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POLITICS IN SINDH AND PAKISTAN MOVEMENT (1940-1947)

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

INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND:

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

Developed Hindu Minority and Backward Muslim Majority:

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

Ref: Zahid Choudhry, Pakistan ki Siyasi Tarikh.

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

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

Hindu constituted 23% of the Sindh population and 75% were Muslims. Almost all of Hindu
male population was literate while 92% of Sindhi population was illiterate. Hindus contolled
grains produced bythe Sindhi Haris. All High government posts were held by the Hindus. The
Hindu propaganda was so sharp and active that any Muslim who tried to alleviate the misery of
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the Muslim Haris was termed as anti Hindu and communalist and the British protected them.
Mostly Hindus were money-lenders, merchants and capitalist who have entangled the Muslims
in the unending net of debts with interest. The 16 ICS officers were Hindu as compared to only
one Muslim ICS. The feudal owned 1.9 million acre of land on which they did not pay taxes,
land or irrigation. Most of acquired land being the members of past ruling family, or due to
showing loyalty to the British or due being the chief of a tribe or by being pir, or sajjada nashin.

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

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

BEGINNING OF MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS:

President of Muhammadan Association Ameer Ali came to Karachi in 1882 and founded
Muhammadan National Associatioin. Hasan Ali Afindi, a lawyer, became its president. The
objective of this organization were to promote Muslims educationally, culturally and
economically while promoting loyalty to the British. Hasan Afindi set up Sinh madrassa in 1885.
Muslim League in Sindh:

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

Rais Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bhurgari was the first to found the Muslim League in Sindh.
The Congress and the Muslim League held their session together. Seth Abdullah Haroon was
appointed the president of Sindh Muslim League. He started al wahid in 1920 from Khilafat
Committee. Its first editor was Qazi Abdul Rehman.
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But formally the Sindh Muslim League was established on Oct 8, 1938 under the presidents hip
of the Quaid-i-Azam.

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

SEPARATION OF SINDH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Sindh shall be separated.

2. Hindus will have 10 per cent weightage.
3. There will be joint electorates in Sindh.
4. There will be justice and equality for all.

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

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

ECONOMY OF SUKUER BARRAGE

Sukkur Barrage was opened on January 1932 when the governor Loyad George inaugurated
it.The canal system of this barrage consisted of 4 canals on the right side and 3 canals on the
left side. It increased the area of irrigated land from 3286000 to 4142000 acres. The Muslim
elite like G H Hidyatullah, Abdul Majd Sindhi , Ayub Khuro and others feared that Hindu
money lenders, landowners, capiltalists and educated middle class will be benfit most from
the economic fruits of the barrage. For them the Communal Award August 1932 was not
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satisfactory as it awarded 24 seats to 25 % Hinudus on the basis of weightage or

overreprestantation to minorities for the protection of minority rights and now ministry would
be statble without their support. The Muslim majority situation in Sind resembled that of
Bengal and Punjab where non-Muslim minorities could influence any government. And

The economic repercussion of Sukkher barrage were felt within next two years. After 1934
large number of Muslim students from rural areas turned up to towns, for education. In pre-
Barrage days out of every five years crops, two would be below the annual average, two
about the average and only one above the average. It was not separation of Sindh from
Bombay Presidency that brought awakening in Sindh. It was Sukkur Barrage, followed by Kotri
and Guddu Barrages.

MUSLIM DEMAND OF SEPARATION OF SIND FROM BOMBAY: After the failure of

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

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

Politics in Sindh: 1937 ELECTIONS IN SINDH AND AFTERMATH

After the separation, while the communal feeling did not disappear, it undoubtedly lost intensity.
Muslims now enjoyed a solid majority in the province and therefore they had little reason to
worry about the dominance of a Hindu minority, however prosperous and influential it might be.
This Muslim majority status would also later shape the Sindh Muslim community's attitude
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toward Mus- lim League (ML) politics. Sindhi politics during the decade prior to Partition were
marred by inter- personal and factional squabbling between waderos. But these issues would

take a backseat to a more overarching one: whether Sindh should become part of Pakistan or not.
Within a few months after the separation of Sindh, a non-communal party, Sindh Ittehad Party
(SIP), was formed on the pattern of Punjab's Unionist party. Its sole objective was to protect the
in~erests of Sindhi rural elite, both Muslim and Hindu. During the 1937 elections, the SIP won
the largest number of seats in the provincial a~sembly.~ At that time, the ML was virtually non-
existent in Sindh and could not even win a single seat there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

GH Hidayatullah of SMP formed coalition ministry with Hindu and independent members of
the assembly. SUP was in opposition. Hidyatullah accepted the conditions of Hindu members to
execmpt the jugnle pastures from taxes. After the death of Hindu speaker Bhoon singh, Syed
Meeran Shah was elected the speaker , a move disliked by the Hindus and they withdrew their
support from the coalition.
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New Ministry was formed in March 1938 by Khan Bahdur Allah Baksh with the Congress
and Independent Hindus. Only 7 out 36 Muslim members supported it. The supporters included
G M Syed, Pir Illahi Baksh and Pir Ali Muhammad Rashdi.

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

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

Sindh Muslim League Conference 1938:

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

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

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

The Quiad held meeting with members of assembly to form Sind Muslim League assembly
Party. Ghulam Hussain and Mir Bande Ali talpur were made leader and deputy leader of the of
the Muslim League assembly Party. G M Syed wanted to remove Allah Baksh soomro
ministry but G Hussain and Bande Ali crossed the floors and the no-confidence motion was
failed.

MANZILGAH MASJI QUESTION 1939

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

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

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

Support for Pakistan

The decade before partition saw Sindh as a politically unstable province where the
making and breaking of governments and ministries had become routine. The task
of exploring Sindhis' aspirations became even more difficult because Sindhi Muslims
consisted of mainly two classes, the waderos

and the Haris (landless tenants). The middle classes were insignificant in number.
Yet another source of repression was the pirs, who not only were some of the
largest landlords in the province but also held sway over the spiritual life of Sindhis,
as religious guides and messiahs. Such almost total control over
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the temporal and spiritual beings of the majority of Sindhi Muslims, coupled with the
lack of communication and education facilities, made it difficult to know their real
desires and preferences. In the 1940s, there were only two political forces who had
a presence throughout India: the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.
De- spite the growth of regional political forces, Sindhis had to choose between the
two main national political parties. domi- nance of the Hindu minority over the
economic and administrative sectors of Sindh remained an unhappy feature that
from the Sindhi Muslims' point of view could become even worse under Hindu-
dominated Congress rule. Fur- thermore, at least two of the Congress's professed
objectives appeared omi- nously threatening to the interests of Sindhi elite. First,
there was the Congress's promise of land reforms, which the Sindhi elite, whose
numbersincluded some of India's largest landowners, did not even like to be men-
tioned, let alone implemented. Second, there was the Congress's plan for a strong
central government, which allowed little autonomy to the provinces. Also appealing
was the League's demand for autonomous Muslim states within the Indian union.
Therefore, in 1943, ML members in the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution
demanding "independent national states" on the basis that "no constitution shall be
acceptable . . . that will place Muslims under a Central Government dominated by
another nation."~

REF: G. M. Sayed, The Case of Sir~dh: G. M. Sayed's Depos~tion for the Court
(Karachi: Naeen Sindh Academy, 1995), pp. 18-19.

However, this did not mean that Sindhi politicians were in favor of the ML's demand
for Pakistan. Ayesha Jalal has argued that one of the most influential ML politicians,
Ghulam Hussain, was "an outspoken enemy of the Lahore resolution [later called
Pakistan Resolution]" and "all against Pakistan." According to Jalal, Ghulam Hussain
believed that even Mohammad Ali Jinnah himself (Pakistan's founder) did not have
his "heart in the propo- sal at all."8 For the Sindhi elite, the situation was a careful
balancing act; they feared Hindu domination under India's rule and Punjabi
domination in case of the formation of Pakistan.

REF: Ayesha Jalal, The Sole Spokesmnn: Jinlznh, the Muslim League ar7d the
Dernarzd for Paki-
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stnrl (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1992), p. 110.

LAHORE RESOLUTION AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SIND:

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

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

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

Sir Abdullah Haroon died on May 26, 1942.

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

After Soomro, Bandy Ali Talpur became Cheif Minister with the support of pro Hindu
congress. He also formed a non-communal Sind peoples association to couter the Congress and
indepedenet Hindu. It was a time when the Congress in its Ramgarh session of 12 March, 1940
 11

had launched a disobedience movement for full independence but the AIML replied to the
Congress move by its Pakistan demand embodied in Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940.

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

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

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

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

“It is necessary for them (Indian Muslims) to have

independent national states of their own and hence any
attempt to subject the Muslims of India under one
central government is bound to result in civil war
with grave and unhappy consequences.”

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

June 1943. With the Muslim League gaining roots among
the Muslims of Sindh there started a tussle between
Khuhro and Sayed groups for the control of the
organization.

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

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

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

The two by-elections at Shikarpur and Tando Muhammad Khan constituencies also witnessed a
fight between the two factions. The crisis was further precipitated by
the sudden and arbitrary dismissal of M.H. Gazdar, a supporter of G.M. Sayed group, from the
ministry.
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Now infighting entered the final round. In February 1945, Sayed retaliated and with the support
of Maula Baksh and the Hindu leaders, defeated the ministry by
25 votes against 19 on a one rupee cut motion sponsored by Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi.

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

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

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

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

For the 1946 elections, there emerged a three way

struggle for League tickets between Sayed, Ghulam Hussain (supported by Mir Group) and
Khuhro groups. Soon after his return from Simla, Jinnah visited Sindh
and tried to forge unity between the rival factions. On his advice, a Provincial Parliamentary
Board was formed consisting of all the leaders of warring groups. The selection of the Sindh
 14

parliamentary Board by M.A. Jinnah placed the Sayed group in a minority of one against four
ministerial groups though also opposed to each other but united against Sayed.

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

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

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

The Sayed group decided to contest the election at its

own under the banner of Progressive League.
RESULTS OF 1946 ELECTIONS

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

Sayed group joined forces with the Congress and the

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

The Governor Francis Mudie dissolved the assembly and appointed a, caretaker Muslim League
government. The fresh elections were held in December 1946 at a time when all was set for
partition of India. The 1946 elections provided opportunity to the aMuslim League to mobizlie
and rally muslim masses around its message of independence from alien rule whether the British
or the Hindu congress rule. The momentum of Pakistan demand was so intense that even the
non-leaguer Muslimc could not dare to oppose the Pakistan scheme to save their seats. The
 15

League had won all Muslim seats 30 in the central legislature. Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi was
defeated by the Yusuf Haroon.
The convention of Muslim League legislators, central and provincial was held in Delhi on
April7-9 1946. Sind was respresented in the Subjects Committee by Haji Akbvar Saheb, Agha
Badruddin and Mahmud Haroon. Open session of the Convention adopted a resolutionwhich
clearly indicated tht Pakistan was intended to be asingle sovereign state. The amendment to the
Lahore Resolution of AIML council was made by the Convention of the legislators.. Delhi
Resolution deleted the pharse the ‘costituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign. The
elections were held in December 1946.

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

The elections were contested on Pakistan demand and

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

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

CRITICAL ASSESMENT OF G M SYED’S ROLE: G M Syed appeared right in his claim

that G H Hidayatullah was the puppet of the British and represented the regresseive feudal mind
set. He joined his rule to perpetuate his rule. But he could not appreciate that Jinnah’s
compromise with the Congress would have left the League much weaker and ultimately threaten
the interests of Indian Muslims Syed was seeing the politics from his narrow localized angle
while Jinnah was seeing it at all Indian level. Secondly Syed accused Jinnah of concentrating all
powers in his hands and leadership of ML that came from Muslim minority places like Madras,
Bombay, UP Meerut Allahabad who are exploiting the name of Islam and Pakistan to save their
estates. He could not appreciate that the delicate political situation required a man with strong
 16

resolve and power. He could have seen Gandhi who despite the claim of the Congress of being
democratic in its working, was responsible for the Congress involvement in Non cooperation
movement during Khilafat Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and then Quit
India Revolt in 1942. He became Bapu or Mahatama much earlier than Jinnah became the Quaid
I azam of the Muslim in dec 1938. There were no grounds were accusing Jinnah of being
dictatorial and authoritarian especially When the Congress was not enjoying ideal democracy in
any sense.
Furthermore , Syed’s claim to represent the poor Haris of Sind was hollow and without any
evidence. He did not choose Haris for the tickets. None of his candidates were Haris or
belonging to the poor class. Syed could not understand that Gulf after 1921 Hindu riots and
congress ministries rule 1937-39 had widened so much that it was almost impossible to bridge.
The Quaid’s policies were base on realisn. He took AIML to heights. The leaders like Sir skindar
Hyat, Sir Saadullah and Maulvi Fazlul Haq had to surrender befor him not because he was very
powerful in wealth or influence or connections but because he had mobilized Indian Muslims
who were fearful being subjugated by the Hindu money-lenders and capitalists. Jinnah did not
budge in Simla conference from his position to give Muslim seat to non leaguer Muslim because
that could threaten Muslim League claim to represent Muslims. He was keen to prove his claims
in the elections so that he could argue with the rival parties on equal footing.
Two Hindu newspapers namely, Sind Observer, and Daily Gazette also encouraged Syed’s
dissention by projecting him as the leader of the oppressed and the poor Sindhis.

CONCLUSION:

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

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

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

The success of Pakistan Demand in the feudal mileu of Sind in the face of strong opposition was
the result of far-sighted and charismatic leaderhisp of the Quaid-i-Azam. He proved his claim
that the Muslim League was the sole representative of Indian Muslims.
 17

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

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

Statement by the Cabinet Delegation and His Excellency the

Viceroy (as issued in New Delhi on 16 May 1946).
18. In forming any Assembly to decide a new Constitutional structure the first problem is to
obtain as broad-based and accurate a representation of the whole population as is possible. The
most satisfactory method obviously would be by election based on adult franchise; but any
attempt to introduce such a step now would lead to a wholly unacceptable delay in the
formulation of the new Constitution. The only practicable alternative is to utilize the recently
elected Provincial Legislative Assemblies as the electing bodies. There are, however, two factors
in their composition which make this difficult. First, the numerical strengths of the Provincial
Legislative Assemblies do not bear the same proportion to the total population in each Province.
Thus, Assam with a population of 10 millions has a Legislative Assembly of 108 members,
while Bengal, with a population six times as large, has an Assembly of only 250. Secondly,
owing to the weightage given to minorities by the Communal Award, the strengths of the several
communities in each Provincial Legislative Assembly are not in proportion to their numbers in
the Province. Thus the number of seats reserved for Muslims in the Bengal Legislative Assembly
is only 48% of the total, although they form of the Provincial population. After a most careful
consideration of the various methods by which these inequalities might be corrected, we have
come to the conclusion that the fairest and most practicable plan would be:-

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

(b) to divide this provincial allocation of seats between the main communities in each Province
in proportion to their population.
 18

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

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

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

Eminenent Sindhi Polticians

SIR ABDULLAH HAROON

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

213.

Allah Bux (1900--43) was the finest Premier Sindh ever had. Though a
zamindar and government contractor, he habitually wore Khadi. He withdrew the magisterial
powers from the Waderas. He followed the Congress line and fixed 500 rupees as minister's salary He

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

AYUBK KHURO

Khuhro who came from a Zamindari family of Larkana, had developed a sense of
public service from an early age. He had joined politics as Member of Larkana
District Board and by the age of 22 was elected Member of the Bombay Legislative
 19

Council. Khuhro led the case for separation in front of the Simon Commission and
was opposed by Sindh Hindus. Mr Hidayatullah1878--1948),

remained on the political horizon of Sindh for about half a century. His forefathers
hailed from Kashmir and had settled in Shikarpur in the late 19th century. Born in
1878, he had early schooling at Shikarpur and then at Sindh Madressah and D. J.
College, Karachi. .

Pir Illahi Bakhsh

. Pir Illahi Bakhsh was the man who served people without distinction, hated
hypocrisy, brought reforms and sanity to politics. Pir sahib contributed to the
welfare of Sindh to a great extent. As a lawyer he

Sindh Students role in Pakistan Movement

Inauguration of Sind Muslim College . The Quiad inaugurated the college on 21 June, 1943..
He appreciated the efforts of Pir Illahi Baksh who played an importat role in establishing the
college. Hidyatullah, Ayub Khuro, Hatim Alavi, Hashim Gazdar were the members of the Sindh
Muslim College Board. Pir Illahi Baksh was the the first president of the college. Its students
played an important role in mobilizing Muslims support against the GM Syed groups in the 1946
elections.

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