Re: Heritage: On the Sindhi Hindu exodus

[Thakur Alimchandani <Talimchand@AOL.COM>]

In a message dated 99-05-05 08:42:09 EDT, rais@netcom.ca writes:

<< Curiously, why were the Sindhi leaders in Congress of the time (Kripalani,
 Gidwani, Malkani, et al) so silent??

 Dhru Raisinghani
  >>


Dhru Raisinghani addresses to me a valid and pertinent question  which I
think can be best answered by those who personally witnessed the tragic drama
 of Partition. However since the question is asked , I shall attempt an
answer based on what  I have read and understood, leaving to others to
present the full picture.

It is my belief, based on what I have read, that leaders in Sind like Dr.
Choithram(President, Sind Congress),  Prof. Ghanshyam and many others, cried
hoarse against the creation of Pakistan,   and the victimization of Hindus in
Sind. Choithram  went to Gandhiji, but Gandhiji himself was betrayed by his
own political heir and the entire Congress ( in which no one heard the
protests of Acharya Kripalani & Jairamdas). Choithram and Ghanshyam then
pleaded with Congress leaders, beginning with Jawaharlal, but they met a
blank wall. Of their efforts, I am told that Sind Observer was a newspaper in
Sind, and it had an editorial/ story/or a write-up,  entitled:
“They cried to high heaven,
But heaven heard them not.”

Choithram who spoke against Partition was beaten up by the unruly mobs in
Sind at the orchestration of the Muslim League, with head wounds, and long
hospital stay . Choithram saw the danger to  Hindus in Sind from Muslims
refugees coming from India to Pakistan , and in cooperation with many others,
he concentrated on evacuation of Sindhi Hindus to India with free air/sea
transport, and camp accommodation/food in India.  Kripalani conveyed to
Choithram the threat of Jawaharlal that he would have no future in Congress
if  Sind Congress leadership would oppose Partition or encourage Hindu exodus
from Sind but Kripalani added a personal message to say " BUT YOU DO WHAT YOU
MUST DO". From Gandhiji, Choithram secured a willing  assurance that India
was honor-bound to respect and provide for Sindhi Hindus.

There is much more I can add, but my knowledge is far from personal, and on
an issue like this I would not like to indulge in hearsay, except to say that
as I understand it, the role played by Hindu leadership in Sind was honorable
& courageous, in view of the catastrophe imposed on them - and they were
victims, as were the Sindhi Hindus & Sindhi Muslims.

BUT THE QUESTION BY DHRU Raisinghani raises another question in my mind  -
and I thank her for it. And the QUESTION is: Do victims really protest
enough? Do we not 50 years thence  ridicule them for their nearly silent,
unheard protest ? AND we ask - Why were the victims  so silent over their
victimization, that not a single cry re-echoes today in our  hearts?

THERE is perhaps No Answer - except to wonder at the following related
examples:

* WHY does none hear the smothered cry of the  helpless, tortured  Tibetans
while we applaud the Chinese achievements?

**  DID the Jews protest enough against HOLOCAUST, while bleeding to death,
in Nazi Germany when it was on, or did the protest become audible only after
England and Allies took it up as propaganda tool in their  war effort, and
more so,later, after the birth of Israel?

*** EVEN NOW, do we not hear the gun-toting NATO colossus rather than the
Albanian and Serb victims?

MANY such examples come to mind, and the unfortunate fact is that  in the
slaughterhouse of the world, the Butcher’s shout is heard far more clearly
than the vain protest of the Butchered. And history? Does anyone honestly
read or care? So it continues - written by the conquerer, colonialist,
imperialist or the vested interests.....

Thakur