Her, Soc, Pol: My thoughts on Independence Day celebrations

[Deepak Mirchandani <Ttrdm@AOL.COM>]

My personal thoughts and feelings on India and Pakistan's Independence Day
celebrations


Preamble:   At the insistence of friends and peers, I went to Toronto's
Harboufront to "celebrate" India's Independence from colonial rule. Many
people rejoiced, mingled, experienced exotic food, and generally reveled in
the fact that they were shackle free from the masters.

As a Sindhi, commonly referred to as diaspora (i.e. - read "Hindu"), on this
list, it pains me to see Sindhis celebrating at this time of year.
Celebrating what? The loss of their Motherland? The loss of their ancestral
property? The loss of loved ones? The loss of their culture?

Being born many, many years after Partition, I am not one to be commenting on
the agony and the atrocities committed during the months and days leading up
to Independence and the Partition of India.  I was not there, so I do not
have a first hand account. I realize through my readings that the losses
suffered by Sindhis pale in comparison to the atrocities, on both sides of
the great divide, committed in Punjab and Bengal.

Yes, undoubtedly, we need to celebrate the fact that we were given a free
reign to pursue our goals in life, a free reign to be economically a force to
be reckoned with, and a free reign to make the world our oyster. And true to
our Sindhi blood, statistics indicate that there are Sindhis spread out in
158 countries in the world.

I do not want to be branded as a traitor, but really, as a Hindu Sindhi, what
do we have that we should celebrate? We are the only community in India
without a State. The "Panorama India" festival in Toronto celebrated India's
cultural diversity. So the Punjabis performed Punjabi dances. The Tamils
performed classical dances. The crowds were mediocre. When the Sindhis were
on stage, we attracted the largest audience of the day!!  Why? Because we
performed to current popular Hindi film music. My heartiest congratulations
to the Sindhi children who performed brilliantly, and earned the applause of
the audience. But really, there was no facet of Sindhi culture during the
"Sindhi Hour". It pains me to see our relative ignorance of our heritage, of
our culture, of our language. As Sindhis, we have assimilated brilliantly
into various cultures. But is this the end of our culture? Is Bollywood to be
equated with Sindhi culture?

Some of our esteemed members on this list may be willing to enlighten me on
my relative ignorance. While Punjab was partitioned, while Bengal was
partitioned, and while Kashmir, under different circumstances, is partitioned
- why was Sindh not partitioned. Was it a factor of geography, or was it
because Hindu Sindhis were a very small minority in the Province?

As a Hindu Sindhi, I personally take a moment at this time of year to pause
and take stock of my roots. I say a prayer for my family members who lost
their lives while fleeing Sindh. I thank the Lord that my parents were
unharmed during their exodus. I thank my parents for the wonderful life that
they have given me. And I thank my parents for educating me about Sindhi
culture, Sindhi language, and Sindhi history.

As Sindhis, whether we are Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Christian, we should always
remember that we are Sindhis first, and then Pakistani or Indian or American
or Canadian. Sindh is our Motherland. We belong to one of the oldest
civilizations known to mankind.

Jeeay Sindh

Deepak Mirchandani
Toronto, Canada
(ancestors from Hyderabad Sindh)