FOR centuries, malakhro has been the identity of Sindh. This indigenous form of wrestling has been around since the times of Moenjo-daro.
Malh is usually played in duels in fairs like those held during the Urs of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Lal Shahbaz Qalander. People from far and wide come to witness the competition. They squat around the ring of competition whereas the influentials of the area are seated on chairs.
The contestants, the pehlwans are introduced to the public. Then after meeting each other, the contest begins. The pehlwans are clad in a shalwar and sandro, a long twisted cloth, worn round the lower part of the back for fixing hands into them.
The aim of the contest is for one pehlwan to pin the other on the ground, back first. After securing the victory, the winner goes to the chief guest and other prominent personalities to receive cash awards. Then the spectators too hand him some money as part of his winning stakes. But that is only the first match. The actual winner of the malh is that pehlwan who wins the second round which is also the final.
Malh is almost always played in the evening. It is also mostly arranged in villages where recreational facilities are not available. However, the game has not received any official recognition from the provincial authorities. Talk to Pehlwan Behram Khashkheli, chief patron of Sindh Malh Association Karachi division and he will take you through the history and the not-so-certain future of the game. For he himself, a native of Ayub village, New Karachi, is on the stipend of Rs2500 a month from the Sindh Sports Board.
Highlighting the history and causes of depletion of malh, he recalls from history, how people fought malh with their enemies and won battles. The game was promoted in the era of rulers i.e Sama, Soomras, Kalhoras and Talpurs who were very fond of malh.
When the British took control of Sindh, they continued to encourage the game and assigned stipends to pehlwans.
The Talpur rulers bore all the expenses of the pehlwans, including ghee, almonds, pistachio, meat, fruit, butter, milk that were of great nutritional value for them. Pehlwans were dressed in good quality clothes as well, but were refrained from meeting women, even for marriage. This was done in order to preserve their strength.
However, today, malh is in a deplorable condition. The sport has been neglected in every quarter, including the government that once used to support it by arranging malakhras and announcing cash rewards for pehlwans, all of which has now stopped. Still, there are some persons who value the game and arrange malakhras for the encouragement of pehlwans and to keep the game alive. After all, the players of the game are dependent on the income they get from malakhras.
The ancient game is diminishing in Sindh due to non-interest of the government and a generation of youngsters that are attracted by other games like cricket. Still, Behram is a busy man and in Karachi alone he trains 250 youngsters for malh without any official help.
Behram insisted the Sindh Sports Board restore the financial support to malh. Pehlwans have not only to run their family but they require amount for meat, ghee, butter, milk, almond and have to spare time for exercises in order to keep themselves fit. When a pehlwan is mentally disturbed, how can he fight with his opponent because economical problems always haunt — him and make him weak physically and mentally. Besides, the Sindh Malh Association, established in 1982, had done nothing so far and always its members remained in conflict with one another and Pehlwan Ghulam Sarwar Jatoi and Jan Muhammad Sabro who remained the leaders of the Association, did no welfare work for pehlwans.
However, of the present breed of concerned officials, the General Secretary of Dadu Malh Association, Haji Qalander Bux has demanded restoration of Governor Gold Medal and Chief Minister Gold Medal contests and appealed that Sindh Sports Board allocate an amount in the budget for promotion of malh. Besides, the ground in Sehwan Sharif be allotted for malakhra. Haji Qalander also noted that malh is popular in Middle Eastern countries as well. Therefore the government should make arrangements to send pehlwans there for participation in contests. Previously a number of pehlwans have gone there and participated in malakhra and won the competition.
Other than a stipend, malh pehlwans should also be encouraged by giving their educated sons government employment and medical as well as residential facilities, because after retirement they lead a miserable life.
When they are young they earn some income the whole year and pass their time. But after retirement from the game, they have no other source of income. After hitting the age of 40, the pehlwans retire as they start becoming bulky and fat. They are forbidden from eating rice and other fatty material which creates problems for them in old age. Besides, the injuries of young age develop in old age and become the cause of constant pain.
Malh is played in Punjab and Balochistan as well as in other countries like India and as far away as in Japan. Internationally, malh pehlwans from Pakistan have contested and defeated other wrestlers. Sher Mir Bhar who was the Sher-e-Sindh fought Gurnam Sindh of India and Zeb Siko of Japan, and defeated them both. In appreciation, the then president, Ayub Khan awarded Sher Mir with a jeep and eighty acres of fertile land.
Malh pehlwans should be sent to India, Russia, Afghanistan, Japan, Middle Eastern countries on government expenses for the promotion of the game.
FOR centuries, malakhro has been the identity of Sindh. This indigenous form of wrestling has been around since the times of Moenjo-daro.
