CONVENTION 2001,  CHICAGO

Iqbal Tareen

SANA's 17th Annual Convention was a great bonding experience for all participants. It was a great opportunity to renew relations and make new friendships. It was an opportunity for removing distances and building bridges. It was a profound moment of Sindhyat, which has kept us together regardless of our ideological, political or religious preferences. It was an outstanding event, which will stay fresh in our memories for many years to come. In many ways, it became a benchmark in its own right. The large participation indicates a renewed interest in SANA’s positive role in the community and its moral stand on issues threatening the security of Sindhi nation.

On behalf of my family and many others we spoke during and after the convention, I congratulate Dr. Rafat & Mrs. Ansari, Dr. Ashfaq & Mrs. Turk, Dr. Aijaz & Mrs. Shaikh, Dr. Sattar & Mrs. Shaikh and our ever shining star Dr. Aijaz Turk and Mrs. Turk for organizing such a grand event. We are also thankful to SANA President, Sani Panhwar, SANA General Secretary Mohammed Ali Mahar, SANA VPs Zia Memon & Adi Zeb Agha, SANA Joint Secretary Sajjad Siddiqui, SANA Zonal Secretary Dr. Badar Shaikh and my very dear friend piyaro Shoukat Ansari for their leadership and hard work. Let me also thank all other EC, AC members and volunteers who devoted their valuable time and resources to make this a memorable event for all of us.

We can’t ignore the role of Internet and various Sindhi lists providing instant information on SANA convention. I must commend Dr. Mazhar Lakho and the previous EC who gave us SANALIST and SANA website. Due special efforts and interest of SANA President Sani Panhwar, we have now a highly informative and inclusive website (www.sanalist.org). I must also thank Dr. Nadeem Jamali and Dr. Saghir Shaikh for helping SANA in these e-media initiatives. These lists have generally reduced the distances between us, which are otherwise debilitating and deceptive. Although the freedom of speech can easily be stretched to become an assault on someone else’s freedom of thought. The privilege of exercising freedom goes hand-in-hand with the responsibility. Toying with freedom is always inherent in newly freed individuals and nations. Give it some time. The virtue of freedom and responsibility will soon become our greatest asset.

Our humble gratitude goes to chief guest Rasool Bux Palijo, keynote speaker Mr. Najamddin Shaikh and our guest speakers, Nooruddin Sarki, Anwar Pirzado, Dr. Qamar Wahid, Memon Abdul Jabbar and Mr. Aijaz Kerio for contributing their valuable thoughts and enlightening our community. We are indebted to gracious participation by WSC Chief Safdar Sarki and WSI Chief Sohail Ansari. Their full participation in this event sent out a clear message of unity amongst all Sindhis living in North America.

How could anyone ignore larger than life presence of Dr. Roshan Shaikh. His report and seminar on charitable initiatives generated an immense interest in the positively impacting social projects launched in Sindh. Dr. Gul Agha also very proudly introduced four bright engineers from Mehran University. These computer engineers were visiting USA on a special sponsorship by the University of IL at Champaign. This internship program was conceived by Dr. Agha to provide lifetime learning opportunity to young graduates of our universities.

The convention was uniquely blessed with an opportunity to discuss strategies about the future growth of SANA. This segment was honored with valuable suggestion of Dr. Ali Mohammed Ansari, former SANA President, Khalid Hashmani, Nooruddin Sarki, Dr. Roshan Shaikh, Dr. Qamar Wahid and others. A musical evening with Mazhar Hussain was an icing on the cake. Lack of interest by youth in SANA activities was not an exclusively and proprietary problem of this convention alone. It is a generic phenomenon with all overseas Desi organizations. We have been debating about this issue in SANA since 1987. In the past, we got away with a mere menu of children’s activities and expected full compliance. Yesterday’s infants have now become adults. They are aggressively asserting their autonomy. They are relating to different set of issues than ours. To us Sindh might be the number one issue to them it is not.

In an exclusive meeting with youth, we discovered the real reason behind their apathy. We wrongly assume that the Sindhi youth is one homogeneous group. Within our youth, there are various sub-groups divided by age groups and thus subscribing to different interests. We found that the Sindhi youth will not participate wholeheartedly on a structured plan prescribed by us. I recommend that we ask them to design their own program for the next convention in New York. I don’t think they want us to hold their hands. In many ways they are way smarter and confident than us to decide for themselves. We must try to provide what they request.

This convention adopted various resolutions in its general body meeting, which drew larger crowd than in the past. Although there was room for improvements, but the overall interest in genuine issues of Sindhi people and serious audience participation was highly assuring. The resolutions were presented and reasonably discussed. Proposed amendments were introduced, debated and passed. Dissents and abstentions were recognized and noted. All amendments were dully incorporated into the resolutions. Before releasing the resolutions to the press, they were submitted to those who had tabled the amendments and had moved new resolutions.

SANA’s 17th General Body Meeting adopted following Resolutions:

Resolution adopted by the General Body (GB) meeting of the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) at 17th Annual Convention being held at Chicago, July 5-8, 2001

The participants of the General Body meeting of the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) being held at Chicago, during Annual Convention, July 5-8, 2001 resolve that:

SANA General Body requests UN Intervention 

SANA General Body urges United Nations Secretary General to intervene, help mitigate and monitor Sindh's primary legal right over water of River Indus. Conditions leading to famine are being produced in Sindh by creating artificial shortage of water. A deliberate Plan has been worked out to turn Sindh into arid desiccated zone or desert. The construction of Kalabagh Dam and numerous other irrigation projects upstream the River Indus, as well as flagrant violation of previous inter-provincial water apportionment accords is a part of that well choreographed plan. Such policies of the Pakistani Government as are meant to destroy the agriculture and agro-based economy of Sindh. Water Accords and apportionment formulas imposed on Sindh in violation of the earlier accords made during the British period is cancelled. Sindh be given water share according to the 1945 inter-provincial water accord.

1. In order to maintain an environmental balance and ecosystem the River Indus flows down stream Kotri barrage should immediately be released. Thousand of Sindhi Fishermen's livelihood is dependent on this river-water flow.

2. The conspiracy of ruining Sindh by allowing saline, polluted and poisonous water of Punjab to flow to the Sea through Indus River is condemnable.

3. The Left and Right Bank Outfall Drains (LBOD and RBOD) plans should be revised suitably in accordance with the objections of Sindhis.

4. The Government should immediately take the measures to rehabilitate Manchar Lake and other wetlands and formulate a management plan, working with the local communities for conservation of such places, the source of local people's livelihood.

5. Similarly steps should be taken to conservation of Khir Thar National Park, in consultation with the local communities. There is a need to establish zoning plan in order to sustain ecological attributes of the Park.

6. Heavy, arbitrary and multiple agriculture taxes on farmers / growers should be done away with at once. Instead, one simple agriculture tax should be levied based on the realistic factors, which include: (a) Ability to pay (income), (b) soil fertility, (c) availability of irrigation water, (d) occurrence or absence of adverse climatic conditions (floods, draught, storms, etc.). Traditional system of land revenue assessment by 'tapedars' should be abolished and modern system of  self-assessment should be introduced. Farmers with 20 acres or less land should be exempted from any tax to boost agriculture and alleviate poverty.

The people of Sindh also demand that the Land record in Sindh should be computerized and made easily accessible to anyone in need. Arbitrary conversion of agriculture lands into urban residential or commercial lands on the outskirts of towns and cities of Sindh are leading to rapid depletion of fertile agriculture land and adding to environmental degradation in the region. Such practice should be stopped and only those areas, which are unfit for agriculture use, may be incorporated to expanding cities and towns or for establishing industries. Appropriate standardized town planning methods should be adopted for this purpose. There are communities living in vast areas of both rural area as well as in the midst of cities of Sindh that are still deprived of the basic human needs of electricity, potable drinking water, drainage, roads, education, and health facilities. In fact, there are communities whose civil amenities and facilities have retrogressed in the last fifty years because of the callousness and uncivil behavior of the persons and groups in the ruling civil and military authorities.

People living in such communities have otherwise been highly productive, providing essential services to the country and the society in general in the sectors of agriculture, dairy, fishery, etc. in total disregard to Human and Civil Rights. Ignoring such communities for such a long time is an act of crime that both the Federal and Provincial governments have been perpetrating on the people of Sindh. These areas include rural areas in

Sindh as well as Sindhi suburbs of the big cities like Karachi and Hyderabad in the midst of illuminated areas of these big cities exist these pockets of Sindhi residents who have been ignored for the last fifty years. These  neglected areas include villages like Ibrahim Hyderi, Liyari, Malir, Shantinagar, Bhitaiabad of Karachi, which are populated by Sindhis and Balochs. Similarly the residential areas of Qasimabad and outskirts of Hyderabad have not provided with any civil amenities.

The Central and Provincial Governments in the past have tried to destroy the economic infrastructure and backbone of the people of Sindh by

(a) grabbing the provincial economic resources: lands, agriculture, businesses, gas, oil, customs duties, even highways,

(b) Misusing the privatization proceeds, 

(c) misusing government funds, 

(d) misappropriating Sindh's share in donor funded assistance projects.

SANA demands Sindh's sovereignty as envisioned in Pakistan resolution

Introduction

The real crisis in Pakistan is caused by an over-centralized architecture of Pakistani state and government. Throughout the history of Pakistan, the concentration of power by a few in the name of many has unleashed massive state abuse in the country. Flagrant violations of peoples' deed as envisioned in the covenants of Pakistan Resolution has pitched people against the people in a country that was founded by its multinational partners. Let it be known that the Sindh's entry in the union was contingent upon continuity of its sovereignty, equal and fully vested equity in the nation's prosperity, guaranteed individual and collective human rights.

People of Sindh have had to bear the greatest burden of the negation of promises and disregard for the rule of civility and the law. The question of provincial autonomy is therefore, of a paramount importance in the context of ensuring political control by the people of Sindh over matters, which are their primary concern. The word 'Autonomy' and 'Sovereignty' of the constituent units was enshrined as the basic and cardinal principle of 1940 resolution to safeguard against the hegemony and encumbrance on the rights and sovereignty of constituent states. 

Resolution

Pakistan rulers should respect the document of 1940 resolution, which Provided the basis for the creation of Pakistan. They should provide maximum autonomy to the federating units imbibed in the federation of Pakistan.

1- Federal government should have no authority to remove the provincial Governments, or to dissolve provincial legislatures through an executive order.

2- The center should retain only 4 departments viz. Defense, Currency, Foreign Affairs and Communications. The rest should be handed over to provinces, thereby abolishing the concurrent list.

3- The Provincial employees should run the administration at all levels of provincial government, and the practice of earmarking posts in the provincial governments for the officers of the central cadres should be discontinued. Further, those employees of the provincial governments, who belong to any other province should be repatriated to their home province or be absorbed by the federal government.

Promote Academic Security in Sindh

As a result of decades of misplaced priorities, successive Pakistani governments have paid no attention to the Academic Security of the country. Sindh being at the short end of the stick suffers the most from a systematic destruction of academic standards in its institutions. Pakistan has maintained its core academic philosophy of producing Babus which is cloned after British Raj. It creates a class of privileged servants whose personal growth and professional security depends upon the extension of the colonial culture. It is designed to maintain lowest levels of marketable skills in targeted population groups.

In order to guarantee state interference, government agencies actively create and finance higher levels of strife and political polarity in Sindh’s academia. Their operative student/teacher groups deliver the desired chaos and instability. At the higher level, these objective are achieved through hand picked administrators and linkage of grants and resource allocations with political goals.

Resolution

SANA demands that the education in Sindh and Pakistan be given similar priority as the Defense policy of Pakistan. SANA is outraged at the government and political interference in the academic institutions of Sindh.

We resent the ill-intended handling of our educational institutions. We demand that Teacher/Parent/Student bodies be formed to create and maintain academic peace in Sindh. We also demand that there should be more emphasis on math, computer literacy, science, and English subjects rather than irrelevant and subjective state indoctrination of our youth. We demand that the Teacher/Parent/Student bodies should be given maximum say in formulating academic & administrative policies and oversight of educational institutions.

SANA appeals Sindhi youth to defeat anti-education conspiracy in Sindh by taking control of their own destiny. The true freedom lies in eliminating the dependence. We urge students to focus on acquiring marketable skills, which will eliminate any reliance on government jobs. We urge teachers, parents and students to form a strong alliance for academic peace in Sindh. Teachers, parents and students must work together to influence introduction of modern academic programs and syllabus in Sindh’s institutions. Sindhi youth must refuse to react to any state engineered provocation. The reactive actions only trigger avalanche of self-destructing acts, which further weaken our national assets of human capital.

Rights of Women and minorities.

The Declarations made by the United Nations with regard to Human Rights, Rights of Prisoners, Rights of Women, Rights of Children, Rights of Workers, Rights of Minorities, and Rights of other groups who are deprived, should be followed in letter and spirit.

The Rights of Women have been violated in Pakistan throughout the half-century of its existence. The women have been subjected to unfair servitude, denying them the right of education, denying or violating their genuine right of holding and enjoying the property, and subjecting them to inhuman and illegal violence.

Resolution

1. The state sponsored policy of treating women, as second-class citizens should be abolished at once. The stone age curse of honor killings including Karo-Karee should be declared unlawful and those found guilty of the crime shall be awarded capital punishment.

2. Women should be provided their fundamental rights and equal opportunity in livelihood, education and progress

3. The minorities should be given full protection, right of joint electorate as well as due share in employment, admissions in academic institutions, and other developmental activities.

4. The real democracy, independent judiciary, supremacy of law and accountability should be ensured. Sectarianism and terrorism in the name of religion should be stopped, all religious places of worship of different religions, communities and minorities be provided full security. 

Census 

Resolution

The 1991 Census was not accepted as it reflected true size of Sindh's population and hence would have affected resource distribution formula. Either 1991 census is accepted or a fresh impartial, foolproof census is held under international supervision to assess true size of population and other census data of Sindh and other provinces of Pakistan. 

Sindh and National Finance Commission

The National Finance Commission's Award should not be based on population criteria alone, as has been the practice in the past. Instead it should be based on the following factors:

1. Index of infrastructure in the province.

2. Index of backwardness in the province.

3. Percentage of poor in the province.

4. Level of per capita income in comparison to other provinces.

5. Revenue generation capacity of the province.

6. Burden of legal and illegal immigrants, and lastly, the size of the population.

Moreover, an unbiased appraisal of the negative consequences of NFC Award should be carried out immediately and the 6 NFC Award must provide fair rectification of the financial injustices to Sindh.

Sindh's right on its revenue

The goods on which custom duties are levied enter Pakistan through Karachi by Air or by sea, but the Federal Government levies the customs duties and almost all of the revenue generated through these ports. A farcical concept of Dry Ports in Lahore and Islamabad is also meant to deprive Sindh of its right to levy taxes on imports and exports passing through its territory. This is also in contravention of the international law and is meant to deprive the Sindh of her sources of income.

We demand an end to this piracy and ask Pakistan government to treat ports of Sindh as its rightful natural resources, just like generation of hydro-electricity, which has been accepted as natural resources of North West Frontier Province. Sindh should be given the royalty for the use of its ports and shall be provided revenue generated through these ports and all dry ports made in other province should be abolished forthwith. Proper royalty be given to Sindh for oil, gas and other minerals extracted from Sindh. It is right of Sindhi people to own and possess all the minerals and natural resources found in Sindh. These resources should be given under control of the Sindhi people. GST revenues to the provinces Rights of all GST revenues should be transferred to the provinces.

Extension of Credit facilities to non-urban areas. Like urban dwellers of Sindh, the non-urban areas should also be provided with credit facilities to construct their residential houses, establish businesses and trades. Stringent screening processes should be put in place to ensure genuine and qualified applicants to benefit from this facility.

Sindhis and Jobs

No plan, program, 'reform', scheme, etc. should be imposed on Sindh without prior consent or permission of the people of Sindh obtained via their representatives, elected through a credible electoral process. The people of Sindh have for a long time been discriminated against in all the fields of employment and work. Those who have been in power have throughout the history of Pakistan, grabbed all jobs in the public and the private sector.

This menace is only growing out of all proportions. It is time to fix this shameful wrong. The process of large-scale retrenchment of Sindhis from jobs in public sector should be stopped forthwith. Transfers of Sindhi officers, for blackmail or penalty should be stopped forthwith. There is a rampant attitude of partiality, bias, and discrimination against Sindhis in all of the employment recruiting committees and agencies and with officers of the public and private sector.

This shows in practical terms in shape of non-recognition of degrees diplomas of the educational institutions of Sindh. This anti-Sindhi attitude and behavior should be stopped. Government and private recruiting agencies should be specifically instructed to recognize and accept the degrees / diplomas of different colleges and universities of Sindh.

The decades old unfair employment practices and the disparaged treatment of the people of Sindh should be reversed through Equal Employment Opportunities in Sindh. Unemployment allowance must be provided to all young persons who have qualified from professional institutions as doctors, engineers, agricultural and business graduates, according to their educational qualifications, until they are employed.

At least seventy five percent jobs should be given to the local population in private organizations like Fauji Foundation, Union Texas, Lasmo Oil, Mari Gauge, M.C.B. Allied Bank, etc. and it should be strictly implemented. There should be a provision of strict legal punishment in case of non-observance of Equal Opportunities systems. Provincial and civilian jobs including jobs in law enforcing agencies, army, rangers, coast guards, constabulary and other para-military forces must be extended to local people.

Proper share in jobs of Foreign Service, judiciary, ambassadorial and diplomatic services should be ensured and legal framework provided for implementation of fair employment practices in multinational companies. Sindhis should be given their legitimate representation in the Boards of Governors in all public and private sector as well as autonomous organization, including Pakistan International Airline, Civil Aviation Authority, Banks, Developmental Organizations, Financial Institutions, Water and Power Development Authority, Pak Telecom, Port Qasim, Karachi Port Trust, National Highway Authority, Railways, Steel Mill, Sui Southern Gas Company, Oil and Gas Development Corporation, State Life Insurance Corporation and other autonomous and semi-autonomous organizations.

Equal Business Opportunities for Sindhis

Discrimination of Sindhis in issuance trade permits, industry and export-import licenses, gasoline stations, transport, big and small factories, fertilizer, medicines and agencies and businesses related to commodities of common use, be stopped forthwith and they should be given due opportunities in the same. Licenses of Arms and Ammunition should be given for self-protection to Sindhis living in areas abounding in terrorists and dacoits.

Equal Status of Sindhi language in Pakistan

The right of Sindhis to get education in their mother tongue is denied in Karachi, Hyderabad, and other big cities. Its role as a regional language is also threatened by concept of Urdu as the sole national language of Pakistan as well as this province of Sindh. Pakistan governments have always blindly insisted on Pakistan as monolingual, monocultural, monoreligious society, which it is not. Therefore, Sindhi language should be declared national language along with other languages. In order to support transition to this natural state of multilingual society special research grants and scholarships should be provided for students and scholars to carry out research on languages and culture that has been denied during the previous half century.

A great deal of dissatisfaction has been expressed during the last few years over malfunctioning of educational and cultural institutions of Sindh, inefficiency of staff, and lack of infra structure and hardware for proper functioning. Inquiries should be held in this connection with excesses done in educational, literary and cultural organizations, colleges and universities of Sindh. Competent, dutiful and honest officers should be appointed in these institutions and adequate budget should be provided on emergency basis to solve their financial difficulties. Such institutions include Sindh University, Agricultural University Tando Jam, Mehran Engineering University Jamshoro, Quaid-e- Awam Engineering University Nawabshah, Shah Lateef University Khairpur, Chandka Medical College Larkana, Peoples Medical College Nawabshah, Sindhi Adabi Board, Sindhology, Sindh Text Board, Sindhi Language Authority, Bhitshah Cultural Center and Sachal Chair. All of which should be developed and upgraded in standard and functioning, keeping in view the Sindhi society, culture, knowledge and national needs and spirit.

There has been an on-going process of destroying the linguistic, cultural, and educational heritage of Sindh by politicizing places of education and creating conditions of terrorism and violence at the campuses, and ignoring the needs of the Sindhi students in scholarships and other academic  processes. In national as well as international activities of Culture and Sports, Sindhis have always been ignored. This should be stopped and Sindhis should be afforded full opportunities and the excesses done to Sindhis in the past, should be redressed. The officers handling national and international scholarships have mishandled such educational assistance schemes available from the Federal and Provincial governments in the past.

There has been a criminal practice of withholding or delaying information from Sindhi students and scholars so that they were not able to apply at the proper time for such scholarship. On the other hand, there has been a rampant practice of providing such facilities and selecting people of certain areas. These practices have caused a sense of deep deprivation to Sindhis and in practical terms the education system in Sindh has suffered as a result. Both students and scholars have been deprived from foreign, national, and local scholarships. Provision should be made to encourage participation of Sindhi students in such schemes to avail of such opportunities and facilities when offered.

Sindh and its bright stars

Keeping in view the way, Sindhi poets, scholars actors and artistes [e.g. Ustad Bukhari, Tariq Ashraf, Rasheed Bhati, Najam Abbasi, Faqir Muhammad Lashari, Tanveer Abbasi, Feroze Gul, Usuf Ali, Muhammad Juman, Sarmad Sindhi, Mai Bhagi, Mahmood Siddiqui, Alan Faqir, Aalam Channa, Qamar Soomro, Muhammad Ibrahim, Mohan Bhagat, Noor Muhammad Lashari, Muhammad Yousif and others were ignored and not looked after in their last moments of life by the Culture Department and their attitude of inattention towards their heirs was totally negative and apathetic. The arrangements should be made for proper treatment of all needy poets, scholars and artistes through the Culture Department. An appropriate policy should be framed to address this issue appropriately.

Sindhis and the public Media

The Federal Government has always misused the electronic as well as the print media in the sense of allocation of time for national or local coverage. Both Radio and TV channels discriminate against the indigenous people of Sindh. Therefore, an exclusive TV and Radio channels must be introduced for local language programs. Before such radio and TV channels are deployed, 50% share of air time should be allocated to Sindhi programs.

Advertisements for Sindhi media

Due to scarcity of Sindhi newspapers and magazines in the country, all Sindhi newspapers should be given due share of government advertisements.

Stoppage of advertisements to newspapers on account of their policies, as a retaliatory and punitive measure, should be stopped forthwith. Both the administration and the politicians often harass Sindhi journalists. They should be given protection from administrative retaliation and blackmail of bureaucrats and the Waderas. They should be given proper representation in delegations for coverage at home and abroad, according to their capabilities.

Peace in the subcontinent

SANA supports all peace initiatives in South Asia to bring people and the governments of the region closer to each other. The governments of both

Pakistan and India should play their full concerted and mutual role to bring about peace, equality and progress in the region. The two governments should sit together to put an end to the arms race in the subcontinent so that cultural and trade relations be strengthened. We urge both governments of India and Pakistan to make serious commitment in reducing arms of mass destruction by 20% before the end of year 2002.

Bring the killers to the justice Impartial judicial inquiry should be ordered into the political murders; e.g. those of ZA Bhutto, Fazil Rahoo, Yousif Jakhrani, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, etc. The hidden hands behind these assassinations, political instigation and permanent vested interests, should be exposed before the international community and culprits should be punished severely. Credible steps should be taken to stop such politically motivated murders in future.

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