Her, Pol, Soc: On the makeup of the Sindhi Sammelan in Orlando

[Suresh Gajwani <ipage@TIAC.NET>]

    Since my comments in the Q.&A. part of the writeup for the Sindhi
Sammelan generated some e-mails with different views, I thought it
appropriate to explain my thoughts a little more in detail.
    Please note that these are my views and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the Sammelan Management.
    We do plan on discussing this issue at the Sammelan to sense the
response of the attendees.

    Suresh Gajwani


As best as I can summarize, the feeling of some of our brothers and
sisters is that in this day and age, we should be working on trying to
unite the differences between communities, not increase them. That the
Sindhi Community, even in the broader sense, is so small that
subdividing them along religious lines is short sighted and dangerous.
The fact that there are separate Sammelans, one for he Hindu Sindhis and

one for the Muslim Sindhis, is bad - according to these advocates.

     All this sounds noble. It probably makes sense in theory, but in
practice, in my humble opinion, it does not work. Here are some reasons
why I feel that the two communities trying to build consensus on
separate paths, is real and desirable:

 1. OUR RECENT PATHS ARE DIFFERENT:
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     We, the Hindu Sindhis, have had a different journey in the past 50+

years than our Muslim brothers. Partition was hard on us, since we are
the ones who had to leave our homeland. We had to resettle in "Foreign"
countries and make a new life for ourselves. Because of this we have
been fragmented throughout the world. There are many small villages in
India, and in remote parts of the world, with only two or three Sindhi
families in the village. In order to survive most of us had to abandon
our Sindhi identity and take over the identity of the community we
belong to. Today, many Sindhi kids are more comfortable with other
culture, history and language than our own.

     To make up for this lost time, there is a yearning on many of our
fragmented brothers and sisters to get together and share thoughts. (The

Sindhi Sammelan has doubled in participation every year!). No one really

knows where it is going, but one has to start somewhere. And, for this
Sammelan, it has
started at the level of Hindu Sindhis.

     This is not to discount the many problems faced by our Muslim
Sindhi brothers in Pakistan. They are serious, but quite different. All
of us feel bad about it and are willing to help. However, I feel the
chances of being able to help are actually higher if each of the two
communities progress along their different paths and then agree to join
hands at some time to work on common issues, than if we were forced into

trying to develop together as one "homogeneous" community.

 2. DIVERGENT SOCIAL INTERESTS:
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     Whether we like it or not, there is little contact between the two
Sindhi communities in the US or elsewhere. At the micro level, we do not

socialize together or have many functions in common. The so-called
"Common Culture" is not a reality in the lives of most Sindhis. Hindu
Sindhi families are not interested in encouraging their sons and
daughters to look for Muslim Sindhi mates. I suspect the same is true of

the Muslim Sindhi families. One of the key goals of a Sammelan is to
allow kids to meet each other, build friendships, and hopefully find
their life partners. Mixing the Sammelans from two communities will
discourage many of the parents to attend, killing the whole idea of
bringing people with common interests together.

     I know this sounds very parochial, but it is real. Sweeping it
under the rug, for public relations purposes, does not solve the
problem.

 3. IMMEDIATE GOALS ARE DIFFERENT:
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     Goals change all the time and the goals for the community and the
Sammelan will change with time also. But the primary goal of the Sindhi
Sammelan is to bring the Sindhis together. Culture is a clear goal, but
not necessarily the only goal, or even the primary goal.

 4. POLITICAL CLOUT IS IMPORTANT:
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     Hopefully one of the key goals would be to work towards an umbrella

organization empowered to watch out for the benefit of the community.
Some people feel that this is not a big deal. But the most important
event in our recent history (PARTITION WITHOUT LAND) happened because we

did not have proper representation at that time. (Why else are we the
only minority that got kicked out with no land. Punjab was divided in
two parts; Bengal was divided in two parts. Only Sind was given 100% to
Pakistan. Why?)

     Minorities get sold out at bargaining tables all the time, unless
they have a strong voice and clout. Today, Sindhis have made a name for
themselves as a very successful, and wealthy, community. This actually
increases the risk that someday we will be singled out as the minority
for persecution. History has many such examples - Jews in Europe,
Lebanese in Middle East, Chinese in Indonesia, South Indians in Bombay
and so on. Successful minorities are envied, and every few years you
hear of a demagogue who picks on a minority as a scapegoat to further
his/her personal political goals. (Idi Amin did this to Indians in
Uganda and Shiv Sena did this in Bombay to the people from South India a
few years
ago!)
    Political Clout is not a wish. It is not a luxury. It is a
necessity for long term survival of our community. Just because there is

no burning issue today does not mean that there will not be a burning
need for it in the next few years. When that happens, it will be too
late to start to build such a clout.
     Two good examples of political clout are the Jews and the Cubans.
They are very small in numbers (less than 1% of the population), but
have managed to have some serious influence at both the Washington and
World political levels (Mas Canosa, President of the Cuban Foundation in

Miami, was one of the first people to visit Gorbachov after Russia
embraced Perostrika!). If we were smart, we would want to build a
community with that level of influence. And once we have that clout, it
is available to be used to support causes at the broader level including

the needs for preserving the true Sindhi Culture.

 4. "FOR" is not always connected to "AGAINST"
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     There is some confusion that just because you are "FOR" something;
you must be "AGAINST" something else. Just because you are "For" your
family, does not mean that you are "AGAINST" the neighborhood; just
because you are "FOR" Florida, does not mean that you are "AGAINST" the
US. So if the Hindu Sindhis were "For" a Sammelan of their own, does not

mean that they are "Against" the concept of a broader "Sindhi" movement.

     Many of us would be very interested in working on issues of common
interest to both communities. But that does not preclude a smaller
community from trying to get together within themselves. The best
example of such a concept is the United States. We are all good US
citizens, without having the need to abandon our ethnic identities. We
can be good Sindhis and good US citizens. We can be good Polish
Americans and good US citizens. In the same light, we can be good
"Hindu" Sindhis and good "Sindhis" and we can support both causes
without hurting each other.

 5. Timing is the key:
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     We have never denied entry to our Muslim brothers and sisters. We
are not Anti-Muslims. I am proud of our past where we lived happily
together with a Sufi minded approach on the part of both Hindus and
Muslims.
    BUT IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR US TO ABANDON OUR ETHNIC IDENTITIES
SIMPLY BECAUSE WE ARE NOT READY TO PARTICIPATE AT A GLOBAL LEVEL AT THIS

TIME. WE CAN ALWAYS GROW INTO IT.
     This is why I am very happy to see this healthy debate. It is very
possible that in a few years, once the immediate goal of uniting the
smaller community is accomplished, we will expand the goal to unite the
larger Sindhi community. Our next generation, which will carry the
torch, may well have a more expanded vision, and may well choose a
different path. And when that happens, we will all welcome it with open
arms. The fact that two thousand Sindhis get together and get to discuss

these issues and talk about their past, is already a minor
accomplishment. We should cherish it, encourage it, and welcome it. To
fight it, to confuse it with broader issues, may well help discourage
the movement, may help kill it. But, it will not help the broader cause
of sustaining the Sindhi Culture or the welfare of all the Sindhis.