Sindhi families that originate from the Indo-Pak region have their own history, much like nations do. One example is the Kazi Family of Hyderabad, who could be said to be the pioneers of journalism in Sindh.
Kazi Muhammad Akbar and his brother Kazi Abdul MajeedAbid launched a Sindhi newspaper in a bold journalistic style, and senior journalists of Sindh will agree that the world of current Sindhi journalism is functional due to Kazi brother’s efforts.
Their paper employed and trained many young journalists. Kazi Muhammad Akbar was also a renowned politician of Sindh, and contested electionsin 1946 and won successfully with a Muslim League ticket.
Now, Ali Kazi, the son of Kazi Muhammad Akbar, is making his presence felt. A few months ago, he left Sindh’s largest circulated newspaper, where he was performing his duties as the news editor – a job he was fairly good at. I have worked with him as a subeditor and translator. During that time, I often found him worried about the worsening conditions in Sindh, where families were living under the societal and political pressure of sardars and waderas.
Kazi’s face will be familiar to many from his televisions appearances. His TV channel also awakened the people of the province and taught them to raise the most important question: why are we living in horrible conditions?
He did a great job in bringing political awareness in Sindh, which has led to the creation of the Sindh Tabdeeli Pasand Party. He is contesting election at PS 63 Hyderabad rural and his opponent is Sharjeel Inam Memon of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP).
Ali Kazi’s political journey began on January 22, 2012, in Bhit Shah, where he addressed a large public gathering near Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s shrine. His critics said he had no chance of winning and that it was impossible for him to attract voters; however, he didn’t give up, and slowly his work has gained momentum
With reference to social media reports, voters of PS 63 are feeling a ray of hope because of Kazi. I was surprised to watch a girl, who was around 10 or 12 years of age, asking people to cast their vote in the favour of Ali Kazi. She seemed angry with the role of feudal lords in the constituency who used the vote bank of PS 63 for their own interests. The young girl urged people not to give their votes to the same old faces.
Though it will be difficult for Kazi to defeat the PPPP candidate, but in the light of his family traditions, one can say that Kazi could defeat a powerful candidate the same way his father gained political success by defeating very powerful candidates of his constituency, including the great Sindhi leader Sain G. M. Syed.
This is a beginning of political change in Sindh. Now, I think the ruling class in Sindh will try to understand that people can create other political options if the status quo parties fail to perform
The 21st century is the century of revolution, and in my opinion, it will be a great revolution in Sindh if Kazi defeats a major candidate from PPPP in Sindh. Then people will believe that substitute of political powers in Sindh is possible.
His political journey began on January 22, 2012, in Bhit Shah, where he addressed a large public gathering near Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s shrine. His critics said he had no change of winning and that it was impossible for him to attract people; however, he didn’t give up.
He continued meetings with people from the lower working class, students, and people of different walks of life from all over the Sindh who assured him of their blind faith support. Various candidates of his party are contesting in general election 2018 from different constituencies.
This is a beginning of political change in Sindh where it was impossible for any political party to challenge existing political powers. Now, I think the ruling class in Sindh will try to understand that people can create other political options if they do not perform.
So, we can say that the days of good luck in Sindh are near because now the government of Sindh will no longer ignore the masses and their demands and needs. To me,Kazi’s party is a ray of hope for poor people of Sindh, and a true mirror for politicians here.
The success of this party,even on one seat in the assembly,will prove that the democracy is the best revenge.
The writer is a political analyst based in Hyderabad. He can be reached at [email protected], Tweets: @Qalandarlover
Published in Daily Times, July 21st 2018.