Sindh United Party

About

EARLY LIFE

Syed was born to the Kazmi Sadat family of Sindh in village Sann in the district Dadu on the right bank of the Indus River. Syed was young when his father, Syed Mian Mohammad Shah, was killed due to a family feud. Syed’s elder brother also died early, leaving him the only male family member. For his safety as the last remaining male member of his family, he was home-schooled by private tutors.

For the sovereignty of Sindh and prosperity of Sindhi peoples he was a great supporter of Pakistan for liberation from the British rule. It is because of Syed that Pakistan Resolution was passed in Sindh Assembly. However, when hundreds of thousands of migrants (Muhajars) migrated to Sindh and started marginalizing the Sindhi people with the help of the centralist forces (Punjabis & Pathans), Syed realized the need for an independent Sindh, i.e. Sindhudesh.

POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Sayed started political career in the infant age of 12 after the reception of Mahatma Gandhi at Sann Railway Station (his hometown) in 1916. Being orphan and only male child of family, he was under the wardenship of the than government as per law. Instead of following the restriction and instructions of British government he participated in 2nd Sindh Provincial Khilafat Committee meeting at Larkana. Syed joined Khaksar Tahreek and Indian National Congress as member in his early age. He was the founder of Sindh United Party, the Sindh United Party or Sind Etihad Party (Sindhi: سنڌ اتحاد پارٽي) was a political party in Sindh, British India. The party was founded in June 1936, the same year that the Sindh province had been accepted by getting liberation from Bombay presidency. In the 1937 election to the Sindh Legislative Assembly, the Sindh United Party emerged as the largest party with 22 seats (out of 34 Muslim seats) in the Assembly. Foundation of Sindh Peoples Party, Sindhi Hari Tahrek and Sindh Awami Mahaz, which went on to join the National Awami Party (National Peoples Party) goes into his credit after the creation of Pakistan. Sayed believed politics as modern form of serving people for their liberty, dignity and prosperity. He got inspiration from the message of Shah Latif Bhittai and developed message of world peace, unity of mankind and development of humanbeing (Sindhi: امنِ عالم، اتحادِ انساني ۽ ترقي بني آدم).

Syed’s position brought him ample opportunity to have free income through tributes, cash offerings and landed property. He rejected this lifestyle, and subsequently, he plunged into politics with enthusiasm. Politically, he evolved and travelled from Pan-Islamist to Indian nationalist and then Pakistani nationalist, having joined Muslim League; and ended with being a Sindhi nationalist.

It sounds like Sayed had a long and varied political career, beginning at a young age and involving a number of different political parties and ideologies. He was strongly influenced by the message of non-violent resistance and unity promoted by Mahatma Gandhi and Shah Latif Bhittai and seemed to be driven by a desire to serve the people and promote their liberty, dignity, and prosperity. Despite being offered opportunities for personal gain, he chose to focus on his political goals and worked towards creating a more peaceful and united world for all people. It appears that over the course of his career, Sayed’s political beliefs evolved and changed, but he remained committed to the betterment of his people and motherland.

AV SCHOOL

In the early 1920s, Syed opened Anglo-Vernacular (AV) school in his village Sann, where education for certain language classes was free. AV School offered a combo of Sindhi education with the English language. The school also provided options for Arabic, French and Persian languages. Prominent Sindhi educationist Ibrahim Joyo was also schooled at AV.

TIMELINE

At the early age of fourteen years, Syed started his career as social and political activist.

  • In 1919, he became Chairman of the School Board of his tehsil. Subsequently, he was elected president of the Karachi District Local Board in 1929. He later became its President
  • In 1930, organized the Sindh Hari (Peasants) Conference and became its Secretary
  • In 1937, for the first time, he was elected a member of the Sindh Legislative Assembly.
  • In 1938, joined the All-India Muslim League. In 1940, he became Minister of Education in Sindh.
  • In 1941, became one of the members of the Center Committee of the Muslim League.
  • In 1943, became President of the Sindh Muslim League.
  • In 1946, conditions compelled him to dissociate from the Muslim League and formed a new party named the Progressive Muslim League. The same year, he was elected as leader of the Coalition Party in the Sindh Assembly.
  • In 1954, acted as Chairman of the Sindhi Adabi Board.
  • In 1955, played an active part in the formation of the Pakistan National Party.
  • In 1966, founded Bazm-e-Soofia-e Sindh.
  • In 1969, formed the Sindh United Front.
  • In 1972, founded Jeay Sindh Mahaz.

 

Syed was the architect of the “Jeay Sindh” movement, aimed at achieving Sindhudesh. He is also the author of more than 60 books (with) subjects ranging from politics, religion, culture, literature, and commentaries on the famous poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. For his part, as a political thinker, literary figure and mystic, he dominated the political arena of the pre and post-partition era for decades. At the same time, he remained in jail for 30 years.

The people of Sindh revered Syed as “Saeen” (سائين), a son of Syed Mohammed Shah Kazmi, a descendant of a famous saint of Sindh Syed Haider Shah Kazmi, of whose mausoleum he was the Sajjada Nashin. Syed is revered as the pioneer of the Sindhudesh movement based on Sindhi modern nationalism. Earlier in his political career, he supported the creation of Pakistan and lobbied and passed the bill for the creation of Pakistan in the Sindh Assembly under the British Raj in India. The Pakistani states descended into militaristic national traditions and right-wing Islamist ideology along with its halfhearted commitment to the principles of provincial autonomy and federalism; Syed disowned his previously upheld idea of Pakistan. The separation of the Eastern wing of the country under the “Bangla Bandhu” movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the liberation of Bengali Pakistanis based on Bengali nationalism further strengthened Syed’s belief in the unsustainable nature of the ‘Pakistani nationhood’, which was based on religion and promoted cultural and linguistic centralization. He campaigned for Sindh for 74 years, during which he was imprisoned, house arrested and denounced and declared a threat to the integrity and existence of Pakistan