December 30, 2006

Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah was one of 20th century politicians of Sindh who could read the future and act in that direction. An astute but supple man with the quality of making decisions of enormous value, Mr Hidayatullah remained on the political horizon of Sindh for about half a century.

His forefathers hailed from Kashmir and had settled in Shikarpur in the late 19th century. Born in 1878, he had early schooling at Shikarpur and then at Sindh Madressah and D. J. College, Karachi. By 1905, he began practising law. Although he never thought of joining politics, he saw the situation ripe for making a beginning and was elected first to municipal committee and then on district local board in 1909.

He availed every chance which he presumed could bring his objective closer. During the course of reforms, he was appointed a minister of local self government in Bombay presidency in 1921. In that capacity he got the Local Government Act passed and brought many reforms, especially to ensure Muslim representation on the basis of population. Two years later, he was again elected on Hyderabad seat and continued to stay as a minister, a position he retained till 1927 during which he received the title of Khanbahadur for his work and Sir. In 1928 he was appointed a member of executive council.

The separation of Sindh movement from Bombay Presidency was at it height and to resolve the issue it was decided to take it at the round table conference of 1930. At the moot Mr Hussain supported the separation vociferously. Till 1934, he remained an executive member and retired in the following year and decided to spend a retired life. But the availability of opportunity had a lure of its own. He banked on his contribution towards the people. This coincided with the government announcement of holding elections to the India Legislative Assembly. Mr Hussain contested and was elected as representative of the landlords and jagirdars of Sindh.

In 1936, Sindh was separated from Bombay Presidency after 89 years. This was a test case for those supporting separation. Election was announced for 1937. Almost all who had backed the separation returned to the assembly including Mr Hussain, who was again chosen from the platform of Muslim Political Party as representative of feudals and landlords and by virtue of majority's support became prime minister of Sindh. After being nominated as leader of the house, he had to face two arduous tasks: to undertake such reforms that were beneficial for the people of Sindh which were opposed by the bureaucracy of Sindh, and two, to widen the cabinet, which he failed to do. But as Mr Hussain was trying to settle things with his opponents, Ittehad Party joined hands with Hindu members and began attempts to unseat Mr Hussain. When the budget was being debated in March 1938, Mr G. M. Syed and his friends presented a cut motion of one rupee, which dethroned Mr Hussain and Allah Bakhsh Soomro took oath as prime minister. Sir Ghulam Hussain had to sit on opposition benches. Soon after that Ittehad Party suffered internal strifes on the issue of land revenue, which forced G. M. Syed and his supporters to leave them. Mr Hussain joined Muslim League but it did not pay him as they could not unseat Allah Bakhsh government, with the result that in January 1939 he deserted the Muslim League and joined his opponent Allah Bakhsh, who awarded him with the portfolio of home department.

Mr Soomro was a very honest and humane person. On certain issues he took principled stand and tendered his resignation on Oct 1942, a position to be filled by Mr Hussain. In the following year Mr Soomro was assassinated which ensued in many debates but had little effect on the leadership of Mr Hussain, who continued to remain prime minister till the end of 1947. After Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam appointed him as governor of Sindh. In September 1948, the Quaid passed away and in October the same year Mr Hussain also died after a massive stroke.

Mr Ghulam Hussain was a man of insight and foresight. He had a knack of foreseeing things much before than his colleagues or even opponents could. Similarly, he had a cool temperament to hear, see and bear his critics. He could see the swing of power and would avail any chance even by changing party affiliation. For instance in 1943, Allah Bakhsh government quit power and it was he who vied for it but that needed to be a Muslim Leaguer. He was nominated prime minister and joined Muslim League. At that stage he knew that the Quaid needed dependable party men, therefore he worked so hard that the Quaid reposed full confidence in him and many previous PML workers like G. M. Syed and Ali Mohammad Rashdi were ousted from the party. In 1946, after the recommendations of Cabinet Mission, when the Muslim League took the decision of direct action, he moved that all titles awarded by the British government should be surrendered. In doing so he was the first person to give up his titles. This won him India's laurels.

This was not accidental. His every move was calculated. He could look into the future and to achieve those moments he used his talent and position. This was what always kept him in the corridors of power, to the extent that G. M. Syed called him the 'grand old man' of Sindh.

Muhammad Hashim Gazdar

Sindh can rightly boast of people who have left mark of their integrity not only in their personal lives but in their political careers too. Mohammad Hashim Gazdar ranks among those with a high esteem in pre-partition days when Sindh and the Independence movement needed leaders of such character.

He belonged to a Rajput clan and after the British captured Sindh his father migrated to Sindh. Born in 1895 in Jailsalmir his family chose Karachi as their home where the young Gazdar took his schooling at Sindh Madressah and passed his Intermediate in 1911. Later he had engineering education in Pune and immediately joined practical life. During his assignments he worked on various uplift projects including a low-cast housing project in Bombay which became a subject of criticism. As a result he was among those who were targeted and lost their jobs.

Wasting no time, he came to Karachi and joined District Local Board as engineer. At that time, the late G. M. Syed was the president of the board. Mr Gazdar worked there for four years but quit after developing some differences with the board policies. Finally, he decided to take refuge in politics. With his honest background, he thought people of Sindh would give him a chance to work for them. In 1934 elections he was elected to Bombay Legilslative Council to represent Sindh. Next he was elected as a member of Sindh Assembly. He also was elected to the Karachi Municipal Corporation, a position he held till 1958 and also headed the Corporation for some time. During all this time he served people without any discrimination.

At that time, Sindh was passing through a very gruelling era, as on the one hand the Congress was floating its options for a wider agenda of independence while the Muslims were struggling to secure their rights through all legal means and ensure a rightful share in power in any future setup. On domestic platform Gazdar had to deal with a large number of people with divergent views and interests, specially the feudal class. A strong bureaucracy behaved as an invisible government which opposed any move that clipped its wings. Amid such conditions, Mr Gazdar had to work honestly - almost a daunting task.

As a member of the Sindh Assembly, he joined Ittehad Party, which later formed a coalition with Sir Ghulam Hussain's group and created Democratic Coalition Party. He remained as a minister of this coalition. It was a strange sequence of events. At one stage Ittehad Party in collusion with Hindus dethroned Sir Ghulam Hussain and brought Allah Bakhsh Soomro to power, Gazdar opposed the move but when all joined the Muslim League he also became member of the team, with the result that in 1942 when Allah Bakhsh government was dismissed, Gazdar was among the cabinet ministers along with Mohammad Ayub Khuhro. After that there were many similar swift changes in the political game but Gazdar stayed steadfast and remained glued to Muslim League. This made him a confidant of Quaid-i-Azam and in the 1946 elections he was elected as member of the Constituent Assembly from Sindh where he was elected as deputy speaker.

In 1954, Governor-General Ghulam Mohammad, dissolved the Constituent Assembly. Gazdar knew it but next day he arrived at the assembly building with flag on his car to 'attend the assembly session'. On the gates he was prevented by the security staff but he forcibly reached the lock of the main door. The security men removed him physically. This became the basis of his petition against the dissolution which later became known as Moulvi Tamizuddin case. Immediately One Unit was formed abolishing all provinces.

In 1955 he was elected as member of the newly-created West Pakistan Assembly and retained the status till the prorogation of Constitution and promulgation of martial law on Oct 7, 1958. His outspokenness invited Ayub Khan's wrath who jailed him for 'being danger to the integrity' of the country. In 1961, Ayub Khan wanted some man like Gazdar to join Muslim League (Convention), which Ayub presumed Gazdar would understand and join the band, but Gazdar failed to do it. In the due course the opposition held a public meeting where Gazdar spoke so fearlessly that once again Ayub Khan had to invoke the question of 'the country's integrity. He was sent to jail this time with the tag of sedition and stayed there for quite some time. At last he was released on the pledge that he would not indulge in politics. This is what he adhered to and till death he kept away from politics.

How his role in Pakistan's politics will be judged will be perhaps not a difficult question to answer but one is sure that as an honest legislator, a committed leader and a man with unwavering determination he aimed at changing the course of politics which was thought to be a source of power which the politicians used for personal gains. Unlike many, he stuck to Muslim League and despite pressures of various kinds he remained an unswerving leader. He could not change the course but his life and approach would go a long way in the country's history.

Pir Illahi Bakhsh

In a society overwhelmed by feudal and tribal customs, politics is quite a hard task to accomplish. In the political and social background of Sindh, a handful of such politicians could be named with a clean record, committed to people's cause and governed people's respect even after they opted for a retired life. Pir Illahi Bakhsh was the man who served people without distinction, hated hypocrisy, brought reforms and sanity to politics. Pir sahib contributed to the welfare of Sindh to a great extent. As a lawyer he helped any aggrieved poor. By being an honest and committed person he was instrumental in rehabilitation of refugees, establishing educational institutions and ensuring completion of welfare projects on time. He was the only leader who introduced adult literacy in Sindh and was among the four members who voted against the One Unit scheme..

Born in a learned family of Pirjogoth near Saeedabad in Dadu district in 1897, Pir Illahi Bakhsh commanded traditional respect the Pirs in Sindh have. Schooled at his native village and Khairpiur Mirs, he went to Aligarh for more education. Under the influence of Ali brothers, he picked the sense of politicking from there and while in Jamia Millia Aligarh he took the cue of various political movements the subcontinent was passing through. This is why he could not complete his education and returned back to Sindh.

Once back in Sindh, he took the message of Khilafat Movement in all parts of the province. He became a very active force when the Khilafat conference was to be held in Karachi in July 1921. It was at this moot where Maulana Mohammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Seth Saifuddin Kichloo, Shankar Acharya and Pir Ghulam Mujaddid Sarhandi spoke so hard that they faced sedition charges and were awarded two-year punishments. As a young and enthusiastic political warrior Pir sahib saw it closely. Many years later when Khilafat Movement lost its passion, Pir sahib resumed his education in law in 1927 and graduated in 1929, but during this period he continued his political activities.

The struggle for separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency resulted into an independent province of Sindh in 1936 leading to fresh elections to Sindh Assembly in 1937. He contested and was elected from his native constituency. Later he joined Sindh Ittehad Party but when Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah's government was defeated on one-rupee cut motion, Allah Bakhsh Soomro asked Pir sahib to join him where he was assigned the portfolio of revenue. In view of the pledges made by various parties this was a difficult department to handle as all had promised to bring social and economic reforms and tame bureaucracy.

Facing odds at every corner, Pir sahib undertook a whirlwind visit of the whole province, met people, listened to their woes and pulled the bureaucracy down to answer people's problems. For bureaucracy this was unheard of, and before the provincial government could act on the recommendations of Pir sahib, the bureaucracy under a plan made a representation to the governor complaining that their dignity had been reduced to ashes. They were backed by feudals and money-lenders. This made the chief minister not to act on the recommendations of Pir sahib who also waited for some opportune time but more tantalising was the days to come on the issue of land revenue.

The issue had been lingering for quite some time but every government deferred it on one or the other pretext. The issue was once again presented before the cabinet, where under the pressure of the governor, the land revenue was enhanced. This infuriated the members of Ittehad Party and they abandoned the cabinet positions. But Pir sahib remained with the government and stayed there till March 1940. In 1946, Pir sahib contested the crucial elections on Muslim League ticket but the same year the governor dissolved the assembly and in December held fresh elections. In 1948, a difference developed between Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah and Mohammad Ayub Khuhro on the issue of handing over Karachi to the federal government leading to dismissal of Khuhro government by the federal government opening way for Pir sahib to take over as Sindh chief minister, a position he retained for two years when the tribunal in G. M. Syed's election petition gave its verdict over which Pir sahib quit the seat and preferred to stay away.

Pir sahib again contested the 1953 elections and was elected as member but the opposition of Ayub Khuhro continued, who, although stood disqualified under PRODA, became an important figure to be used at an opportune time. The moment had come as the government wanted to get the One Unit bill passed by Sindh Assembly. The governor dismissed Pirzada government in 1954 and appointed Khuhro as chief minister after removing PRODA restrictions. Khuhro with his iron-hand policies got the One Unit bill passed on Dec 11, 1954. Pir sahib did not vote for One Unit.

After the formation of West Pakistan, a United Party was formed to dismember One Unit and Pir sahib by being its secretary made efforts to bring as much support for undoing One Unit as he could, with the result that on Sept 17, 1957 Mr Ghulam Mustafa Bhurgri tabled a resolution against the One Unit, but Ayub Khan who had planned to take power for quite some time, promulgated martial law on Oct 7, 1958, disqualified a large number of politicians including Pir sahib and later formed a king's party. This was not acceptable to Pir sahib who preferred to stay away from politics till his last.

— The author is a staffer

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