Daily Times

The sight was of a few of us sitting outside the Renaissance Hotel in Elizabeth, New Jersey, until the small hours a couple of nights ago, conversing in the Sindhi, Urdu and Punjabi languages. It was in the learned company of the distinguished men of letters — Dr Manzoor Ijaz, Anwar Iqbal, Sardar Shah, Sarfraz Memon and others — discussing Shah Lateef, Baba Fareed, Bhagat Kabeer, Minto, and other great masters, enjoying the sublimity of Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi and Seraiki poetry and literature. It would have shocked anyone who had known SANA to be an organisation of Sindhis but never attended any of its events. No blame for so thinking, though, for rising above their prejudices has never been a forte of the people from our nook of the world.

The Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) however, having matured over the years, has been able to transcend all the parochial barriers of racism, religion, language, etc. Whoever can bring in a good idea to benefit Sindhis here as well as back home, or enrich Sindhi culture and language, is welcome to come and present their thoughts in whatever language he pleases.

At SANA conventions, it is not uncommon to see Dr Manzoor Ijaz speaking in Punjabi and Anwar Iqbal in Urdu, with an interspersing of Punjabi verses. At one convention, you see Syed Mazhar Jameel reading his paper in Urdu and at another, Nisar Khuhro of the Pakistan People’s Party promising the stars in Sindhi. Now honestly one feels almost compelled to remind Ahsan Iqbal of his promise that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would use its political influence to get Sindhi and other Pakistani languages their due status of national languages as soon as the dark night of dictatorship was over and they got into the assemblies. The promise was made during General Musharraf’s time at one of the SANA conventions. Well, Mr. Iqbal, you have been in the assembly for the last four years, kia hua tera vadaa, voh qasam voh iradaa? (what happened to your promise, that vow that intent?).

Nevertheless, let me come to a more surprising phenomenon: getting five Sindhis to agree on one point otherwise is nothing less than a miracle; getting more than 500 Sindhis to agree on a number of ideas for 28 years is something beyond a miracle. If SANA has been doing it for so long, the gods of good deeds must be happy and supporting its work.

Amazement does not end here though. Elections are held every two years without fail ever since its inception in 1984 to bring into office a democratically elected body and maintaining a transparent, tolerant, and, dare I use the word, secular attitude. The word has been so maligned by the so-called ‘ghairat’ (honour) brigade back home that one is scared to use it lest it may get the whole organisation declared kafir (infidel). The character of SANA is a deed worth writing in gold.

Now enough of the introduction — as though the organisation needs an introduction — let’s get to the meet. This was Dr Valeed Shaikh’s last convention as the president of the organisation. His four-year term finishing in December, he probably wanted to end with a bang, and indeed that he was able to achieve by holding such a hugely successful convention. Not only was he able to get such diverse personalities as Dr Qadir Magsi, Ghulam Shah and Ayaz Lateef Palijo to sit at the same table, he got the creme de la creme of the Sindhi literati to grace the convention. From the famous columnist and lawyer Shahab Usto to the accomplished poets Akash Ansari and Sardar Shah, acclaimed writers Noorul Huda Shah, Lakshman Bhatia, engineer Naseer Memon, entrepreneur Ali Siddiqui and academician and broadcaster Professor Saleem Memon, everyone was there.

On the serious business, the convention came up with a unanimous and unequivocal declaration by the diaspora-based Sindhi organisations headed by SANA as well as Sindh-based parties, condemning the unjustified demands against the territorial integrity of Sindh by a group of refugees. Glowing tributes were paid to the great daughter of Sindh, Ghazala Batul Siddiqui, who laid down her life when an army of sharpshooters, supported by the political group holding sway over the city at gunpoint, opened fire and killed 14 innocent and unarmed people in Karachi. A unanimous concern was expressed on the construction of a proposed city named Zulfikarabad and the government was urged to shelve the project once and for all, since Sindhis saw this as a conspiracy to turn the indigenous population into a minority. Joblessness and the discriminatory policies of the government and private sector against Sindhis were also strongly condemned.

The music sessions on the last night after the annual banquet, the grand finale, and one night before that were absolutely enthralling. With Kajal Chandiramani having been flown in from Mumbai especially for the occasion, the music session was bound to be a success, which indeed it was.

The food catered by a desi (subcontinental) restaurant and served at the banquet could not have been more delicious. If the choice of the food was good, the choice of the person to choose the food was even greater, for the community does not have a better connoisseur than Khalid Channa when it comes to choosing the food.

Anyone with a team of such assiduous volunteers as D Roshan Shaikh, Khalid Channa, Sameer Vistro, Farhan Soomro and Naveed Soomro can hold an event. However, to hold an event as successfully as SANA’s 28th annual convention requires leadership virtues, sincerity, patience, and above all, a will to succeed. Luckily, Valeed Shaikh has them all. He has raised the bar for the incumbent come January 2013.

After the final ritual — nobody sleeps the last night — from the room full of spirited souls pleading to extend the trip one more day, the ever hospitable and inimitable friend Nasar Arain, at 4:00 am for my early morning return flight, drove me directly to LaGuardia airport.

The writer is an independent political analyst based in the USA