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Sindh was only the centre of Rasool Bux Palijo’s focus; the area of his struggle and the mirror of his dreams for revolutionary. Humanity was his faith; he saw religions as humane and mutually supportive mass of beliefs and not as classifying and antagonising dogmas spilling blood of the adherents of each other. He had made a comparative study of the main religions and came to the above belief. He respected all the religions, and one could not discern any derogatory remark about a religion or a religious figure of any faith from his speeches and writings. He was above all the shallow thoughts and poisonous prejudices promoted by the narrow nationalism and dogmatism of pseudo scholars and intellectuals either in their arrogance rather ignorance or at the behest of their masters pulling their strings from power corridors within the country or from far off shores.
I have come across his lament over the loss of human lives devoured by the sectarian bias and hatred in the evolutionary history of nations and religions – may it be the thirty years of religious wars in Europe which destroyed many countries, the historic hostility between Arabs and Persians, the mayhem caused by the Sunni-Shia clashes. He preached all his life against this dogmatism to save Sindh from this menacing threat. He battled against such forces at all fronts – political, cultural, social, and literary.
Views about Pakistan's federation
Rasool Bux Palijo was a scholar, intellectual and political activist of high integrity with a constructive mind and positive attitude. He used to openly preach his political beliefs. He would have openly preached it if he were against Pakistan or a protagonist of Sindh as an independent country. He had political affinity with the Bengali nationalists including Shaikh Mujib. Like them, he never wanted to undo Pakistan. He was never supportive of the anti-Pakistan slogans like Sindhudesh. What he wanted within the country was substantial autonomy for the federating units rendering them owner of their land and marine resources and assets in accordance with the Pakistan Resolution of 1940 – the autonomy which the erstwhile Socialist Soviet Republics, more or less, enjoyed within their Union.
The Lahore Resolution – later on converted into Pakistan Resolution – maybe on the second review - had envisioned ‘states’. It is not clear the authors of the original Resolution wanted independent states or autonomous states within Pakistan. One version is that the original Resolution demanded independent states keeping in view the Muslim majority in the North Western Provinces with undivided Punjab and Kashmir, undivided Bengal and Assam, Hyderabad Deccan, though the majority of its population was Hindus. What finally did Jinnah get, in his own words, was a moth-eaten Pakistan. There was originally no plan or agreement to divide Punjab and Bengal triggering the displacement of huge populations on both sides of the divide.
Lord Mountbatten, at the behest of the Congress leaders, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, took the decision of dissecting Bengal and Punjab in June 1947 and ordered the sick and weak Cyril Radcliffe to complete the task within the month of July. Why did Mr Jinnah accept this moth-eaten Pakistan is the question which naturally comes to every thinking mind? In my view, Mr Jinnah was well aware of his health. He knew he was not going to survive another year or so. He didn’t have time to battle against this injustice being meted out to the Muslims of the Sub-continent. If he didn’t accept this moth-eaten Pakistan, his dream of the emancipation of Muslims would remain unfulfilled. He had misplaced hopes in the Muslim League leadership to carry on his mission of a progressive, modern and prosperous Pakistan.
On this point, Saeen Rasool Bux had also supported Mr Jinnah. According to him this son of Sindh fought the battle of Muslims of the Sub-Continent with valour, dedication and commitment to the risk of his health, wealth and family and won them a land with greater potential to rise as one of the most important Muslim countries. Therefore, he never talked against the territorial integrity of Pakistan and always held Mr Jinnah in high esteem. In my view and analysis, this was also one of the reasons for his distant political relationship with GM Syed.
The Soviet Republics enjoyed the right to elect their leadership from President (read Secretary General) down to the Ministers, ownership of their resources and substantial share in the central pool of resources in accordance with their population, contribution to the central financial pool, social and economic needs. The central authority was left with a minimum number of subjects including Foreign Affairs, Finance and Currency, Defence and Defence Production, Foreign Trade and Communication.
The Bengalis accepted the parity and many other skewed and discriminatory schemes to maintain the territorial integrity of Pakistan. But all these schemes worked out by the Punjab-dominated establishment could not stem the injustice meted out to the federating units in the division of state resources, jobs, postings and promotions and just distribution of industrialisation and the other public funded projects. Hence, the Awami League formulated an election manifesto based on its famous Six-Points to end the exploitative shenanigans of the federal authority and the establishment.
After the general elections of 1970 in which the Awami League emerged victorious capturing all the National Assembly constituencies barring two only in the erstwhile East Pakistan, Mr Rasool Bux Palijo like all other leftist, nationalist and democratic political activists supported the Awami League’s claim to power. He knew that the Six-Points are meant to stop the iniquitous and lopsided policies of the federation and end the acquisitive hunger of the Punjabi establishment. The Constitution framed on the basis of those points would redress the chronic problem of the small provinces.
On this point he was in sync with the known nationalist political parties of the time. This negated the stance taken by ZA Bhutto or his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which had emerged as the second largest party in the country with 83 National Assembly constituencies mainly from Punjab in the former West Pakistan. Bhutto opposed the immediate transfer of power to the Awami League purported to be in league with the Military Junta.
Mr Palijo, even after remaining incarcerated for long eleven years, never allowed his personal grievances to change his stand on Pakistan. He wanted to see the country as a progressive, secular, democratic, modern and egalitarian nation state with the federating units enjoying substantial autonomy guaranteed constitutionally.
Sindhu, perceived as lifeline for Sindh
The River Indus has been the lifeline for the survival of Sindh since millennia. Sindh and its Delta cannot survive without this God-gifted source of sweet water. The prosperity of Sindh, being an agrarian society, depends on the waters of Sindhu. This is what Mr Palijo believed in as an article of faith. He considered River Indus or Sindhu as a living object with all rights that are or should be available to a human being, an animal or any living creature of the nature. He was the singular political leader from Sindh who had always been in the fighting mode armed with his shells and shields to plunge in the battle to foil the night raids on the waters of his beloved river.
Mr Palijo was a senior advocate well-versed with the International Law particularly the conventions and laws regulating the apportionment of waters of rivers among the upper and lower riparian states. He had also studied the history of the agreements for the distribution of the waters of River Indus between upper riparian Punjab and the lower riparian Sindh. He had an uncompromising stance on the waters of Sindhu. This is what the patriotic leaders all over the world do for the preservation of the resources of their countries. They don’t compromise on the core national interests of their lands and are ever willing to spill their blood for this lofty purpose.
In my view, he had taken a leaf from the historic struggle of the Egyptians to preserve their right over the waters of the River Nile. Their struggle too spans over millennia. Therefore, a brief reference to their struggle here would be appropriate to help us understand and appreciate the dedication and commitment of Saeen Rasool Bux Palijo to Sindhu. Many of us may not be well versed with how Egyptians perceive the River Nile. During my stay in the Islamic Republic of the Sudan and my frequent cruises in the Nile in Egypt, I witnessed amazing examples of the Egyptians’ commitment and vigilance to guard against the stealth of the waters of River Nile.
During our visit to one of the most backward state – Bahar ul Ghazal in the Sudan, I came across a small contingent of the Egyptian engineers headquartered there to monitor the downstream flow of the White Nile. They briefed us that since the first agreements brokered among the riparian countries by the British back in early 1920s, the Egyptian engineers had been there to ensure the downstream flow of their share of water from the river. The record of the rise and fall and flow of river waters had been kept over centuries by the water lords of Pharaohs even. These waters were a lifeline for Egypt then and are so, even today. British engineers had a world recognised expertise in the regulation of river waters. In their foreign possessions, they scientifically measured, recorded and analysed river waters; new maps were made; new canals cut or old ones restored; barrages constructed to regulate the river floods causing terrible devastation in rainy months and store the rain waters for dry seasons. The Egyptian engineers monitored the flow of the river water round the clock sitting in this God-forsaken place like the desolate capital of Bahar ul Ghazal. My heart cried out instantaneously the nations who have conscientious officials like them survive all adversities.
They had established these water measuring posts in the execution of the Nile Water Treaties negotiated and signed with the upper riparian countries individually including Ethiopia from 1902 to 1925 and renewed them in 1959 according to which Egypt would receive 80% of the Nile waters and the Sudan would be entitled to 20%. The agreements stipulated that the upper riparian states of Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania would have no right over the waters of the Nile for irrigation and hydroelectric generation notwithstanding the fact that Ethiopia is the source of some 90% of the waters of the River. The Nile, flowing some 7,000 kilometres from its original source of Victoria Lake and passing through the Sudan and Egypt, falls into the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
These states have now formed a commission and have been voicing their protest over the injustice done to them through the above water treaties by the colonial power. We may remember that barring Ethiopia, all the remaining upper riparian states were colonies of the British Empire at the time. So, their challenge to these treaties on the plea that they were not properly represented or heard in the meetings leading to their deprivation of the River waters is not at all unjustified. The Egyptians were irritated to the hilt by these protesting murmurs. They are on record to have once threatened Tanzania and Ethiopia with war if they ever dared to divert waters from the Nile. In 1999, Egypt and the upper riparian states formed a Nile Basin Commission for periodical consultations to avoid any unintended flare up in the region over the waters of the Nile.
The River White Nile, though originating from the Victoria Lake sprawled between Tanzania and Uganda, has its main tributaries – Blue Nile, Subat and Atbara Rivers - from the sprawling lake of Tana in Ethiopia. Even then, the above treaties did not allow this upper riparian state to have water for irrigation and hydro power generation from the Nile. Now, the Egyptians have agreed to allow Ethiopia to construct some small dams on the Blue Nile for irrigation and hydropower generation. This was done following the intervention of some major powers in favour of Ethiopia. At the same time, Egypt has also lost much of its earlier influence and importance.
We may keep in mind that there are two Niles – White and Blue Nile. As stated above, the White Nile –having purely white water - originates from the Victoria Lake while the Blue Nile – having purely blue waters - from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. These two Rivers flow parallel to each for thousands of kilometres and join each other in the Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan. One can clearly see from a distance converging white and blue waters. From there, one Nile flows thousands of Km through the Sudan and Egypt - majestically strolling and witnessing love stories coming into life by its banks - to reach the Mediterranean Sea.
The Sudan had already constructed some dams on the River. Leaving aside the small ones, the Sennar and Roseires Dams were originally meant for irrigation purpose to provide water for the fertile lands of Blue Nile State for cultivation of sugarcane. The biggest one catering for irrigation and hydropower generation is the Meroe Dam inaugurated in April 2009 by President Omer Al-Bashir. The reservoir of the Aswan Dam called Nasser Lake is also within the Wadi-e-Halfa of the Sudan which covers a sprawling radius with a cross capacity of 169 billion cubic meters of water, and irrigating over 800,000 acres of land. It had submerged the earlier city of Halfa. Later, Egypt funded the construction of a new Halfa city complete in all respects with housing schemes for the displaced population.
In prior consultations with Egypt, the Meroe Dam has been constructed on River Nile some 350 kilometres from Khartoum near the Meroe town. The town was once a busy city and capital of the kingdom of the Nubian dynasty. The Nubians under the Kush Kingdom held sway over the northern Sudan stretching from the South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai desert in Egypt. Later they also conquered Egypt and ruled all this vast land as the twenty-fifth dynasty of Pharaohs. The last of their kingdoms collapsed in 1504.
The town is now a ramshackle of its past grandeur. The Nubian Pyramids some 40 kilometres from Khartoum, the large and huge stone statues scattered from Dingola, the present capital of the Shumali State to Wadi-e-Halfa and onwards to Aswan in Egypt bear a silent testimony to the vast geographical frontiers of the Nubian Kingdom, their civilisation and the power they had once wielded in this part of the world. The beauty of the Nubian girls with their long necks, big and shining eyes, long black hair and shaped bodies is matchless. The Nubians claim that the world fame Queen Cleopatra was from their tribe.
The Saudis in anticipation of the dam had leased a vast stretch of land measuring some 250,000 acres for cultivation of vegetables and constructed an airport of international standard in the town for the landing and taking off their planes which would ferry the agriculture produce back to the Saudi markets. Five International Companies from China, Germany and France participated in this huge project which cost over 1.5 billion Euros. Similarly, a number of international and regional financial institutions also extended financial assistance and loans to meet the staggering cost. The Sudanese government also provided an amount of 400 million Euros.
The dam was conceived as early as in the last quarter of the 19th century by the British hydrologists to bring the surrounding Meroe plains under cotton cultivation for their sprawling textile industry in Manchester. However, the project was shelved to make way for the more feasible and profitable dams The British Imperialists didn’t construct barrages on the River Nile as they did in the Sub-Continent. We are lucky that we have the British heritage of a large network of Barrages including the Lloyd Barrage of Sukkur.
Knowing their rights over the precious waters of the Nile, the Egyptians have so long and so religiously guarded them from violation or trespass by any country or power. They have check posts all over the regions in the Sudan and other riparian countries to watch the ebb and flow of the water. For them the Nile is Egypt and Egypt is Nile. This hymn they recite every day in their schools from primary to secondary to make it part of their faith.
The Sindhu, in a similar way, is the lifeline of Sindh. Any diversion from its waters will ultimately render Sindh a desert. Saeen Rasool Bux Palijo’s love and commitment to Sindhu was as strong as those of the Egyptians with the River Nile. He had imbibed the historic influence and importance of Sindhu to his land and people. For him, there could be no Sindh without the sacred waters of Sindhu. Sindh is Sindhu and Sindhu is Sindh. For him, everything would perish and there would be no living object if the flow of the waters of Sindhu to Sindh were stopped or drastically reduced. This was his perception, vision and faith which worked as stimuli to him to plunge into every battle when the issue of the construction of new dams on Sindhu was raised.
His Sindhi-ness was tempered by colours of moderation, tolerance, secularism, and respect for all religious faiths, pluralism and commitment to humanism
This warrior had his limitations. He did not represent a sovereign state like Egypt. He didn’t have a regular army to threaten the trespassers with all-out war to secure the rights and privileges of his nation over the waters of the Sindhu. He represented a federating unit, his gullible, naive and complacent people unaware of the looming threat to their river and life and ruled by coward, pliable and compromised leaders. Notwithstanding daunting constraints and odds, he never shirked to dedicate his time, energy, scholarly calibre, intellectual prowess, pen and eloquence, organisational and agitational skills to create a raging storm against any vicious plan for the diversion of the waters of Sindhu.
He moved political activists, his followers, disciples –men and women, old and young, mothers and children in arduous long marches to scare off the trespassers. The long marches he organised against the Kalabagh Dam are not only memorable but had played the pivotal role in heightening rather carving in stone the concerns and apprehensions of the people of Sindh in every corner and cranny of the country. He was a leader of words and action. The empty slogans were an anathema to this warrior.
As a strategist, he knew the strength of his adversaries and the weaknesses of his people. Following the eternally and universally applicable strategic formula of Sun Tzu “If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”, Saeen Palijo had studied the history of the theft of the waters of Sindhu and the various water treaties the British officials had worked out to stop the night raids on the rights and privileges of the lower riparian state of Sindh by Punjab. He took pains to collect material to write a book in the rebuttal of the claims of the federal authority and its Water and Power Development Authority when the insidious plan of the construction of Kalabagh Dam was unfolded.
He developed a wholesome approach to the issue – political and intellectual. Soon after the launch of his anti-Kalabagh Dam movement, the reverberations of his pen and eloquence, protesting slogans of his marching crowds were not only heard in Islamabad but in the provinces of KP and Balochistan, as well. All the canals irrigating the contiguous districts of Balochistan up to Sibbi take water from the Indus River System at Sukkur Barrage. The Baloch were sensitised that any reduction in the water flow to Sindh would automatically render their districts barren. He had scientifically explained with facts and figures to Pathans that the Kalabagh Dam would submerge the city of Nowshera and bring vast tracts of their land under water logging and salinity.
He minced no words ever in holding Punjab as the traditional and habitual plunderer of the waters of Sindh from the pre-partition days down to the commissioning of the Tarbela Dam and the Chashma Jhelum Link Canal in 1972. This pillage has a well-documented history which shows that Punjab was reprimanded and fined many times for this pillage by the British authorities. The book, The Sindh Punjab Water Disputes 1858-2002, that he wrote in rejection of the arguments of the federal authority and its concerned institutions including the conspiring protagonists of the Kalabagh Dam makes an interesting read. The language of the book is simple, straight, and comprehensible interspersed with harsh and shaming phrases, and his arguments, measuring to logic, rationality and comprehension, directly go to the heart and soul of a non-partisan reader. He terms the pillage of water as terrorism perpetrated against the small provinces.
Saeen Palijo’s struggle against the Kalabagh Dam was a spectacular success. He was successful in tearing into smithereens the feasibility and viability of the Dam as an advantageous Project for the country particularly the lower riparian province of Sindh and Balochistan. He killed the monster before it could devour Sindh by driving home its monstrosity and knocking the wind out of the sails of protagonists of the dam. The three Provincial Assemblies of Sindh, KP and Balochistan passed resolutions against the Kalabagh Dam. The ANG Abbassi Committee appointed in 2004 by the Musharraf regime, rejected the project on technical grounds. Even the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar – a self-appointed champion of Dams - could not pass a clear verdict in its favour fearing severe backlash.
Thanks to the patriotism, courage, and irreproachable character of Saeen Rasool Bux Palijo that the Kalabagh Dam has since become the most controversial, fissiparous and divisive issue. No government of any hue or public popularity could afford to revive it. Had this warrior not waged this scientifically planned and skillfully carried out movement against it, this existential threat to the existence of Sindh would have been implemented by the federal and Punjabi establishment long ago trampling upon the rightful share of the waters of Sindh.
How did he perceive his people?
Saeen Rasool Bux Palijo emerged from the middle class. No sooner than the attainment of his conscious age, he immersed himself in the study of the socialist and Marxist literature and movements which were creating ripples in the muddy waters of the capitalist world and were in permanent conflict with the capitalist, rightist and Islamist schools of political thought. The communist party of Pakistan with towering leaders was also active albeit in low profile. The Rawalpindi and Agartala conspiracy cases viewed in the context of the establishment of the RCD and Pakistan’s tilt to the US-led western capital world, becoming a member of the anti-communism treaties of CENTO and SEATO were indicative of a new political, ideological and strategic trend in the country, greater Asia and at the global level. This had practically divided the world into two antagonising camps – capitalist and communist blocs of nations leaving no space for the neutral states. Neutrality was considered hypocrisy. However, a few leaders from the greater Asia dared to lay the foundation of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) to secure a space for the neutral states.
All this was impacting the political and ideological thoughts of the budding leaders in the developing nations. Pakistan’s political landscape was not only impacted by this well-drawn out line of divide but there was also a raging conflict between the leftists, liberals and democratic and rights and Islamist forces. The federal authority was assuming authoritarian powers to the cost of nation building and constitution making. The penchant for absolutism climaxed into the imposition of One-Unit dispensing with the geographical boundaries of the smaller provinces to offset the advantageous position of the eastern wing. This gave fillip to the nationalist trend in the smaller provinces raising the question of language, provincial autonomy and equitable division of the central economic and financial resources.
These were the conditions, this was the field strewn with thorns, and this was the shrinking space for leftists where Saeen Rasool Bux had to embark on his political and ideological trajectory. No doubt, he was a Marxist of consummate faith. He looked at his people as a whole and had holistic approach to their concerns, apprehensions, needs and preferences without compartmentalising them into cast, creed, class, colour, gender or any other consideration prejudicial to the oneness of Sindhi nation. For him, all were equal and valuable rough diamonds stimulating his political and ideological sophistication and organisational, reforming and mentoring skills to disentangle them from the dirt of ignorance, unawareness, gullibility and complacency and shape them into shining and valuable political and ideological assets.
Mr Palijo was a leader and not a politician in traditional sense having his sight on elections, electable, dynastic and influential political stalwarts. His training and mentorship was rigorous imbibing love for education, learning and knowledge, discipline, sacrifice, selflessness among his disciples. He focused more on building their character and courage. In my view, he had picked up this way of mentorship from the Communist Party and Jamaat Islami which spent years in training and building the mind of their members. These members worked as well-greased wheels of their parties when they were launched in the field for given assignments. Saeen Palijo created a number of dedicated and committed ‘Mothers’ of the strong character of the epic Mother of Maxim Gorky’s novel. Please don’t look here and there, and see how Zarina Baloch called adoringly ‘Mother Zarina’ was transformed from a folk singer into a formidable singer of patriotic and nationalist songs.
How he emancipated from the clutches of the traditionally tribal and patriarchal society thousands of brave and committed women who unceasingly graced the political gatherings, protesting crowds and long marches of Awami Tehrik. Please also look how he used to educate and train the members of the student wing of his party arming them with the shells and shields of knowledge, consciousness, commitment, discipline and character to carry forward his message. They stood up quite apart from the noisy, undisciplined, squabbling and quarrelling groups of students following other political and nationalist parties. No doubt unique was his work within the teenage students from high schools. Nothing escaped his vision, focus and mentorship. He met them, conversed with them, suggested books to them to read and questioned them about their previous reads and instigated them for debate in front of him. He used to be the judge and awarded prizes to the winners of the first three positions.
Saeen Palijo believed that no nation can prosper by reducing its female population to ignorance and confining it within the four walls of their homes. He prioritised the emancipation of women placing it on the highest scale of his political and ideological agenda, and was always out to reach to the women facing societal injustice. He fought their legal battles in the sluggish courts of the country free of cost. He used to exhort his followers to join his Awami Tehrik with their whole family. His own women including his wives, sisters and close relatives had practically set this example. Some of these venerable women went through the painful experience of incarceration. Palijo considered this as not their incarceration but actually the incarceration of dissent itself. A society that cannot afford dissension is doomed. The difference of opinion, discussion and dialogue show the vibrancy of a society.
His Sindhi-ness was different from the noisy, narrow-minded and militant nationalism, parochialism and the resulting insularity but uncompromising about their rights and privileges within the society and the federation undaunted by any fear or favour. A disciple of Mr Palijo as groomed he is would never shy away from three ‘Ds’ – Debate, Dialogue and Disarm – without resorting to jeremiad or vituperation. This is the strategic plan of action Saeen Palijo followed throughout his political career spanning over six decades.
Notwithstanding his wholesome approach to Sindhi and Sindhi-ness, he remained focused on the plight of the underprivileged of his society – peasants, laborers, and lower middle class. He considered peasants the real backbone of the agrarian society of Sindh. He venerated peasant leaders like Hyder Bux Jatoi and Fazal Rahu. The co-founding of the Awami Tehrik with Fazal Rahu reflected the veneration and esteem he held in this veteran peasant leader. After the tragic assassination of his comrade in arms, he single handedly developed Awami Tehrik into a viable and formidable political force with a skillful amalgamation of his organisational expertise, intellectual and scholarly prowess, commitment and perseverance, the motivational poetry of Shah Latif and Shaikh Ayaz, his unquenchable thirst for debate, dialogue, disarming and dislodging his opponents. He used to exhort his comrades to memorise sonnets from Shah Latif, Shaikh Ayaz and the Urdu and Persian poetry to become debaters of first class.
His Sindhi-ness was tempered by colours of moderation, tolerance, secularism, and respect for all religious faiths, pluralism and commitment to humanism. It was not bounded by caste and creed. He only differentiated between the exploiters and the exploited, the privileged class and the underprivileged, the oppressor and the oppressed, the retrogressive and the progressive forces, the obscurantism and the liberalism and modernity. And he always stood by the weak and helpless notwithstanding odds and risks to his person and his family comfort.
He rebutted the onslaught of the retrogressive forces or critiques on the Sindhi poetry and literature with logic and rational arguments giving a thorough review of the poetry of Urdu, Persian and Arabic. When his two small but comprehensively well researched books in Sindhi prose Andha Ondha Waij and Sandi Zaat Hanjan came out, the late legend Ibrahim Joyo called Saeen Palijo the Ivan Turgenev of Sindhi prose. The legendary Ivan Turgenev (November 1818 to September 1883) was a Russian writer. He passed almost all his life in exile in France but his heart and soul always remained intertwined with the Russian land. When he breathed his last in France and his mortal remains were being repatriated to Russia, a French giant of literature Joseph Renan remarked, “Turgenev, you are Russia and Russia is you.”
These two books of Saeen Palijo which killed the monstrosity of the retrogressive forces to paint Sindhi poetry and literature into indecency and lewdness need to be translated into Urdu and English. This will be a great tribute to the Late Palijo. These books carry an eternal answer to the dishonest, mean, obscurant and regressive critiques of the eloquence and the expressive capacity of the Sindhi Language as reflected in the poetry and prose and all other genre of literature produced over centuries.
Let us end our essay on this striking call, “Saeen Rasool Bux Palijo, you were the incarnation of the liberal and tolerant Sindh, its epic battles for survival, resilience and hope and the proud heir to the greatest human civilisation that had once flourished on the banks of River Indus.”