It is difficult to discuss the movement for the recognition of Sindhi without considering the movement for the choice of a script for Sindhi in India because the two movements are intricately woven together : the second movement providing the genesis for the first and the first leading to a strengthening of the second. While the movement for recognition culminated in the inclusion of Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution in 1967, it provided a greater impetus for the earlier and on-going movement for the choice of a script for Sindhi in India.

Historical Background

After the British conquest of Sind in 1843, Sindhi was recognized by the British as the official language of administration and education in Sindh. Under this official patronage, the Sindhi language developed at a considerable pace resulting, among other things, in the growth of Sindhi literature which has now entered the mainstream of Indian literature. In the period between 1843 and 1947 there emerged in Sind an educated elite who participated in the task of initiating and sustaining an educational system which in turn fed the cadres of the various professions throughout the region. With Sindhi as the medium of instruction at the school level, this period also saw a large scale publication in Sindhi of text-books in various subjects. With the introduction of higher education the Sindhi language and literature were included in the curricula at the college level. Until 1947, the formal

educational system in Sind (which was a part of the Bombay Presidency upto 1936) was under the jurisdiction of the Bombay University. A large number of educationists and literateurs in the pre-1947 Sind belonged to the Sindhi Hindu community.

With the recognition of Sindhi as the official language in Sind, the British rulers were rules were faced with the problem of recognizing one of the two major prevalent scripts-Persio-Arabic and Nagari-for writing Sindhi. After prolonged deliberation, in 1853 the British rulers recognized the Persio-Arabic script as the official script for Sindhi. As a result of this official recognition, the bulk of publication in Sind between 1953 and 1947 was in the Persio-Arabic script.

Partition

As is well known, when the Indain sub-continent was partitioned in 1947, the entire province of Sind went to the newly created State of Pakistan. In the wake of the Partition the Sindhi Hindus (estimated population 1.4 million) migrated to India and in the absence of a Sindhi speaking region in India, settled in various parts of the Indian Union. The migration of the Sindhi population from Sind which started at the end of October 1947 followed three major routes ; one by sea into Kathiawar, Gujarat and Bombay, second by rail and road into the neighboring Rajasthan, and the third by rail into northern India. A majority of the migrant population initially settled in the several refugee camps established for this purpose by the Government of India in Bombay, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Central India. For some time after 1947 a large section of this population led a nomadic life shifting from one camp-site to another in search of fruitful occupation. Belonging largely to the professional and business classes, most migrants tended to cluster in urban and suburban areas in and around the refugee camps. In fact about two percent of the migrants population with an agricultural background, who were settled in rural areas, eventually gravitated towards the urban centers and set-up small business.

On the other hand, the more affluent of the business class settled in Bombay and Poona, while the bulk of the educationists and littertuers made Bombay their second home, with several of them re-entering the teaching profession in the various educational institutions. As a result of this settlement pattern, Bombay and the surrounding settlements, in some time, became a major center of literary activity in Sindhi.

Change of Script

Long before the movement for the recognition of Sindhi was launched, the question of the change of script for the Tamil language

in India was mooted by a literary organization called Sindhi Sahitya Sabha. In December 1948 the Sindhi Sahitya Sabha reportedly convened "a representative All India Sindhi Sahitya Sammelan" in Bombay which was presided over by the then Principal of Hindu College, Delhi, Shri N. T. Thadani and inaugurated by the Late Sadhu Vaswani. It was resolved at this Sammelan that the Persio-Arabic script in which Sindhi was written should be replaced by the Devanagari script.

The resolution of this Sammelan was sent to the Ministry of Education which later received an endorsement of this resolution by the All India Sindhi Displaced Persons' Convention held in Bombay in August, 1949. Shortly before this, in July 1949, several educationists and teachers wrote to the Ministry of Education opposing the proposal consultation and correspondence with several Government and private agencies, the Ministry of Education issued an order on 9th March 1950 accepting the proposal for change to the Davanagari script.

As a consequence to the Government's order announcing the change of script several Sindhi teachers and educationists protested against the change and moved the courts challenging the Government order. Subsequently, on 14th March, 1951 the Government issued further notification in modification of the 9th March, 1950 order allowing the use of both the Persio-Arabic as well as the Devanagari scripts for Sindhi.

It would be fruitful at this point to consider the movement for the recognition of Sindhi before returning to the problem of the script.

The Question of Recognition

It is different to ascertain the reasons why the Constituent Assembly (and its Drafting Committee) failed to include Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is equally difficult to understand why not one of the three Sindhi members of the Constituents Assembly-Jairamdas Daulatram, Professor naraindas Malkani and Acharya Kriplani-chose not to plead for the inclusion of Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule. Nor is there any evidence in the available records that the Sandhi community as a whole or any literary cum cultural organization raised its voice against this grave omission. It may be surmised that the makers of the Constitution included in the Eighth Schedule only those major literary languages that were spoken in the States of the Indian Union ; the Sindhi community, too full of the

case of rehabilitation and being to scattered, did not realize until it was too late the fact that their language had not been recognized by the Constitution.

In retrospect, however, it does appear strange that the Sindhi Sahitya Sabha which showed remarkable alacrity in convening conference in support of the Devanagari script, as early as December 1948, should have totally ignored the question of recognition. In fact, it would seem that the Sindhi Sahitya Sabha performed the only function of resolving to change the script, for there is no further evidence of its existence or viability available in the records.

The first steps taken in the direction of a demand for the recognition and inclusion of Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule were by a number of young Sindhi writers in 1949 through their writings in 'Sansar Samachar', a Sindhi newspaper published from Bombay under the editorship of Shri Thakurdas Agnani. An appeal for the recognition of Sindhi signed by several writers was sent to the then President of India. At about the same time (exact date unknown) a literary organization -Sindhi Sahitya Mandal -was established in Bombay by well-known writers and educationists, the prominent among them being Kirat Babni, Gobind Malhi, A.J.Uttam and Professor Mangharam Malkani. It is significant to note here that these very writers together with several Sindhi teachers and Headmasters of Sindhi schools had earlier rejected the demand of the Sindhi Sahitya Sabha for the change of script to Devanagari. Again, it is this group that later emerged as the protagonists of the Persio-Arabic script.

The Sindhi Sahitya Mandal kept the demand for recognition of Sindhi alive through the writings of its members and through the annual conferences convened by the Madal for the propogation of their ideas. The Sindhi Sahitya Mandal was later converted into an All India organization under the name of "Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha", which continued to work towards the recognition of Sindhi.

The organizers of this Sabha identified literary and cultural Sindhi organizations all over the country and appealed to them all to support the movement for the recognistion of Sindhi. The more notable among those regional organizations who supported the Sabha were: Sindhu Samaj, Delhi ; Sindhu Sewa Sang, Ajmer and Sindhu Sewa Sangh, Indore.

It appears from the records of this organizations that for a time the two warring groups in the question of the choice of a script had

sunk their differences and were willing to participate together in the movement for the recognition of Sindhi. This would seem to be evident from the fact that Jairamdas Daulatram, who later emerged as the chief protagonists for the Devanagari script, was elected President of the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha in 1958.

Earlier, in 1957 at the Conference of the Sabha held in Delhi, Dr.Radhdkrishnan who inaugurated the Conference, was urged to help the community through his good offices to get the language officially recognized. In addition to mobilizing support for its major demand, the Sabha also represented to the Kher Commission and the Commissioner of Linguistic Minorities.

It seems fair to conclude from the records of the Sabha that by the mid-fifties the demand for recognition of Sindhi had received considerable public notice. The Sabha had attempted to bring to the notice of the Government various instances of discrimination and injustice meted out to the community on account of their language not being included in the Eighth Schedule. The ten Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned the statue of the Sindhi language in the Parliament on several occasions and assured the community that the non-inclusion in the Eighth Schedule would not stand in the way of the development of the Sindhi language. In fact, under the Presidentship of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Sahitya Akademy at its meeting held on 14 March, 1057 accorded recognition to the Sindhi language and the first Sahitya Akademy Award for Sindhi was given to Tirath Basant in 1959. At about the same time several station of All India Radio started broadcasting in Sindhi.

In addition to his assurances given to the Sindhi community in the Parliament, Pandit Nehru in his letters to leading Sindhi writers and leaders reiterate his support for the Sindhi language although Pandit Nehru was reluctant to amend theConstitution in the fear that such an amendment may "open the door to infinite controversy and conflict". However, despite these assurances, individual members of the community continued to feel discriminated against by Government and educational authorities throughout India.

On 15th October 1962 the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha sent a memorandum under the signatures of its then President shri L.H.Ajwani to Prime Minsiter Nehru. Sometime later on 6 March 1963, the Sindhi Samaj, delhi, under te Presidendhip of Tirath Basant sent a similer memorandum asking for the recognition of Sindhi to all members of Parliament. The movement had by this time gathered a considerable momentum. Numerous literary and cultural

oganizations allover India were actively working to mobilize opinion within the community and to seek support of prominent non-Sindhis. Several political parties included the recognition of Sindhi in their election manifestoes in 1962.

The early sixties brought for the Sindhi community alternately feeling of hope and despair. While the public opinion was mounting in favour of the demand of the demand for inclusion of Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule, the Government was silent. It must be pointed out here that at no time did the leaders of the community advocate an agitational proach for its redress. There was relentless and redoubled effort made by the community through constitutional methods to have their demand fulfilled.

During the tenure of Shri Lal Bahudur Shastri as Prime Ministers of India, the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha appealed to the Government against the exclusion of Sindhi from the list of languages approved by the UPSC for competitive examinations.

After Shrimati Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India, several leading Sindhi writers and educationists including Professor Ram Parajwani, Bhojraj Nagrani and Gobind Malhi met her in Bombay and pleaded their case with her. Shrimati Indira Gandhi assured these representatives of the community that the response of the Prime Minister the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha, sent a memorandum to Shrimati Gandhi in July 1966 renewing their demand for the inclusion of Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule.

In November 1966 Shri Trivedi, a member of the Rajya Sabha, presented a Bill in the Rajya Sabha in the English Schedule. The then President of the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha, Professor B. H. Nagrani and Kirat Babani went to Delhi from Bombay to mobilize support for the Bill. When leaving for Delhi, they promised not to return to Bombay until the Bill was passed. After hectic consultation Shri Trivedi withdrew his Bill on the Government's assurance that na official Bill would soon be introduced in the Parliament. In the mean, several hundred telegrams were received by the Government from various Sindhi organizations supporting the demand for recognition.

The official Bill seeking to include Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule was presented in the Rajya Sabha on 9 December, 1996, where it was passed. However, in view of the ensuing elections in February 1967, the Bill was not sent to the Lok Sabha. After the elections the Bill

was presented again in the Rajya Sabha on 4 April 1967 where it was passed unanimously. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 7 April 1967 at 4.00 P.M. And President of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan signed the Bill on 10 April 1967 the day of 'Cheti-Chandu' a day of religious and cultural significance for the Sindhi community. Thus ended a movement for the recognition of Sindhi nearly twenty years after the community was compelled to give up their homeland and make India their new home.

The Script Conflict

One would have imagined that with the recognition of Sindhi the community could look forward to a period of development of the Sindhi language and culture nowfully assured by the Constitution. But this was not to be, for the two warring groups supporting the two scripts now became extremely polarized, each seeking to reap the benefits of the new status accorded to the language. The differences which had been forgotten for a while became crystalised and the community was torn apart by the leadership of the two groups. The allocation of a Governmental development grant of one crore rupees for Sindhi became a bone of contention between the two groups and the controversy of 1950-51 was resurrected.

In Delhi in November 1970 under the leadership of jairamdas Daulatram a new organzation-Sarva Bharat Sindhi Boli Sahitya Kala Vikas Sabha-came into being, which granted together the supporters of the Devanagari sript under its banner. This was the beginning of the period of bitter confrontation and polemic between the new organization and the older Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit Sabha. The past six years have seen pricipled and personal attacks by the protagonists of one group against those of the other.

While the supporters of Devanagari adduce historical, cultural and linguistic reasons in their support and assign motives of vested interest to the supporters of the Persio-Arabic script ; the Persio-Arabic protagonists paint the supporters of Devanagari as communalists. In the meantime, the majority of the community has become thoroughly disillusioned by the politicization of this problem and it is symptomatic of this attitude that in a sample survey conducted to ascertain the opinion of Sindhi speakers on the choice of script, about one third of the sample population had no opinion to offer.

The two opposing groups have argued that the Government grant earmarked for Sindhi should be allocated to their respective scripts. The Government, on the other hand, has taken the view

that the question of choice of a script should be resolved by the community and in view of the conflicting demands, both the scripts should be employed at present and that the Government would support publication in both the scripts. It is obvious that such a policy can only lead to duplication and waste of public funds.

In March 1973 the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and Sahit sabha together wit 94 other literary and cultural organizations from allover India submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minsiter, Shrimati Indira Gandhi claiming that the Persio-Arabic script is the only rightful script for Sindhi which should be so recognized by the Government and the orders of 1950 and 1951 should be withdrawn, thereby reinstating the Persio-Arabic script. The Sarva Bharat Sindhi Boli Sahitya Kala Vikas Sabha, on the other hand, continues to plead the cause of Devanagari and has appealed to the Government to stand by its order of March 1950. The battle for the choice of a script, them, is still on. The issues have been greatly muddled by polemic on both sides. There seems to be no resolution in view at present.

Conclusion

The foregoing discussion has been an attempt at providing a historical account of the two movements related to the Sindhi language in India. It is clear that immediately after the Partition the Sindhi migrants in India were so totally overwhelmed by their economic problems that they were unable to think of questions such as the recognition of their language. Completely preoccupied with the business of finding gainful employment the adult Sindhi population in India found little energy to stand for their cultural and linguistic rights. It is, in fact, generally recognized that in the first flash after migration, most Sindhis in India seemed to be reconciled to their fate as a Stateless people who could be only thankful for having found shelter in India. This would largely explain the passive attitude of responsible Sindhi leadership with regard to the exclusion of Sindhi from the Eighth Schedule in the early years after Partition. It may be hypothesized that it was only after the reorganization of Indian States on a linguistics basis that the Sindhi leadership and intelligentia became aware of the consequences of the non-recognition of Sindhi. The community as a whole has been aware that most of its problems have stemmed from the fact that there is no Sindhi speaking State in India.

I believe, it goes to the credit of the credit of the community that in the face of hardships and in spite of being Stateless, Sindhis in India have not only worked for their own economic betterment, but that they have

contributed to the economic and cultural well-being of the nation. The fact that at no time during the movement for recognition of Sindhi did the community resort to extra-constitutional or agitational means speaks volumes for the sagacity of the Sindhi leadership in the country.

It may, however, be pointed out that the main burden of the movement for the recognition of Sindhi was carried by the Sindhi intelligentia comprising the literateurs and educationists and some of the more politically vocal members of the community. The business section of the community identified itself only marginally with the movement. A recent sociolinguistic survey of Indian Sindhi (Daswani and Parchani 1978) seems to point to a rather negative attitude of the Sindhi speakers towards their language. The study has shown that the third generation Indain Sindhis do not generally identify themselves with the language. This attitude is largely the outcome of the relation on the part of the Indian Sindhis that their language performs a limited role of intra-group communication, and it, in no way, contributes to their economic survival. One may then wonder what the community as a whole has achieved through the recognition of Sindhi in India. Apart from imparting, to the community as a whole, a sense of a constitutional cultural identity, it may not have achieved much. In the absence of a Sindhi speaking region in India, the Sindhi language will continue to be a minority language which performs a limited function.

It would not no wrong to conclude that the movement for the recognition of Sindhi in India was motivated by the just apprehensions of the community that they would suffer discrimination in the absence of such a recognition. The demand of the community was demand for sustainance of the Sindhi culture and language, and equality for the members of the community as Indians.

[Acknowledgement : I am indebted to Popati Hiranandani for having made available to me some of the records of the Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli and and Sahit Sabha. I am also grateful to Kirat Babni and Murli Bhawani through whose good ofies I was able to get the various records from Miss Hiranandani. I am also grateful to Jairamdas Daulatram who hadmade available, some time ago, several documents of the Sarva Bharat Sindhi Boli Sahitya Kala Vikas Sabha.]