽو ، نائب صدر خانبهادر محمد ايوب کهڙو ۽ سيڪريٽيري ميران محمد شاهه بڻيو .

13. سنڌ اسيمبلي ڪوئيليشن پارٽي :

سنڌ ليجليسٽيو اسيمبليءَ جي قائم ٿيڻ سان جيڪي پارٽيون چونڊجي آيون ، انهن مان هڪڙيون نج سنڌ جي ماحول ۽ تقاضائن مطابق بڻيون هيون ۽ ٻيون اهي جماعتون هيون جن جا مرڪز سنڌ کان ٻاهر هئا ، ان ڪري سنڌ اسيمبلي متضاد مفادن جي بچائڻ جو اڏو بڻجي وئي . انهيءَ رسا ڪشيءَ کي ختم ڪرڻ لاءِ ضروري هو ته چونڊجي آيل مختلف پارٽيون ڪن مشترڪ مفادن ۽ اصولن تي متحد ٿين، هيءَ جماعت انهن ڪوششن جي نتيجي ۾ قائم ٿي .

14. سنڌ بلوچستان ڪميونسٽ پارٽي :

جڏهن پاڪستان جو قيام هڪ حقيقت جو روپ وٺڻ تي هو ته سنڌ جي ڪميونسٽ اڳواڻن هندوستان جي ڪميونسٽ پارٽيءَ کي ڇڏي ، جولاءِ 1948ع ۾ ”سنڌ بلوچستان ڪميونسٽ پارٽي“ ٺاهي ، ڪامريڊ قادر بخش نظاماڻي هن جماعت جو پهريون سيڪريٽري ٿي رهيو . ساڳئي دؤر ۾ محمد يوسف ۽ مبارڪ ساگر جي ڪوشش سان سنڌ ۾ ”دي سوشلسٽ پارٽي“ قائم ٿي .

15. سنڌ پروگريسو پارٽي :

هي پارٽي 1935ع ۾ درگداس بي ، آڏواڻيءَ قائم ڪئي. پارٽيءَ جو بنياد غيرفرقيوارانه حڪمت عمليءَ تي رکيو ويو ۽ انهيءَ جي آئين مطابق سنڌ جو ڪو به ماڻهو جو ترقي پسند خيالن جو هجي ذات ، ڏات ، رنگ ، نسل ۽ دين ڌرم جي فرق کان سواءِ هن پارٽيءَ جو ميمبر ٿي سگهي ٿو . پارٽيءَ کي مقبوليت بدران شروع کان وٺي مخالفت جو وڏو بار کڻڻو پيو .

16. سنڌ پوليٽيڪل ڪلب :

سنڌ کي ممبئيءَ کان الڳ ڪرڻ تائين اسان جا اڳواڻ ۽ عالم وقت جي حالتن ۾ رنگ نسل ، دين ڌرم ، ۽ ذات پات جو رنگ چاڙهي چڪا هئا ، انهيءَ ڪري اها وقت جي تقاضا هئي ته اختلافن کي ڪنهن حد تائين گهٽائڻ جي ڪوشش ڪئي وڃي . ”سنڌ پوليٽيڪل ڪلب “ انهيءَ پس منظر ۾ ، مئي 1936ع ۾ قائم ٿي . هن ڪلب جا ميمبر مختلف سياسي پارٽين جا ميمبر هوندا هئا ، ڪجهه وقت اڳتي هلي ڪانگريس هن ڪلب مان نڪري وئي. ڪلب جي پهرين ميمبرن مان درگداس بي آڏواڻي ، سر غلام حسين هدايت الله ، جي. ايم . سيد ، محمد هاشم گذدر ، ڊاڪٽر پوپٽ لال ، سڌوا ، خانچند گوپال داس ، ڊاڪٽر پرمانند آهوجا ،حاتم علوي ، هردالال ، يوسف هارون ۽ ٿڌائيءَ جا نالا ذڪر ڪرڻ لائق آهن .

17. سنڌ پيپلز پارٽي :

هي پارٽي 1933ع ۾ سر شاهنواز ڀٽي جي صدارت ۾ ٺهي . پارٽيءَ جو پهريون صدر حاتم علوي هو ، ان جي مکيه ميمبرن ۾ جي .ايم .سيد ، سيد غلام نبي شاهه ، محمد علي شاهه ، حاجي مولابخش ، خانبهادر الله بخش ، نبي بخش ڀٽو ، ۽ ميران محمد شاهه اچي وڃن ٿا .

18. سنڌ پيپلز ڪانگريس ڪميٽي :

هن پارٽيءَ جو باني ڪراچيءَ جو مشهور ڪانگريسي اڳواڻ سوامي گوندانند هو . هن صاحب جو جڏهن ڪانگريس سان اختلاف ٿي پيو ته نومبر 1936ع ۾ هي جماعت ٺاهيائين .

19. سنڌ زميندارز ائسوسيئشن :

هي جماعت اپريل 1921ع ۾ سڏايل سنڌ جي زميندارن جي هڪ ڪانفرنس جي فيصلي جي روشنيءَ ۾ بڻائي وئي . ائسوسيئشن جو پهريون صدر رئيس غلام محمد ڀرڳڙي ٿيو .

20. سنڌ زميندارز ائسوسيئشن ، پٿورو :

هي سنڌ جي قديم جماعتن مان هڪ هئي ، جيڪا سرهندي پيرن جي ڪوششن سان قائم ٿي . جماعت سياسي نقطه نگاهه کان مرحوم رئيس غلام محمد ڀرڳڙيءَ جي اثر هيٺ هوندي هئي .

21. سنڌ ساگر پارٽي :

جلاوطنيءَ جي خاتمي کان پوءِ مولانا عبيدالله سنڌي ،سنڌ ۾ آيو ته هن 1939ع ۾ ”جمنا نربدا سنڌ ساگر پارٽي “ ٺاهي . هيءَ پارٽي هندوستان کي مذهب جي بنياد تي ورهائڻ بدران لساني بنيادن تي تقسيم ڪرڻ جي حق ۾ هئي .

22. سنڌ سڀا :

هيءَ سنڌ جي پهرين سياسي ۽ سماجي جماعت هئي ، جيڪا غيرفرقيوارانه بنيادن تي 1882ع ۾ قائم ٿي . جماعت جو پهريون صدر سيٺ آتما رام ڀوڄواڻي ٿيو . ديوان ڏيا رام ڄيٺمل ۽ ديوان ڏيارام گدو مل هن جماعت جا روح روان هئا .

هن جماعت جي قيام واري سال ئي لارڊ رپن ڏيهي ماڻهن کي مڪاني خودمختياريون وڌائي ڏيڻ جو خيال ڪيو ۽ ميونسپل توڙي لوڪل بورڊن جي چونڊن جو سرشتو عمل ۾ آڻڻ جو بل تيار ڪرايو . ”سنڌ سڀا“ هندوستان جي انهيءَ آئين ۽ عمل ۾ اهم پارٽ ادا ڪيو ۽ پوءِ پاڻ کي ايترو ته منظم ڪيو جو سنڌ ۾ ميونسپالٽين جون چونڊون ٿيون ته انهن ۾ اڪثريت هن پارٽيءَ کي ئي نصيب ٿي .

1884ع ۾ لارڊ رپن کي مانپتر ڏيڻ واري سوال تي حسن علي آفندي جو ان وقت جماعت جو نائب صدر هو ، استعيفا ڏيئي هليو ويو ، ۽ پوءِ آهستي آهستي هي پارٽي اختلافن جو شڪار ٿي وئي .

23. سنڌ سوراج سوسائٽي :

هيءَ سوسائٽي جون 1921ع ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي ته جيئن هڪ طرف ڏڦيڙي سياست کي ٿڌو ڪري سگهجي، ۽ ٻئي طرف وقت جي سرڪار جي ڪڌن ڪرتوتن جا وکا پڌرا ڪري عوام کي باخبر ڪجي . سوسائٽيءَ جو صدر دفتر حيدرآباد ۾ هوندو هو . ان جا پهريان عهديدار هن ريت هئا :

صدر : رئيس غلام محمد ڀرڳڙي .

نائب صدر : گوپال داس جهمٽ مل .

سيڪريٽري : سنتداس منگهارام،ڇٽو مل ٿڌاڻي .

ڪاروباري ڪميٽي : کيمچند امرت راءِ ، ڄيٺمل پرسرام ، پهلاج راءِ ، گنگا رام ، ڪرمچند گرمکداس ، هيرانند سنتوڪ رام ، جمشيد مهتا ۽ ڊاڪٽر بولچند .

24. سنڌ سوشلسٽ پارٽي :

هي پارٽي 1936ع ۾ نارائڻ داس آنند جي . بيچر جي قيادت ۾ ٺهي . هن جماعت سنڌ اسيمبليءَ جي پهرين چونڊن ۾ ڪانگريس سان الحاق ڪيو .

25. سنڌ ليبر پارٽي :

هي پارٽي جون 1936ع ۾ ڪراچي ۾ قائم ٿي . ڊاڪٽر تارا چند هن جماعت جو پهريون صدر ۽ اي . ايم . خان ۽ عبدالرحمان انهيءَ جا پهريان سيڪريٽري ٿيا . هي جماعت ان ڪري قائم ڪئي وئي ته جيئن سنڌ جي جاگيردارانه نظام جو خاتمو آندو وڃي ، ۽ بئراج زمينون آسان قسطن تي هارين کي ڏياريون وڃن .

. سنڌ ليگ آف پروگريس :

هي جماعت آڪٽوبر 1922ع ۾ ڪراچيءَ ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي ، انهيءَ جو پهريون صدر هرچند راءِ وشنداس ۽ پهرين ڪاروباري ڪميٽي سي . ايف . ڊي . ابريو ، جي . برچ ، ڏيپچند چانڊومل ، ولي محمد حسن علي ، اي . ايڇ . ماما ، جمشيد ميهتا ، مير ايوب خان ، شقرتن ميهتا ، اي . ايل . پرائس ۽ روپچند ٻيلارام تي مشتمل هئي . جماعت جو پهريون سيڪريٽري سرمانٽميگو ويب هو .

ملڪي سطح تي هيءَ جماعت انهن جماعتن مان هڪ هئي ، جن غير فرقيوارانه پاليسي اختيار ڪئي . جماعت جي واڳ جيتوڻيڪ انتها پسندن جي هٿ ۾ نه هئي پر ان هوندي به ان جا ميمبر وڏي اثر رسوخ وارا هوندا هئا ، جن سنڌ جي مسئلن کي گهٽين ۽ رستن تي حل ڪرائڻ بدران ايوانن ۾ اسيمبلين تائين پهچائڻ جي ڪوشش ڪئي .

27. سنڌ مسلم پوليٽيڪل پارٽي :

جڏهن ”سنڌ يونائيٽيڊ پارٽي “ ۾ هڪ اڌ ڊپٽي ليڊر جي چونڊ تي اختلاف ٿي پيا ته سر غلام حسين هدايت الله ۽ محمد ايوب کهڙي اها پارٽي ڇڏي ، وڃي هڪ رات ۾ ”سنڌ مسلم پوليٽيڪل پارٽي“ ٺاهي . هن پارٽي سنڌ اسيمبليءَ جي پهرين چونڊن ۾ صرف ٽي سيٽون کنيون ، پر پوءِ به وقت جي گورنر اڪثريت حاصل ڪندڙ پارٽين کي نظر انداز ڪندي هن پارٽي کي وزارت ٺاهڻ جي آڇ ڏني ! هي پارٽي 21 مارچ 1938ع تائين اقتدار ۾ رهي ، پارٽي 31 آڪٽوبر 1936ع تي ٺاهي وئي هئي .

28. سنڌ مسلم ليگ :

چيو ويندو آهي ته رئيس غلام محمد ڀرڳڙي 1917ع ۾ سنڌ ۾ آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ جي شاخ کولي هئي ، ليڪن حقيقت ۾ ايئن ڪو نه آهي ، اصل ڳالهه هن ريت آهي ته ”سنڌ محمدن ائسوسيئشن“ جا ان وقت سرڪار جي تاتيل ۽ پاليل جماعت بڻجي چڪي هئي ، انهيءَ کان ڪيترائي آزادي پسند ۽ قومپرست اڳواڻ بيزار ٿي چڪا هئا . انهن گهٽن مان جند ڇڏائڻ لاءِ ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ ٺاهي وئي ، جنهن جي نالي مان ئي ظاهر آهي ته هن جماعت جو آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ سان ڪو به واسطو ڪو نه هو ، ۽ اها پنهنجي جاءِ تي هڪ خودمختيار سياسي جماعت هئي ، اهوئي سبب آهي جو 1917ع ۾ جڏهن مانٽيگو ۽ لارڊ چيلمسفورڊ هندوستان ۾ آئيني سڌارن آڻڻ لاءِ هندوستان جي دؤري تي آيا ته ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ الڳ ۽ خودمختيار حيثيت ۾ انهن اڳيان پنهنجو ميمورنڊم پيش ڪيو .

”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ جو پهريون صدر يوسف علي علي ڀائي هو ۽ غلام علي چاڳلا ۽ حاجي عبدالله هارون ان جا سيڪريٽري هئا . اپريل 1920ع هن جماعت جي واڳ ”سنڌ محمدن ائسوسيئشن“ جي حريفن بدران مذهبي نوعيت جي ماڻهن جي هٿ ۾ اچي وئي . اپريل 1920ع ۾ سڏايل سکر جي گڏجاڻيءَ جي ڪاروائي پڙهڻ مان معلوم ٿئي ٿو ته ان وقت به ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ جا ڪرتا ڌرتا ”آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ“ کي وقت جي سرڪار جي ٺاهيل جماعت تصور ڪندا هئا . انهيءَ زماني ۾ رئيس غلام محمد ڀرڳڙي ، جان محمد جوڻيجو ، شيخ عبدالمجيد سنڌي ، مولوي تاج محمد ، ڊاڪٽر نور محمد ، محمد خان، ڊاڪٽر حاجي ۽ سيٺ امين الدين ساڳئيءَ طرح شروع جيان ليگ جا قائد رهيا .

1925ع ۾ ”سنڌ مسلم ليگ“ کي نئين سر منظم ڪيو ويو . ان وقت سيٺ حاجي عبدالله هارون کي صدر ، سيد محمد ڪامل شاهه کي نائب صدر ، ڊاڪٽر شيخ نور محمد کي سيڪريٽري ، ۽ حڪيم فتح محمد سيوهاڻيءَ کي خزانچي مقرر ڪيو ويو . 1934ع ۾ وري هن جماعت جي قيادت ۽ تنظيم ۾ تبديلي آڻي حاتم عليءَ جي صدارت ۾ ان ڪري نئين سر منظم ڪيو .

سنڌ ۾ ”آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ“ جو ته پهرين چونڊن وقت به ڪو عملي وجود ڪو نه هو . حقيقت ۾ سنڌ ۾ ”آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ“ آڪٽوبر 1938ع ۾ سڏايل ”پهرين سنڌ صوبائي مسلم ليگ ڪانفرنس“ کان پوءِ ئي سنڌ ۾ پير پاتو . انهيءَ کان ستت پوءِ” مسجد منزل گاهه“ واري سياسي حڪمت عملي اختيار ڪئي وئي ، جنهن هن جماعت کي هڪ ئي ڌڪ ۾ انهيءَ تحريڪ ۾ مقبول بڻائي ڇڏيو ڇو ته رياضت مذهبي اڳواڻن ڪئي ۽ قيادت آل انڊيا مسلم ليگ کي ملي وئي .

29. سنڌ منارٽيز ائسوسيئشن :

غير مسلم سنڌ واسين جي هي جماعت 1946ع ۾ قائم ٿي . انهيءَ جو پهريون صدر ديوان ٽيڪمداس ۽ پهريان نائب صدر هيرالال شرما ۽ راءِ صاحب گوڪلداس هئا . هي جماعت قيام پاڪستان کي آهن م رکي بڻائي وئي هئي ته جيئن نئين تبديليءَ مطابق ٿورائيءَ وارن سنڌ واسين جي مفادن جو بچاءُ ڪري سگهجي .

30. سنڌ نئشنلسٽ پارٽي :

هي پارٽي 1935ع ۾ حيدرآباد ۾ ٺاهي وئي هئي ، پارٽي ٺاهڻ جو مقصد هي هو ته ممبئيءَ کان الڳ ٿيڻ کان پوءِ سنڌ جڏهن صوبائي حيثيت وٺي ته پوءِ ٿورائي وارن طبقن جي مفادن جو بچاءَ ڪيو وڃي . هن پارٽيءَ جو دڳ ئي الڳ هو . پارٽيءَ وارا ”سنڌ هندو سڀا“ کي ڪٽر جماعت تسليم ڪندا هئا ، ۽ پنڊت مالويه جي ”نئشنلسٽ پارٽي“ سان به پلاند ملائڻ لاءِ تيار نه هئا . هي جماعت سنڌ جي روشن خيال غير مسلم رهواسين جي پيداوار هئي ، وشنداس ڏيا رام ، مهراج هوندراج ، ليلارام حڪومت راءِ ، ڀائي لڌارام ۽ ڊاڪٽر وليرام هن جماعت جا خاص اڳواڻ هئا .

31. سنڌ هندو زميندار سڀا :

هي سڀا 30 اپريل 1927ع تي قائم ڪئي وئي ، جماعت جو پهريون صدر پرنسپال شهاڻي ۽ پهريون سيڪريٽري منوهر داس ڪوڙومل هو . ان کان سواءِ هن جماعت جي پهرين”ڪاروباري ڪميٽي“ هيٺين ماڻهن تي مشتمل هئي :

ڪراچي : سيٺ سوڀراج چيتو مل ، راءِ بهادر شيوارام ۽ سيٺ هرچند راءِ وشنداس .

حيدرآباد : مکي ڄيٺانند ، ديوان همت سنگهه ، اڌارام شيوڪرام ۽ اڌن مل مينگهراج .

نوابشاهه : اڌارام چانڊومل ، آسنداس ليلارام .

سکر : مکي موٽڻ داس .

ٿرپارڪر : ٺاڪر ونگهراج ۽ سيٺ پرتاب راءِ .

لاڙڪاڻو : ريجهومل لاهوري ، ڪشنچند واڌو مل ، ۽ سيٺ گوڪل داس نول داس.

هي جماعت سنڌ جي هندو زميندارن جي مفادن جي نگهباني ڪندي هئي .

32. سنڌ هندو سڀا :

”سنڌ سڀا“ جڏهن اختلافن جو شڪار ٿي وئي ۽ سنڌ جي سياست تي مذهبي رنگ چڙهڻ لڳو ته سنڌ جي هندن ”سنڌ هندو سڀا“ ٺاهي . هن سڀا جون سنڌ جي مکيه شهرن ۽ مرڪزن ۾ شاخون هونديون هيون . هي جماعت مطالعي هيٺ آيل دؤر ۾ سنڌ جي هندن جي هڪ فعال سياسي جماعت هئي .

33. سنڌ يونائيٽيڊ پارٽي :

هڪ سال جي محنت ۽ جدوجهد کان پوءِ هي جماعت 30 آڪٽوبر 1936ع تي قائم ڪئي وئي . جيتوڻيڪ پارٽيءَ کي غير فرقيوارانه بنيادن تي ٺاهڻ جي ڪوشش ڪئي وئي هئي ، پر سنڌ جي هندن ۽ ٻين غير مسلم رهواسين انهيءَ ۾ ڪا به دلچسپي ڪانه ورتي . خود سنڌي مسلمان به قيادت جي مسئلي تي پاڻ ۾ ٺهي نه سگهيا ۽ ائين ”سنڌ مسلم پوليٽيڪل پارٽي“ هن جماعت جي اختلاف واري ڪک مان جنم ورتو . هن پارٽيءَ جو پهريون اڳواڻ سر حاجي عبدالله هارون ، نائب اڳواڻ سر شاهنواز ڀٽو ۽ ميران محمد شاهه ، سيڪريٽري حاتم علوي ۽ سيد ميهر علي شاهه ٿيا . سنڌ جي پهرين چونڊن ۾ هن پارٽيءَ کي وڏي ڪاميابي حاصل ٿي ليڪن سندس ٻه اڳواڻ سر حاجي عبدالله هارون ۽ سر شاهنواز ڀٽو چونڊون کٽي نه سگهيا . پارٽيءَ کي ٻيو ڌڪ اهو لڳو ته وقت جي گورنر هن پارٽيءَ کي نظر انداز ڪندي ”سنڌ مسلم پوليٽيڪل پارٽي“ کي وزارت ٺاهڻ جو موقعو ڏنو . هن پارٽيءَ کي جڏهن وزارت ٺاهڻ جو موقعو مليو ته سندس اسيمبليءَ وارو اڳواڻ ۽ وزير اعليٰ خانبهادر الله بخش سومرو ڪانگريس طرف جهڪي پيو ۽ هي پارٽي اقتدار جي ڪرسيءَ تائين پهچندي پاش پاش ٿي وئي .

34. سوديشي سڀا :

هن سڀا جو قيام 31 آڪٽوبر1919ع تي عمل ۾ آندو ويو . سڀا اصل ۾ ممبئيءَ ۾ قائم ڪيل مسٽر گانڌيءَ جي ”سوديشي سڀا“ جو پڙاڏو هئي . سنڌ سو ديشي سڀا جي مکيه اڳواڻن مان جمشيد ميهتا ، مسڪيوٽا ، سر ڪشنداس للا ، نرسگنهه لال ڌمنمل ، نارائڻ داس آنندجي ، رام داس ۽ حاتم ڪريم جيءَ جا نالا ذڪر لائق آهن . سڀا جو صدر دفتر ڪراچيءَ ۾ هوندو هو . سڀا سنڌ ۾ ”سوديشي تحريڪ“ کي مقبول ۽ مانوس بڻائڻ ۾ وڏو ڪم ڪيو .

35 . سوراج پارٽي :

ڪانگريسي پارٽيءَ ۾ ڏڦيڙ پوڻ کان پوءِ جڏهن انهيءَ جي انتها پسند ڌڙي ”سوراج پارٽي“ ٺاهي ته انهيءَ جو اثر سنڌ تي به پيو . سنڌ ۾ آر . ڪي سڌوا ۽ شري ڪشنداس للا ، هن پارٽيءَ جا باني اڳواڻ هئا .

36. سول لبرٽيز يونين :

هي يونين سنڌ ڪانگريس ڪميٽيءَ جي ذيلي شاخ هئي ، جيڪا 1936ع ۾ جمشيد ميهتا جي صدارت هيٺ ٺاهي وئي هئي . هن يونين جي مکيه ڪارڪنن ۽ اڳواڻن ۾ شيخ عبدالمجيد سنڌي ۽ جيرام داس دولترام جا نالا ذڪر ڪرڻ لائق آهن .

37. سوراج سڀا :

هي جماعت 1921 ۾ شڪارپور ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي . جماعت جي ٺهراءَ ۾ شڪارپور جي اسسٽنٽ ڪليڪٽر ٽانٽن جو وڏو هٿ هو ، جماعت جي مکيه ميمبرن مان ميان علي بخش ، ڀڳوانداس ، شيخ تاج محمد ، مولوي رحمت الله ، پير ضياءِ معصوم شاهه ۽ مرليڌر جا نالا ذڪر ڪرڻ لائق آهن . جماعت جو مقصد بنهه امن سڀا جهڙو هو .

38. فرينڊ آف سوويت يونين :

هي جماعت مطالعي هيٺ آيل دؤر جي پوئين ڏهاڪي ۾ قائم ٿي . ڪراچي ۽ حيدرآباد انهيءَ جا مکيه مرڪز هوندا هئا . پروفيسر ڪارواڻي هن جماعت جو پهريون سيڪريٽري هو .

39. لوئر سنڌ جاگيردار ائسوسيئشن :

 

هن جماعت جو مرڪز حيدرآباد هو . هن جماعت 1922ع ۾ سکر بئراج جي مخالفت ۾ ڀرپور تحريڪ هلائي ، ڇو ته جماعت جي خيال ۾ بئراج جي تعمير مان اپر سنڌ جي زميندارن ۽ جاگيردارن کي اجايو فائدو رسڻو هو . مکي هرڪشنداس ، سيد ڪمال شاهه ، اڌارام ، ۽ شيوڪ رام هن جماعت جا مکيه اڳواڻ هئا .

40. مسلم نئشنيلسٽ پارٽي :

هي پارٽي قيام پاڪستان کان ٿورو اڳ ۽ خانصاحب الله بخش جي شهادت کان ڪجهه وقت پوءِ ٺهي . جماعت کي اتر سنڌ ۾ ڪافي مقبوليت حاصل ٿي . 1946ع ۾ مسٽر محمد علي مڪراني ان جو سيڪريٽري ٿيو . هي جماعت هندو مسلم اتحاد ۽ آزاديءَ جي حصول ۾ اعتقاد رکندي هئي .

41. نئشنل ڪنوينشن ڪلب :

هي ڪلب 1924ع ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي . سندس سرڪده اڳواڻن مان جمشيد ميهتا ۽ ڄيٺمل پرسرام جا نالا ڳڻائي سگهجن ٿا . ڪراچي ۽ حيدرآباد هن ڪلب جا ٻه مکيه مرڪز هئا . هن ڪلب طرفان ڪراچيءَ جي خالق ڏني هال ۽ حيدرآباد جي بنڌو آشرم ۾ ڪيتريون ئي گڏجاڻيون ٿيون . هن ڪلب عوام ۾ سنڌ جي جدائيءَ کي مقبول بڻائڻ کان سواءِ پورهيت طبقي کي بيدار ڪرڻ ۾ وڏو ڪم ڪيو .

42. هاري پارٽي :

هي پارٽي 1930ع ۾ قائم ڪئي وئي . جنهن جو پهريون صدر پرنسپال گوڪلي کي مقرر ڪيو ۽ ڄيٺمل پرسرام ، شيخ عبدالمجيد سنڌي ۽ جي . ايم . سيد ان جا سيڪريٽري ٿيا . هن پارٽيءَ جي سهاري هيٺ هارين جون ڪانفرنسون ٿيون ، ۽ سنڌ اسيمبلي سندن مسئلن ڏانهن متوجهه ٿي .

43. هوم رول ليگ :

هن جماعت جو اصل ۾ بنياد 1915ع ۾ ٿياسافيءَ جي پرچارڻ مائي ايني بيسنت وڌو ۽ سنڌ ۾ وري سندس پوئلڳن انهيءَ جي شاخ کولي . ڪراچي هن جماعت جو صوبائي مرڪز هو . ان جون شاخون حيدرآباد ، سکر ۽ شڪارپور ۾ به هيون .

44. يونئنسٽ پارٽي :

هي جماعت 1936ع ۾ سيٺ حاجي عبدالله جي ڪوشش ۽ قيادت سان قائم ٿي . پارٽي غير فرقيوارانه بنيادن تي ٺاهي وئي هئي . ۽ سنڌ جي اقتصادي ترقيءَ کي ان جي منصوبي ۾ وڏي جاءِ ڏني وئي هئي .