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The Project and its Justification
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Thursday, Feb 18, 2010
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Sindh played a vital role in freedom movement during British rule but information about it is scattered and there is no single comprehensive document which records the glorious contribution made by Sindh. The main reason for this is that with Independence, came also the Partition and the province of Sindh was in its entirety merged with Pakistan without regard to the fact that certain regions of Sindh had larger Hindu population. But then the unfortunate situation was that the leaders of the Indian National Congress wished to avoid any protracted negotiations as they were in a hurry to get independence and power for themselves, despite protests from the Sindhi leaders; and the leaders of the Muslim League were naturally keen to have the largest areas merged with Pakistan. But apart from surrender of entire Sindh to Pakistan, the situation so arose that with Partition, Hindus in Sindh came under a terrible threat to their life, liberty and property.
Large numbers of Hindus from Sindh began to migrate to India with the help of local leaders of the Indian National Congress. The turmoil in Sindh increased with the influx of Muslim refugees from India and the danger to Sindhi Hindus grew day by day making it imperative for them to leave Sindh. Yet, they faced a dilemma as the leaders in India were against Hindus leaving Pakistan to settle in India and the direction to the local leaders of the Indian National Congress in Sindh were to discourage such exodus. But the local leaders, being witnesses to the terrible situation in Sindh, defied the orders from the Central command; and the waves of migration to India began with Sindhis leaving their properties and all their possessions in Pakistan. Faced with reluctance from Indian leadership and to ensure that India does not close its door to refugees from Sindh, the Sindhi leaders rushed to Mahatma Gandhi, who alone in India understood the plight of Sindhi evacuees; and Gandhiji uttered his famous line, “I am a Sindhi”, and under his influence, the gates of hospitality in India began to be opened, somewhat, for those Sindhi refugees from Pakistan.
In those conditions of turmoil, distress, danger, and uncertainty, naturally the emphasis of the penniless Sindhis migrating to India was to face immediate economic challenges and, somehow, to improve their living conditions. Over the years, these challenges have been met successfully.
The time has therefore come to set the record straight and to attempt to present a comprehensive account of the glowing contribution of Sindh in the freedom struggle and the role of heroic Sindhi freedom fighters.
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We owe it to our generation and the coming generations, to create an authentic and objective historical record which, among others, will include the following features :
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- History of relevant political parties-organization and activities
- Movements of political importance.
- Chronology of political events.
- Role of press and media: Imposition of ban / censure on press / literature.
- Impact of Divide and Rule policy on Sindhi Society
- Freedom Fighters and their contribution
- Role of Bombay Legislative Council, .Central Legislative Assembly and Sindh Legislative Assembly and other debates.
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The task will consist of the following assignments:
- Collection of source-material in India, Sindh and elsewhere, such as Articles, Memoirs, Auto/Biographies, testimony of wtnesses etc.
- Government publications, such as Year Books, Reports etc
- Proceedings of Assemblies/Councils.
- British records
- Newspaper and media reports
- Court Cases
- Information on websites
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Copyright © Global Sindhi Council of India Mumbai (2008). All Rights Reserved.
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All content on the AIS Freedom Fighters webpages, including the images and text files, is the property or licensed to the Global Sindhi Council of India Mumbai.
The content is protected by copyright and other restrictions.
Global Sindhi Council of India Mumbai does not permit the copying, downloading, or other use of any protected materials without express, written permission.
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