This year, the largest diaspora organisation of Sindhis, the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA), is completing 40 years of its glorious existence. A matter of pride, indeed, as my association with the organisation dates back to its infancy years.
SANA came into being when a group of Sindhi American university professors and their friends, incensed at the naked atrocities being committed by the authoritarian regime of Zia on unarmed and peaceful Sindhis, met via a phone call in 1984. Horrified at the unabashed and ruthless use of lethal force against the defenceless people demanding nothing more than democracy and justice needed to be stopped, they strongly felt.
In Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been judicially murdered five years earlier. Benazir Bhutto was languishing in the sweltering Sukkur jail. Most of the other leadership too was either imprisoned or had fled the country. Baloch leadership, who had been waging a war against the democratic government of Bhutto from Afghanistan had all too willingly joined forces with autocratic Zia regime after ending their self-imposed exile. The media was already sold out, muzzled or paralyzed.
The brutalities of the Zia regime during and after the bloody Movement of Restoration of Democracy, MRD, were still going on. The movement had already cost around a 1000 Sindhi lives, according to a list published by authentic news sources. A large number of protestors in Sindh were jailed, where they were being brutally tortured.
Its membership ranging from Sindhis living in the far-flung Canadian territories to the prairies of Texas; from wealthiest business folks to the minimum wage gas station workers
The MRD movement that was launched with an aim to bring about democracy in the whole country was met with a deafening silence and indifference in the other three provinces. Some of the big-name journalists, affiliated mostly with Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious groups, were involved in anti-people, pro martial law mind games, painting the MRD as an anti-Pakistan, anti-Islam secessionist movement of Sindhis.
There was no power left within Pakistan to stop Zia from continuing with his vicious campaign against the defenceless people of Sindh. A strong voice had to be raised from outside the country. The forces of justice and peace had to be galvanised against the forces of tyranny in Pakistan, those participating in the phone call agreed.
SANA was born in 1984 thus.
The only power that Zia cared about more than Allah Himself, was the USA. So, the powerful and affluent Sindhi doctors, academics and businessmen got to work, approaching their friends in the US congress and Canadian parliament as well as sympathisers with democracy in the international media.
The result was obvious. Soon, Benazir Bhutto, who was very sick and being denied the basic health facilities in Sukkur jail, was allowed to proceed abroad for her treatment. Every day, there was one news or the other, albeit in a muffled tone, in Sindhi newspapers about SANA’s good work in the USA and Canada.
I, who had witnessed at least two of my close, innocent, university friends brutally killed by the security forces, had already become a big fan of SANA even before I landed in the USA.
I joined the organisation and offered my humble services to it as soon as I arrived in the country in 1986 as a student.
During the last 40, a lot has changed within SANA, however. The organisation has evolved from being a limited group of close friends vying for democracy to a grass root level organisation of thousands of Sindhis from all walks of life and political alignment, deeply involved in all matters Sindh. Its membership ranging from Sindhis living in the far-flung Canadian territories to the prairies of Texas; from wealthiest business folks to the minimum wage gas station workers. All enjoying equal rights and esteem within the organisation.
The organisational role too has increased. An organisation born to raise awareness in the world against the brutal martial law in Pakistan, is now a social, cultural and charitable organisation of all North American Sindhis, regardless of their origin.
It continues to play its central role as an advocacy group, keeping a watchful eye on the happenings in Sindh and Pakistan, and applying all its pressure, remaining in touch with the lawmakers as well as media back home and playing a strong role, when necessary.
It does not shirk, however, from extending its supporting hand whenever help is needed. As an example, SANA has been providing support to the flood and earthquake victims in Sindh regularly. However, it also provided assistance in Kutch and Rajasthan when an earthquake hit the area, a few years ago.
In Pakistan, SANA has played a vital role in the field of education. The organisation has been providing a large number of scholarships to the undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of medicine, engineering, nursing and business through its FAME program, initiated to commemorate the renowned scholar and social worker, Dr Feroze Ahmed. The list of SANA’s charitable programs in Sindh is endless.
SANA’s SEHCAR (SANA Emergency, Healthcare and Calamity Assistance and Relief) program is closest to my heart as I had a humble part in initiating it. The SEHCAR played an important role in providing the necessary assistance in terms of food and supplies to the far flung and distraught villages in Sindh during the hard COVID times.
SANA has been holding its annual conventions in the different cities in North America with an intention for the North American Sindhis to meet at least once a year, share good time with each other, find matches for their children, enjoy Sindh culture and food and give their progeny, born outside Sindh, a refresher course in Sindhiat.
The annual convention, which has been attended such dignitaries as Justices Dorab Pater, Rana Bhagwan Das, ministers Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Ghulam Mustafa Sha, Ram Jeth Malani, Ahsan Iqbal and other prominent figures, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr., has become an international event. It is attended regularly by hundreds of folks not just from North America, Pakistan and India but almost all continents, serving as a great source of generation of funds for SANA programs.
SANA welcomes all Sindhis and they all live together in peace and respect each other’s opinion and sensitivities.
The broad base of SANA is what makes it a great and viable organisation. Being a secular and democratic organisation, SANA grants every member equal right to enjoy his/her affiliation with whatever ideology, religion, and political philosophy they belong.
Every two years SANA holds free and fair election and each time a bunch of flowers of different colours and fragrance, individuals with different, sometimes opposing ideologies, are elected to run the organisation, ensuring the core democratic values of the organisation.
That is the beauty of SANA. The equal and opposite centrifugal and centripetal forces are what keep SANA in balance and guarantee its survival.
The 40th convention of SANA ended in Calgary, Canada, a few days ago with great fanfare.