ANCIENT TRADITIONS

In Sindh, after the experience of thousands of years some traditions had been established. Out of which some are good and some were bad. Following are the few good traditions of Sindhis: a) Giving Asylum to foreign people who suffered in their own countries at the hands of their opponents and on account of that, they had suffered a lot. b) The protection of honor, respect, modesty and dignity of tribal men and women even if such protections involved the possibility of bloody feuds with the opponents. c) Hospitality to the strangers and travelers, if they came to Sindh villages Sindhis considered it to be their honor and duty to entertain them as their honorable guests. Lack of means at the moment were never a hindrance. C) Patriotism: Love of the motherland had always been a matter of faith and sacred duty. In view of that all the classical poets of Sindh have sung the songs of patriotism. Such poems are mostly sung on all auspicious and eventful occasions. Shah Latif the Great Saint-Poet of Sindh has again and again teaches Sindhis the love of their land: i) "Woe to them, who forget their country". ii) "Seek companionship of compatriots, aliens cannot be owned". iii) "For the days which I have passed detached from my country. My own folks and people will smirch and smite.". iv) "It is not customary with Sindhis to stain themselves and swap their blood with gold".To be contented even in adversity. The people of Sindh believe in patience and perseverance and do not complain even against unfavorable and adverse circumstances. Their poets also have taught them the same. They say: i) "Sorrows ornate life, Life without sorrows is meaningless." ii) "What ever God in his wisdom has Ordained' Gracefully and gratefully welcome." iii) "Every one has a share of sorrows but I have then in abundance. 1 went around to dissent and disport these but the sympathizers had already departed." The above mentioned things were some of good points ingrained in Sindhi Culture" and character. But they have also inherited some bad habits on account of which they have to face difficulties. Amongst them are the following. i) Inferiority Complex:-The feudal system, Zamindars, Pirs, Mullahs and outside rulers have created an inferiority complex in our people, which has made them cowards. ii) Tribal enmities:-The people of Sindhi originated from different tribes and countries, had lived the nomadic life, and had been entangled in local differences. This characteristic continues till today. The result is that taking advantage of their weakness the foreigners have been invading, occupying, dominating and exploiting them. iii) The Cunning and crafty foreigners.I have narrated above that on account of various factors, Sindhis have been infected with inferiority complex resulting in cowardice and become easy prey of cunning and crafty dandyism of foreigners. They believe that every foreigner or analyzer is a nophman, a gentleman although in his home town and land he may be a non-entity even of a low origin. As such every lonely becomes holy and every devil becomes a don here. When Arians came to Sindh the Dravadian were overpowered by them, and adopted their language, customs, religious beliefs and dress and when Persians or Greeks ruled over them, they adopted several things of rulers. In the days of Mughal Empire, speaking in the Persian was considered the sign of pride and in the days of British rule, speaking in English was considered a privilege. So much so that even primary education was given in English language and western dress was considered to be the sign of superiority. Now a days the many well to do persons have started speaking in Urdu in their houses with the result that their traditions literature, in which Shah Latif, Sachal, Sami, and other poets have given their messages is being forgotten. iv) Selfishness:Sindh was mostly a rural country, in which people used to remain in nomadic life or ~ scattered huts, wherein there was less safety, health and unity among them. Every body was to safe guard his own interests. There is saying in Sindhi that: "That self comes first and above the rest."The common man of Sindh if busy in safe guarding. his self interests. The national consciousness, the national unity and the national feeling have therefore suffered. On account of these conditions the outsiders have often invaded Sindh and have either looted and robbed Sindh or started ruling over it. On account of these draw backs the vested interests have coined several slogans to mislead Sindhis and bring them under their domination. One is that Muslims are a separate nation, which infect is against the spirit of Islam. The second thing is that the various provinces in India where Muslims were in majority created a new country named Pakistan and are trying to show that it is an Islamic country and must be safeguarded at any cost. This has cost Sindh immensely. If it agrees to such slogans it will have to write off its history of five thousand years and puts its geographical boundaries in jeopardy and finally become subjects and slaves of Punjabi-Muhajir combine. v) Lack of National awareness.Sindh, since last 5000 years has remained a separate country, a geographical entity with distinct language, culture, political and economic interests. Sindhis have remained a separate nation. But unless the residents of Sindh have not learned to prefer the national interests, to their individual and selfish motives and they have not acquired the necessary national consciousness of unity and common interests they can not become the "united nation", nor face the foreign powers and get rid of certain slogans, that misguide and mislead them. For instance that all Muslims are one nation and that Pakistan is a homeland of Muslims, are being used as weapons to rule over Sindhis. i) The Customs and way of Life.The Sindh's overwhelming majority of population has lived in rural areas and quite a few are still passing nomadic life. Some of them reside on the banks of lakes, rivers and sea in their scattered huts or small boats. Some of them depend upon cattle breeding and continue changing their camps with the change of pasture. All these sections are not only denied the benefits of the civilization but civic and city life also. After the establishment of Pakistan, nearly 60 lakhs of outsiders have migrated to Sindh, who mostly live in cities of Sindh and population of city life has enormously increased. But the majority of original Sindhis still remain in rural areas devoid of the basic facilities of civic life with the benefits of Education, health services and sanitary arrangements or society. Services in government departments and jobs in industries and factories are not available for them. Lack of security of life and property plagues rural life. Trade and commerce is concentrated in big towns and cities. Roads and other means of communications are a rarity. City life generates homogeneity, political awakening, organizational capacity, and struggle to get political and economic rights. Newspapers, periodicals and other means of information and knowledge come to their door steps. The net result as of today is that the city people are fully enjoying the comforts and benefits whereas the rural population lives sub-human conditions and get a different message of civilization from independence. Lack of opportunities, amenities, facilities and arrangements is not only adversely affecting villages more and more but widening the gap of quality of life between rural and urban population, which is not a good omen.