June 2, 2002

Politics in Sindh, 1907-40 is based on the research undertaken by Allen Keith Jones, a Scottish born academic who spent a considerable part of his life in South Asia. The American Institute of Pakistan Studies sponsored the research and the doctoral dissertation which forms the basis of the book studies the link between the politics in Sindh and the demand for Pakistan. The period covered is 1907 to 1940, which saw the Muslims of Sindh waking up to their Islamic identity, and becoming committed supporters of the Pakistan movement.

Comprising 70 per cent of the population of the province, the Muslims were backward, being mainly concentrated in the rural areas. The Hindus were dominant in the urban centres, and enjoyed a much better economic and social status. Political awareness developed among the Muslims partly through the Khilafat movement, but more widely through the movement for the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency that reached its height in the 1920s. The Islamic awareness had, however, started developing in 1907, when the All India Muslim League, founded in 1906, held its annual session in Karachi in 1907, in order to highlight its All- India character.

The Muslim League did not develop into a major political force in Sindh till many years later. The Muslim political parties that began to emerge after political activism picked up in the wake of the Khilafat movement centred on individuals. Abdul Majid Sindhi formed the Sindh Azad Party (SAP) while Abdullah Haroon founded the Sindh United Party (SUP) in which several prominent persons such as Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Sir Ghulam Husain Hidayatullah enrolled as members. However, they left that party to establish the Sindh Muslim Party (SMP).

The Government of India Act of 1935, which separated Sindh from Bombay, provided for a 60-seat provincial assembly, with 34 seats for Muslims, and 19 general seats for Hindus, with the rest going to Europeans, business interests etc. In the elections held in 1937, the Muslim seats were divided between the SUP (21), SAP (three) and SMP (three), with seven seats going to independents. Though his party won the most seats, Sir Abdullah Haroon was defeated in Karachi, while victory eluded Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto in Larkana. The hallmark of Muslim politics was the emphasis on individual leaders that resulted in “disunity and preoccupation with provincial concerns”.

The first two ministries formed in Sindh proved short-lived. Sir Ghulam Husain Hidayatullah formed the first ministry, with some Hindu support, and was able to win considerable backing by a clever choice of ministers. The largest Muslim party, the SUP, went into opposition with 12 members, but the rivalry between Haroon and Bhutto further divided it. Provincial and personal interests influenced the state of Muslim politics even on an All- India basis.

The All-India Muslim League won only 109 out of 482 seats for Muslims, and made a poor showing in Punjab and Sindh. The Congress, which formed the government in 11 provinces, refused to take Muslims into its ministries, and its insensitivity to Muslim concerns led to a considerable strengthening of support for the Muslim League.

The Hidayatullah ministry in Sindh had to resign on March 23, 1938, and Allah Bakhsh was able to form the second ministry, with the support of 10 Hindu independents. This period saw an intensification of the efforts to organize the Muslim League in Sindh, which gained momentum after Sir Abdullah Haroon joined the party. He was supported by M.A. Khuhro and Kazi Fazlullah.

These efforts concentrated on opening branches of the Muslim League in both urban and rural areas. As Allah Bakhsh found himself depending on Congress support, other Muslim notables moved towards the League, most prominent among them being G.M. Sayed. Eventually, the majority of the Muslim members joined the Muslim League, and efforts were stepped up to broaden the horizons of the provincial party beyond Sindh.

A major move towards strengthening the Muslim League in Sindh came in October 1938 when a conference was held in Karachi, which was attended by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and other prominent Muslim politicians from other provinces, including Fazlul Haq from Bengal, and Sir Sikandar Hayat from the Punjab. Some 20,000 people were present and Sir Abdullah Haroon, the main organizer, laid stress in his address on the anti-Muslim character of Congress governments formed in various provinces.

The Karachi conference played a significant role in encouraging Muslims to draw up new goals and the first reference to “separate nations of Hindus and Muslims” was made in one of its resolutions. However, efforts to set up a Muslim League ministry in Sindh did not get anywhere owing to factionalism, much to Jinnah’s disappointment.

A dispute over a prominent building in Sukkur, known as Manzilgah, provided the stimulus for bringing the Muslims together. This building, which was constructed in the shape of a mosque, was under the control of the government. When the local Muslims started a movement in early 1939 for the control of the mosque, the Hindu community sided with the government, sensing a threat to its dominant status in the province. The Manzilgah affair led to a polarization that took the form of riots in and around Sukkur, in which the two communities became involved. As a resultant, the Allah Bakhsh government was defeated.

The events that followed brought into focus the conflict between the personal ambitions of the Muslim politicians, most of them Muslim Leaguers, and the All India goals of the League. The Pakistan Resolution had been passed at Lahore in March 1940, in the adoption of which Sir Abdullah Haroon had played a prominent role. A coalition ministry was formed under Mir Bundeh Ali, in which the four League ministers had submerged their allegiance to the League to hold on to power. However, as a conflict emerged between the policies of the All India Muslim League and the provincial concerns of the League ministers, Jinnah directed the League members to resign in early 1941.

Jones’ book provides a valuable and fascinating account of the evolution of Muslim politics in Sindh. The Muslim League was able to form its own ministry in Sindh in 1942, and contributed significantly towards the achievement of the goal of Pakistan in 1947. Jones has rendered a service to historians of the Pakistan movement through this highly readable account that covers a critical period in the politics of the subcontinent.

Politics in Sindh, 1907-1940: Muslim identity and the demand for Pakistan
By Allen Keith Jones
Oxford University Press, 5 Bangalore Town, Sharae Faisal, Karachi-75350. Tel: 021-4529025
Email: ouppak@theoffice.net
ISBN 0-19-579593-8. 214pp. Rs425

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