Citizenship (Amendment) Act,2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Indian Parliament on 11^th December, 2019 and received President’s assent on 12^th December, 2019. The Act aims to provide a path to Indian Citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsi and Christian religious minorities fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan provided they entered India on or before 31.12.2014. The bill also relaxes the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five years. The bill has been challenged on grounds of being violative of Right to Equality under Indian Constitution and is due to be heard in Supreme Court of India in January, 2020.

  

According to some reports, the bill is expected to provide immediate benefits to 31,313 refugees: 25,447 Hindus, 5,807 Sikhs, 55 Christians, 2 Buddhists and 2 Parsis. Majority of 25,000 Hindu beneficiaries will be Sindhis as 90% of Hindus in Pakistan reside in Sindh province. A sizable number of Sikhs beneficiaries are those who have fled religious persecution from Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Over the past couple of decades, there has been a steady flow of minorities from the above mentioned countries coming into India. A sizeable number came on religious tourism visa only never to return back. Discrimination an account of following religious practices that do not conform to majority sensibilities and forced conversion seem to be the dominant reason for the movement of these minorities to India. In-fact, as I write this, local media is full of reports of forced conversion of 22 year old Mehak Keswani in Ghotki district in Pakistan. I understand that majority of forced conversion in Sindh is carried out by two particular mullahs – Mian Mithu based in Deherki in Upper Sindh and Pir Mohammed Ayub Jan Sarhandi in Samaro tehsil in Umerkot district in Lower Sindh. What else can minority families do in such circumstances than to flee what has been their land for thousands of years! Such incidents remind me of the following lines by famous Sufi Saint, Baba Bulleh Shah:-

Masjid dhaa dey,
Mandir Dhaa dey
Dha de jo kuch dhainda ,
Par kissi da dil na dhaey,
Rab Dillan vich raenda

(Tear down the Mosque,
  Tear down the Temple,
  Tear down whatever you can,
  But do not tear down the heart
  for that is where God lives)

Once in India, the struggle does not end. Whilst initially most migrants enjoy the new found freedom and breathe a sigh of relief as they are no longer judged on their religious practices and need not worry about the female members of the family being troubled for religious reasons, however, in the absence of proper documentation, making ends meet can be a real struggle. Activities like securing a government job, buying an immovable property or sending children to school/college can be a painstaking task. Finding private sector employment can also be difficult as potential employers are reluctant to employ migrants holding Pakistani / Bangladeshi / Afghanistani passport. In fact I remember seeing on a local news channel about how few qualified medical doctors from Sindh post migration were running small mobile phone recharge shops in cities of Ahmedabad and Jodhpur as in the absence of citizenship and reciprocal recognition of medical degrees, they could no longer practice medicine.

Whilst the central and various state government has been largely sympathetic to the cause of migrants facing religious persecution, however, in practice, there are significant day to day hurdles that these migrants face. For public at large, they still remain Pakistani/ Afghani/Bangladeshi passport holders which in itself at times can be a cause of discrimination locally. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that a lot of such families also face difficulties in getting their children married as often in the absence of Indian citizenship, prospective families/partners tend to look at such alliances negatively. In addition, most migrants have to report to Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) at regular intervals and seek permission before traveling to cities other than the one they have been registered at, a task which can be quite cumbersome.

Ms. Lavina Melwani based in New York, USA recently published an article in “Hinduism Today” (published by Himalayan Academy, Hawaii, USA) titled “72 years after Partition Hindus still flee”. Ms. Melwani takes the readers inside the Sindhi Refugee Communities in Jodhpur and Bhopal. Whilst not directly related to Citizenship Amendment, the article is a good read for anyone who is interested in understanding/exploring Sindhi Hindu migration in a greater detail. Link to the article is as follows. Congratulations to ‘Adi’ Lavina for such an insightful article.

http://digital.hinduismtoday.com/publication/?i=619137&article_id=3476998&view=articleBrowser&ver=html5#{%22issue_id%22:619137,%22view%22:%22articleBrowser%22,%22publication_id%22:%2245852%22,%22article_id%22:%223476998%22}

The new citizenship Amendment, in my opinion, provides hope of a better future to thousands of such refugees. Grant of an Indian passport will be the first of many steps that will help these migrants establish their individual identities in the new homeland, which for many is already “too-little, too-late”

I end with wishing Sindhi Chokro readers a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2020. May Lal Saeen continue to bless us all and grant all that we desire. As some of you may be aware, Chokro completes two years of existence in January, 2020 and I will publish our Second Anniversary post on 17^th January, 2020.

Also, below is the link to “Jhule-Lal Dhun” sung by Dada Ghanshyam Vaswani. I love the depth in Dada Vaswani’s voice so thought of sharing this with all of you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvbAq_jgheA&t=801s

Jai Jhulelal!

DD Sindhi Television Channel

I am very pleased to share that DD Sindhi has started airing on DD Girnar channel ; an hour every day from 10 AM to 11 AM. I understand that efforts are on to increase the duration to two hours everyday and that the same is likely to be effected shortly (hopefully!). This marks an important milestone in the  long and ardous journey to help preserve Sindhi language. Dadi Asha Chand who runs the NGO, Sindhi Sangat, through Advocates (Late) Dada Ram Jethmalani and his son, Dada Mahesh Jethmalani, first petitioned Delhi  High Court in 2007 that the State Broadcaster, Prasar Bharti, should provide a service in Sindhi language. Jethmalani family offered their services pro-bono throughout the journey.

Not many are aware that Sindhi language was included in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution in 1967 whereby the Union of India has a duty to promote the spread of the language. Subsequently,the Public Broadcaster , Prasar Bharti had started a number of channels dedicated to particular languages. Currently, it runs 17 such regional channels but none for Sindhi. After a number of disappointments where the public broadcaster expressed its inability to start such a channel due to paucity of funds, not enough audience etc. last year they advised the court that they were exploring the possibility of providing a dedicated slot on an existing channel. DD Sindhi is a step towards this direction and hopefully one day we will have our own 24 hour dedicated channel. 

SINDHI SANGAT TEAM WITH PRASAR BHARTI/DD OFFICIALS
Shri P K Subhash (DD), Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Smt. Asha Chand, Shri Surya Prakash (PB) and Shri Mohan Gehani

 I have always admired Dadi Asha for her work towards spread of Sindhiyat in general and Sindhi boli in particular. She is the daughter of (Late) Smt Sundri Uttamchandani and (Late) Shri A J Uttam both distinguished Sindhi writers. Much of her focus at Sindhi Sangat has focused on encouraging youngsters to learn the language particularly Arabic Sindhi script. Sindhi Sangat has directed a number of videos wherein they teach basics of language, have created a mobile phone application via which you can learn Sindhi at the convenience of your home, run a nursery rhyme competition wherein kids aged 3-8 years are encouraged to recite a nursery rhyme in Sindhi and send their videos to Sindhi Sangat as a part of an international competition. I often see photographs and videos of Dadi Asha addressing your kids at schools to learn Sindhi as well as encouraging schools run by Sindhi Management/ Boards to offer Sindhi as an optional subject. I do hope that through her sustained  efforts , over the next decade, we will have a new generation of youngsters who are able to read and write in Sindhi. I pray to Lal Saeen for Dadi's long life and salute her commitment towards preserving Sindhi culture. 

I end with this short video of Dada Mahesh Jethmalani detailing the outcome of court proceedings regarding the establishment of DD Sindhi. This is an April,2019 video. The next court date is in January,2020 wherein the public broadcaster will apprise the court about its plans to extend the slot to 2 hours. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzLeLx_OpMw

Jai Jhulelal!

Sadhu T L Vaswani / Sadhu Vaswani Mission

25th November is the birth anniversary of Sadhu T.L.Vaswani and is also observed as International Meatless Day throughout the world. My earliest memories of Meatless Day is the form that we used to fill to evidence our pledge of not eating non vegetarian food on this day circulated by friends in the colony who used to study at Sadhu Vaswani Girls School located in Shantiniketan, Delhi. Sadhu Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani was born in Hyderabad, Sindh in 1879. He was an educationalist, a philanthropist and a social worker who dedicated his entire life to spread and celebrate "Oneness of Spirit".  Post partition, Sadhu Vaswani and the larger Sadhu Vaswani mission shifted base to Pune, Maharashtra, India. He remained the spiritual leader of Sadhu Vaswani Mission until his demise in 1966 when the baton was passed onto Dada J P Vaswani. He is lovingly referred to as " Gurudev" by his followers and admirers .

I have always held Sadhu Vaswani Mission and both the spiritual leaders in high regard. Mission has dedicated itself to actively contributing to nation building via its various initiatives such as focusing on girl child's education ( Mira Movement) by establishing various schools and colleges for girls throughout India, by providing medical and social facilities to poor and needy. Another key area of focus is the focus on spiritual activities. Their website states:- (edited excerpts)

The Sadhu Vaswani Mission seeks to bear witness to the truth that there is but one life flowing in all men, birds, animals, things animate and inanimate. It believes that life must have a spiritual orientation and promotes the practice of kirtans, prayers, meditation & above all, love for others. The others are not apart from us, we are all part of One Whole.

The pivot of the Mission activities is daily Satsang, and ever flowing fountain of music, devotional, spiritual solace and continuous inspiration to all devotees. Special satasangs are organized on Hero Days, to commemorate the great souls. Sadhana (meditation) camps are held across the world to rekindle the spiritual flame within the hearts of aspirants. 

A lesser known aspect regarding Sadhu Vaswani's life is his flair for writing. Sadhu Vaswani's collection of Sindhi songs, the Nuri Granth, i understand is one of the largest collections by a single author/writer. In fact the book is revered by many as a scripture. Many of the songs in the book are prayers. His writings have been translated into English to enable them to reach a broader audience.

My admiration for the mission also stems from its emphasis on "Niswarth Sewa" ( Assistance/Help without any Expectation of return favor). Their medical centres offer free treatment to the poor and needy. The mission has always made a conscious effort to reach out to the larger Sindhi diaspora spread across the globe and both Sadhu Vaswani and Dada Vaswani played an important role in binding the community together.  I pray to almighty that the mission continues to achieve greater heights and both these saints continue to guide our paths.

I end with this wonderful documentary by Sindhi Sangat on life and key teachings of Sadhu Vaswani. I strongly urge readers to view this lovely video and share it with fellow Sindhis. Also attached is the link to Dadi Abida Parveen singing in praise of  Dada Vaswani. What a wonderful rendition! I hope you like it too.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBmvVldurt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWpenAtHJsM

  
(PS: Interested reader may want to refer to my blog page of August ,2019 on Dada J P Vaswani) 

 

Sindhi Music Concert

Picture Credit - Sindhi Academy website, Govt. of NCT Delhi

I spent a lovely evening last Saturday listening to Saeen Rajan Jhangiani and the young Neal Talreja singing melodious Sindhi songs at an event organized at Little Theatre Group (LTG) Auditorium by Sindhi Academy, Delhi. The Academy was set up by Government of Delhi in 1994 to promote Sindhi language,culture, music, literature etc. For the past few years, the academy organizes a bi-monthly Sindhi music concert at which various Sindhi singers from Delhi and outside are invited to perform. The concert is open to all and there are no admission charges. 

Saeen Rajan is a local Delhi resident and I have heard him performing at the neighborhood Sindhu Samaj and at Swami Dharamdas Darbar in Lajpat Nagar a number of times. I am told that Saeen Rajan's mother was also an extremely talented singer and both his parents have spent a major part of their lives in serving/ promoting Sindhiyat. Whilst I have always enjoyed his singing,  his voice somehow seemed to sound much better in a formal setting with proper acoustics etc. In addition, Saeen sang a number of kalams which I had not heard before and craftily moved from Haqeeqi Ishq (Love of God)  to Haqeeqati Ishq (Real Life Love). One of the kalams he sang was on Sindh written by Zulfiqar Manjhi titled " Sindh Sunjanapaye aahe Sik Ji" ( Sindh's Identity stems from yearning/belonging. Thanks Sunila for helping me translate this!). Whilst I do not remember the exact lyrics but listening to the kalam, I couldn't help but think  about the complex multi layered relationship that we Hindu Sindhis staying in India  share with Sindh? On one hand is the geopolitical reality of India and Pakistan having an adversarial relationship ever since the countries became independent whereas on the other hand is the lovely folklore about the wonderful, sufi ,(then) secular homeland where most of us originate from that one has heard about while growing up. Saeen Rajan's enthusiastic rendition seemed to remind the audience about an era gone by!

The second performer was Neal Talreja. I first heard about Neal from an acquaintance when he was visiting Indore to sing at the local Sadhu Vaswani Centre an year or so ago. Neal is an energetic performer who kept the audience fully engaged. He sang a wide variety of songs, starting with his version of " Muhinjo Daru Dawa Tuhinjo Deedar aa" to Pere Pavendesaan to a number of  Master Chander classics. There was a little bit in it for everyone. At a young age of 28, Neal has achieved a lot. He is a regular singer at Sadhu Vaswani Mission and has performed a number of times in front of Dada J P Vaswani. His enthusiasm ensured that most of the audience was right below the podium dancing to the foot tapping music being played by his band. Seeing Neal and his enthusiasm towards promoting Sindhiyat gives me a hope that perhaps all is not lost, yet!.

I think overall it was an evening well spent and I look forward to more such delightful evenings in the coming future.


Saeen Rajan Jhangiani's link as follows. Zulfiqar Manjhi's written song begins at 23 minutes and 35 seconds.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV--FsIUkTc&t=1401s

Link to Neal Talreja's performance is as follows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUOWcz9B2tU

Jiye Sindhiyat 

Dada Ram Jethmalani

(In Memoriam) Ram Boolchand Jethmalani
Picture Credit : Internet

 On 8th September, we woke up to the sad news of the demise of Dada Ram Jethmalani, a doyen of Hindu Sindhi community in India. He was six days short of celebrating his 96th birthday.  Dada Ram is regarded as one of the finest legal luminaries in India and was active at bar till about 2 years back. In addition to his distinguished credentials as a lawyer par excellence and as an outstanding  parliamentarian , Dada Ram's contribution to various initiatives concerning the Sindhi community have also been unparalleled. Whether it was challenging Bombay Refugee Act of 1948 (with it eventually being declared ultra vires)  to playing an important role as a part of the legal team assembled by Ms. Maimie Ahuja ( sister of deceased Prem Ahuja) in K M Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra in 1959, which eventually led to grant of pardon to Bhai Pratap to getting Sindhi language a constitutional status in 1967 to filing of a petition for a full fledged Sindhi Channel in Delhi High Court in 2007 , Dada Ram has always been at the forefront of representing the community.  

With family origins in Shikarpur Sindh where he spent his formative years,  Dada Ram was based in Mumbai post partition but being a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) for many years, he used to frequent Delhi as well. He was extremely found of playing Badminton, the court at his residence being a testimony of his passion towards the game. Extremely approachable, one could always seek Dada Ram's counsel on various matters, especially if you were a Sindhi. Elders in my family have had the privilege of meeting him on a couple of occasions and were thoroughly impressed with his intelligence , straight forward approach and honest advise.

Over the past few years , I have with great interest heard him speaking about Sindhiyat at various forums. Whether it is his views on Shah Abdul Latif's poetry being equal (if not superior) to that of  Shakespeare to detailing how secularism has been ingrained in Sindhis as a "way of life" , Dada Ram commentary on various issues was extremely informative. Every time i listen to his audio clip on Radio Sindhi encouraging youngsters to always remember their Sindhi identity and to speak in Sindhi wherever possible, it  makes me slightly proud(er) Sindhi. Dada Ram also feared that in the absence of our own state and our propensity to easily amalgamate with the local cultures might eventually lead to extinction of our community. His love for Sindh is evident from the below lines:-

" Sindh, where I was born, was the cradle of Sufism. Our greatest poet, Shah Abdul Latif, , was a disciple of Hindu mendicants, who preached the gospel of love and charity and the annihilation of the ego. A breathtaking and magnificent synthesis of the two faiths, Hinduism and Islam , had been achieved in Sindhi Society" 

(Source: Rebel: A Biography of Ram Jethmalani by Susan Adelman)

Dada Ram's contribution to Sindhiyat are second to none. As Dadi Asha Chand wrote on her facebook page (Sindhi Sangat)  at his demise " Every body has to leave this world but when people like Dada Ram Jethmalani leave this world, people mourn. We are proud Sindhis that Dada Ram Jethmalani was born in our community."  May our community be blessed with many such legends like Dada Ram. 

I end with this wonderful clip of Dada Ram where he is encouraging Sindhis to preserve our cultural heritage. Can there be a better way of paying tribute to Dada Ram than putting this advice into practice?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYLOMqkgTI

I pray to Lal Sain to rest his soul in peace .