The other day I was hearing Dada Ram Jethmalani's (dated) speech at a Sindhi event in Dubai. In his quintessential Sindhi style (which reminds me of my grandfather !) , he spoke about how Secularism is ingrained in Sindhis and that the community is a perfect example of what it means to have "secular values". He goes on to elaborate about how during his days in Shikarpur (Sindh), Hindu children were presented with gifts and cloths on Eid and Muslim children on Diwali ("Dyaarih" in Sindhi). (For the interested, The link to his speech is given at the end of this post.)
Something similar is echoed by Steven.W. Ramey in his book " Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond". In his interactions with various Sindhi Hindus in Lucknow , he mentions about how many respondents, when asked about their religious identity, mentioned that they were "basically Hindu". Ramey states : " The insertion of qualifying terms such as "basically" implies that they are not fully or truly Hindu and reflects the influence of the dominant understandings on Sindhi assertions".
At my home too, we have grown up with Guru Nanak Baba Ji's picture along with other gods and goddesses in our "small" mandir. In-fact such pluralism is a normal way of life for most Hindu Sindhis. We always called our Dadi (Paternal Grandmother) as "Mummy-Ammi". Recently, at my sister's friend's wedding (also a Hindu Sindhi) the entire wedding was solemnized at the gurudwara according to Sikh rituals. Infact, Guru Nanak Jayanti is a much celebrated occasion in the Hindu Sindhi calendar as most Hindu Sindhis are "Nanakpanthis".
Our places of worship, Gurmandir ("Tikaano" in Sindhi) is actually an amalgamation of Gurudwara and Mandir and (until recently) generally had a picture of Guru Nanak (and quite often even Guru Granth Sahib) in addition to Hindu gods such as Ram and Krishna. However I am told (unverified) that the new gurudwara legislation does not allow a number of "hybrid" practices which if true, is another testimony to the polarized world that we live in wherein identities have to be looked from a black/white prism ("either/or") rather than acknowledging existence of "grey" ("And") areas as well. Dada Bhaneja makes a mention in his book about his father's "Sufi" Spirit ; something shared by a lot of Sindhis especially the older generation. The much celebrated kalams of Bhagat Kanwarram have largely been written by Muslim sufis/saints.
I believe it is this spirit of tolerance and adaptability that comes with it that has played an important role in the material success of the community. I hope that as a community we are able to carry forward this sense of inclusiveness which has helped us come this far.
Link to Dada Ram Jethmalani's video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxDJuRNX8a4
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