In the last hundred years or so, two
prominent personalities of Sindh ended their
halcyonic lives on the gallows 38 years
apart from each other. Both had dreams of
becoming king, in expression at least if not
in reality. The first was the scion of the
largest spiritual house in the subcontinent,
Syed Sibghatullah Shah II, Pir Pagaro, the
other, scion of a prominent feudal house,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
It would be a very interesting scholastic
task to compare the paths followed by these
two men to attain their common goal. The Pir
dreamt in terms of Sindh spurred on by the
power of a large militant following. Bhutto,
whose ferocious genius won the hearts of
people even beyond the borders of Sindh,
bestrode a wider domain. Both reached their
goals. However, they paid for this with
their lives shortly thereafter - the first
by a foreign conqueror, the other,
ironically, by his own people.
Some local and English authors have devoted
a few books or parts of some books to the
life and anti-British struggle of Pir
Sibghatullah II, reverently called
Surhiya Badshah (Brave King) by his
followers. Alas, only the Terrorist, H. T.
Lambrick's translation of the experiences of
a Hur Ghazi, Sainrakhio Bihan - involved in
the uprising of the Hurs (militant followers
of the house of Pir Pagaro) against the
British administration in Sindh for their
incarceration of the Pir - has gained a
sizable readership. The book is certainly
not complimentary of the Pir in any respect.
Other books written by his disciples and
some government officers (either retired and
with nothing better to do, or serving but
seemingly with lots of time to spare),
mostly revolve around the same few episodes
pertaining to the Pir and the Hur movement.
Given the position accorded to his House in
the scheme of Sindh's spiritual, cultural
and political history, his tale deserves a
much wider and detailed study, considering
he belongs to an ideology established six
generations even before his birth.
Such study, unfortunately, is not reflected
even in the latest book on this formidable
personality of Sindh, written by Mr Khadim
Hussain Soomro. Freedom at the Gallows -
Life and Times of Sayed Sibghatullah Shah
Pir Pagaro adds nothing new or revealing
to what already has been turned out by other
Ayub Khan style, 'designer histories'.
In terms of his family background, the scant
references to his lineage directly
descending from the Holy Prophet's (PBUH)
family and his immediate ancestors do not
give the whole story as to why it is so
revered and has such a large following.
Revered not only by a large portion of
Sindhis, but even among those of
northwestern India and as far as Mauritius.
A third of the book, roughly speaking,
comprises the author's own skimpy overview
of the Pir's family background and his early
life. The remaining two-thirds contains the
correspondence between the British officials
concerned with the Hur uprising, the arrest,
conviction and hanging of the Pir. The
documents are undoubtedly valuable as they
give an insight into the mind of the British
on how to tackle what they considered a
grave provincial nuisance at a time (1941)
when they were beset with a global war.
However, these also contain certain
inferences to criminal activities associated
with the Pir that require some explanation
as to what the Pir's own role in these
events was.
For instance, in one letter, the governor of
Sindh, Sir Hugh Dow, wrote to the viceroy,
that in the matter of the murder and
dismemberment of a woman the Pir had given
assurance that the said woman was alive and
he could produce her to substantiate his
assertion. There is no follow-up comment on
this incident, from the author, thus
allowing the inference to remain vague. An
author must never neglect to give proper
direction to unguided references such as the
official reports and correspondence in this
case.
The book also lacks material to substantiate
the claim that the Pir aspired to free Sindh
from the British for the sake of its people.
Most of the matter pertains to the Pir's
sermons to his Hurs about the day he would
be king or his support for the leadership of
the Congress Party in Sindh and, in turn,
their support for him. No mention is made of
his appeal to the people of Sindh in general
or of any agitation by the Sindhis, both
Muslims and Hindus, in support of the Pir
during his persecution by the British.
There is much more in government records on
Pir Pagaro than has been penned in Freedom
at the Gallows. The role of Colonel Freddie
Young (of Sultana Daku fame) in the
suppression of the Hur uprising and his
efforts to save the lives of the Pir's sons
are all a matter of record, which has been
left untapped. Missing too is the
eye-witness account of Mr Cargill, district
magistrate at the time of the Pir's
execution, bearing testimony to the man's
extreme courage in the face of death. The
Pir is said to have played chess with his
jailer throughout the night prior to his
execution and won every game.
Paucity of space prevents me from delving
into the profuse information that could be
imparted on the life and times of Surhiya
Badshah and his family. Suffice it to
say that for a better portrayal of the Hur
rebellions under two Pirs of Pagaro and
their significance for Sindh a more advanced
study is needed. Still, Mr Soomro's book is
by no means a write-off as the documentation
he has included would serve to add to the
existing information on Surhiya Badshah.
However, his enthusiasm to document and
contribute to the efforts of this great
Sindhi required him to add more meat, better
direction and indeed deeper research |
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