Hyder Bux Jatoi

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (October 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Hyder Bux Jatoi (Urdu: حيدر بخش جتوئی‎; Sindhi: حيدر بخش جتوئي‎), October 7, 1901 - May 21, 1970) was a revolutionary, leftist, peasant leader in Sindh, Pakistan.^[1] He is known as "Baba-e-Sindh" (Father of Sindh).^[2][3] He was also a Sindhi writer and poet. He was for many years the president of the Sindh Hari Committee (Sindh Peasants Committee), a constituent member of the National Awami Party.^[4]

Early life[]

It has been suggested that this section be checked to ensure a neutral point of view. Discussion can be found on the talk page. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Hyder Bux Jatoi was born on October 7, 1901 in Bakhodero village near Mohenjo-daro in Larkana District.^[5] As his mother, Sahib Khatoon died soon after his birth, he was brought up by his father and aunts. Soon after, on completing his primary school, the young lad joined the Sindh Madarsah School at Larkana, where he topped the list of successful examinees every year. He topped the Sindh vernacular final examination in 1918 among candidates from all over Sindh and then won his first position in Sindh at the matriculation examination from the Bombay University in 1923.^[6]

He studied at the D. J. Science College, Karachi, and remained a resident boarder in Metharam Hostel attached to the college. He graduated in 1927 with honours in literature and won distinction in Persian from the Bombay University. He served as editor of the college miscellany and won the annual award for writing a poem called "college kabootar" (the college pigeon). Throughout his student life at Larkana and Karachi, he was a scholarship holder.^[7]

Hyder Bux Jatoi resigned from the post as deputy collector^[8] in the British colonial government in 1945 to lead the Sindh peasants’ rights movement Hyder Bux Jatoi translation of the Quran in English.^[4] in 1947 during conference of farmers to demand that they receive a half share of the yield. The Hari Conference in started in Judho on 22 June 1947. Mai Bakhtawar was murdered.^[9]

He married his cousin Sammul at the age of 27. They had five sons, Mustafa, Mazhar Ali, Dadan, Hatim and Murtaza.^[7]

Sindh Hari Committee[]

The subhuman conditions of harees (farmers) and tillers of the land led him to resign from his job in 1945 and to join the Sindh Hari Party.^[7]

He began his career in social service and politics as a member of the Indian National Congress.^[7]

"We are now passing through the same stage in the history of our economic life through which the leading nations of Europe passed more than 400 years ago, this showed how backward we were, and have been kept where we are."^[7]

During his imprisonment, thousands of peasants participated in the protests for his release. He has written a book named: "Land Taxation in Sindh", where he rejected the one-unit formationThe political situation in Sindh – as well in Pakistan more broadly – took a different turn when all federating units were amalgamated into the infamous One Unit on the 15th of October 1955.The One Unit scheme was opposed widely, and a serious response came from Hyder Baksh Jatoi. Through his weekly Hari Haqdar, a protest call was announced to oppose One Unit by celebrating ‘Azad Sindh Day’. As a result, Sindh Hari Committee branches, taluka offices and district offices called their meetings, passed resolutions and demonstrated in all of Sindh. The Sindh Hari Committee called a grand meeting on the 11th of November 1954 at Hyderabad which was attended by writers and political workers. In the meeting, two resolutions were passed. One was a condemnation of the One Unit scheme. The second resolution expressed resentment about the conduct of Sindh Assembly members who agreed to the One Unit scheme. The resolution also reminded the members that none of them bothered to take voters into confidence Hyder Baksh Jatoi mobilized the masses against the One Unit scheme. Along with this, he continued to secure lands for Haris in Sindh. Soon after the imposition of the One Unit scheme, the officials started to sell land to non-Sindhis: people from other provinces. Hyder Baksh Jatoi took it seriously. He collected facts and along with thousands of Haris met with Mr. Iskander Mirza on the 22nd of February 1958 and appraised him on how injustices with Sindhi Haris were being done. He succeeded in convincing Mr. Sikander Mirza, and an instant order was issued to halt the scheme for one year. In the stay order it was also stated that after one year, preference will be given to Haris. On the other hand, he wrote a series of pamphlets against the One Unit scheme, tax collection, restoration of Sindhi language and inclusion of Karachi as an integral part of Sindh One of the important pamphlets penned by Jatoi was entitled “Democracy or Dictatorship in Pakistan” published in parts by Sind Hari Committee in 1955. In the pamphlet Mr. Ghulam Mohammed, the then Governor-General of Pakistan’s act of dissolving the Legislative Assemblies and formulating One Unit on 24th October 1954 was criticized. The message of the pamphlet was to raise awareness of the people on how the One Unit scheme was against the people of Sindh in particular and Pakistan in general. He categorically pinpointed how democratic forces were being pushed behind and how dictatorial thinking was taking over the country. Jatoi noted that such move was against the federation and it opposed the spirit of the Pakistan Resolution of 1940.Hyder Baksh Jatoi in another pamphlet entitled “Unjust Land Assessment Rates in Sindh Districts” prepared a convincing case based on government-generated data as to how Sindh was paying more in comparison to Punjab’s districts. He proved that land tax rates in Sindh were repressively high in comparison with the districts of Punjab. He warned that Sindh may opt for the slogan “No payment of the Unjust Assessment.” In the same period, he wrote another pamphlet, “Lands in Sindh: Who Should Own Them?”, which advanced the Sindh Hari Committee’s argument that lands of Sindh should be given to the Haris of Sindh, and Zamindari system should be immediately abolished. He also pinpointed how the Haris were being ejected from their lands and how government officials were supporting the landlords. He also rejected the move of the central government to settle people from other provinces in Sindh. Another pamphlet in this series was “Disposal of Evacuee Property”, which focused on how after the 1947 Partition, land was given to the migrants illegally. Hyder Baksh Jatoi, being the author, stated that theoretically evacuee property was collective property: it belonged to the nation and not only to the migrants. In the same pamphlet, he demanded an end to the ejection of Haris who were settled on the allotted lands. He rejected the high land taxation in the southern zone i.e. Sindh, and proved that water taxes and other levies imposed after One Unit were higher in comparison to Punjab. The pamphlet helped the legislatures to formulate an argument regarding the higher taxation. As a result, a delegation of 27 members of the West Pakistan Assembly from Sindh met with the Governor-General of West Pakistan on the 7th of June 1966 for review and relief on the land taxation.In total, Jatoi authored 26 booklets, books and pamphlets on a range of subjects Hyder Baksh Jatoi wrote another pamphlet, entitled, “Disposal of Gudu Barrage State Lands” which showed that Haris or landless peasants were the most deserving people, and all of them needed state lands for cultivation. He recalled that Mr. Abdul Sattar Pirzada, the then Chief Minister of Sindh, had announced to distribute 600,000 acres of land to landless peasants. However, after the imposition of the One Unit scheme, the promise was denied, and peasants were refused. Another most pertinent pamphlet of Hyder Baksh Jatoi regarding “Haris’ Petition of Rights” was written in response to the decision of Din Mohammed, the then Governor of Sindh, to hear the Hari leaders. It was a document of suggestions on how a change in certain clauses of the Sindh Tenancy Act could provide a better environment for the Haris.On the language front, he wrote “Shall Sindhi Language Stay in Karachi or Not?”. It showed how Sindhi language and Sindhis were being thrown out from Karachi. The central theme of the pamphlet was about the decision of Karachi University that Sindhi language would not be the medium of answering in the examinations. Another pamphlet authored by Hyder Baksh Jatoi was “Stop Ejecting the Population from Makhi Lake Area”. He pinpointed that people of Makhi Lake — followers of Pir Pagaro who fought against the Sikh empire as well as the British army in pre-Partition days – had been displaced from their lands, and 500,000 acres of land were being distributed to non-locals. He appealed to the concerned authorities that the Hurs should not be ejected, and they must be considered the true owners of Makhi lands. Hyder Baksh Jatoi wrote, “Democracy and Justice of the Chief Justice” at the crucial time of the history of Pakistan, while a decision on Moulvi Tamizuddin Khan’s petition came out in support of Governor-General. Jatoi noted with great regret that Mr. Mohammed Munir, Chief Justice of Pakistan, had dismantled the foundation of democracy in Pakistan, and the country’s highest judicial forum In total, Jatoi authored 26 booklets, books and pamphlets on a range of subjects that included restoration of democracy in Pakistan, civil rights of the people of Pakistan, status and future of Sindhi language of Pakistan, dismantling of the One Unit scheme and restoration of the provinces, manipulation and rigging in elections, jail reforms and the socio-political and economic plight of the Haris of Sindh He paid the cost for his dreams. In his political career, which started in 1945, he had to suffer a great deal. He was arrested, detained and deported at various times. He was jailed eight times, with the duration ranging from five months to three years. In total, he was behind bars for seven-and-a-half years. He remained imprisoned at Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Karachi, Mach, Campbellpur (Attock) and Lahore. Apart from the charges of being an infidel from mullahs, another charge was from the radical left: who used to comment that Comrade Jatoi’s language and cultural expression were inclined to nationalistic chauvinism. Hyder Baksh Jatoi was of the firm view that the Haris and labourers were custodians of Sindhi language, rather than few zamindars and powerful groups. He argued that how one could be chauvinist if one protects and promotes the language and culture of the people, and if this is objectionable then he might be the first chauvinist as he uttered the ‘Jeay Sindh’ slogan. He used to say, “Our friends forget that every revolutionary segment’s struggle for the national and social liberty in their homeland, ultimately contributed to the world socialist movement Valuing his fearless stand on the Sindh cause, he was bestowed with the honour of the title ‘Baba-e-Sindh’ in Nawabshah, and the same was repeated in Hyderabad and other towns of Sindh. In January 1969 when he was released by the Supreme Court, he took it as an opportunity and addressed gatherings and led processions against the One Unit scheme. In the last stage of his life, he was of the view that there was a need for coordination among the active sections of the society. Thus, he formed the Hari-Mazdoor-Shagrid-Coordination Committee (Hari-Laborer-Student Coordination Committee) and he was made the chairman of the committee. His health deteriorated because from continuous imprisonment, aging and little self-care. He suffered a paralysis attack in September 1969. He was a man of determination and a staunch believer in peoples’ struggle. He considered the One Unit to be unnatural and was of the view that it could not be sustained for long. But the time-frame for its demise, he argued, relied on the popular struggle and material conditions. He prophesied correctly that General Yahya Khan, then President, would abolish the One Unit scheme and restore provinces. The announcement was made on the 28th of March, 1970 The major contributions of Hyder Bakhsh Jatoi were the spread of the ‘Hari Inquilab’ in far flung areas of Sindh and creating a cadre who upheld the ideas of peasant rights. He was a socialist as well as a Sindhi nationalist par excellence. He never disowned his ideas either in writings or verbally. The motto of Hyder Bakhsh Jatoi was “daring, discipline, vigilance and hard work”. A poem titled “Shikwa” (The Complaint) similar indeed in manner to Iqbal’s eponymous poem. But since Iqbal was fighting a difficult opposition, so he had to write “Jawab-e-Shikwa” (An Answer to the Complaint). Sindhis are a comparatively tolerant lot, so they were not angry and even if they were, they stifled it. Since this was the poetry of their favourite Hyder Bux Jatoi.

This poem, too was translated by Jatoi himself:

“The infidels are rejoicing, show sense of honour

The seekers are suffering pains, show some love

The devotees are dying of thirst, show some mercy

Show some differentiation in The friendship and the enmity”. ^[10]

His poetry "Jeay Sindh aen jeay Sindh, Jam-e-Muhabat pieay Sindh"^[11] was sung by Sindhi folk singer Zarina Baloch.^[12]

Death[]

He died on the 21st May 1970 at Hyder Manzil, Hyder chowk, Hyderabad. He had written his epitaph before his death, which was read at his funeral:^[7]

"O death you have cooled every vein and vessel of mine, Be happy O friend without you rest in life is not possible."

His wife Mumtaz Hyder died five months later and was buried beside him.^[7]

See also[]

• Mai Bakhtawar

References[]