18th Cherry Hills, NJ 2002

GUEST SPEAKER’S SESSION (10 AM to 1 PM)
The day started with guest speaker’s session moderated by Mr. Mohammad Ali Mahar.

The first speaker of the day was Dr. Louis Flam, an American professor of Anthropology and a past director of Archaeological and Anthropological Research Center at the Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro in Sindh. He has a collection of 22,000 photographs of Sindhi archaeological and anthropological items. More about his research on Sindh’s ancient cultures will be in a separate posting. He shared several slides about his work in Sindh, particularly from his excavation project at Ghazi Shah in Dadu district. He talked about the nomadic lifestyles of Sindhi tribes in Khirthar Mountains and how the shortage of water in River Indus was playing havoc with the lives of rural Sindhis. He expressed his disappointment at the lack of interest in preservation of Sindh’s heritage. He added that Pakistan itself has no respect for local cultures.

Mr. Inam Shaikh, an award winning Sindhi journalist from Sindh, gave a detailed account of how Sindh has been continually loosing its due share of Indus River. Waters. He said in 1750’s, Punjab had only 750,000 acres of cultivated land and Sindh had about one million acres. In 1850’s both Punjab and Sindh each had approximately the same amount of cultivable land. Today Punjab cultivable land amounts to almost three times that of Sindh (90 million acres in Punjab versus 34 million acres in Sindh). Tracing the history of Thal Canal, he argued that this proposal has been rejected by all previous commissions in pre-partition days as being injurious to the interests of Sindh. It is ironic that Sindh voted for Pakistan because of its belief that “sovereignty” and “autonomy” the two fundamental principles of the Pakistan concept offered a better alternative to safeguard its resources. He added that Thal canal was being build to benefit a very few influential military generals, political leaders, and local landlords. It will help to irrigate between 2 to 2.4 million acres at a cost of 500 million rupees. Sindh will suffer a decline of about 4 million acres in agriculture production because of this project.

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the current Finance Minister of Sindh was the next speaker. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University and has held several senior level positions with the World Bank. He said he looked forward to an open and serious discussion so that he can return to Sindh with better ideas and new inspiration. He said “let me start with question: what is that we (Sindh) don’t have?” He quickly added that when it comes to “resources”, we have a lot. We have coastal areas for tourism and marine industries. We have oil (Badin and Dadu), we have gas (Sindhri), and we have 7th largest coal deposits in the world. We grow rice, cotton and wheat, we have great Metropolis of Karachi, and above all we have very hard working people. Then the question arises as to why we are suffering? Every 28 minutes, a Sindhi woman dies during childbirth and more than 60% of Sindh’s population lives on less than $ 1 a day. He asked, “What is going on?” He quickly added, one reason is that Sindh is being looted. The other is that the growth rate from 1970 to 1990 had averaged about 6% versus an average of 3 % growth rate that Pakistan has been able achieve since 1990. Throughout this decade Sindh has been mismanaged with corruption and looting without any controls. He mentioned that the daily “meal” bill of last Chief Minister’s office was about one Lac of rupees. Each provincial minister had 20-25 cars and jeeps. When he took the office there were outstanding bills of 2 araab rupees from 1992. Of which 11 araab were for the state expenses. There were 1000 development schemes on paper and not one was complete. If the school buildings were complete, there was no electricity. The records showed that 140 tube wells were installed but when he asked for operational reports on those tube wells, he was informed that only 2 were in working order. The whole campus of Khairpur consisting of several buildings disintegrated before even being occupied. He asked “WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS LOOTING? And HOW TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING THESE LOOTINGS IN FUTURE?”.

He urged the audience to look for tangible results and the positive changes that the present government has already brought. He said that they have salvaged and completed 600 previous schemes. The education up to matriculation will be free in the province of Sindh. They have increased primary education budget by 100 %. A stipend of Rs 100 will be paid to each girl who attends a school. He recently organized a trip of officials of World Bank and Asian Development Bank to the delta area of River Indus. For the first time, World Bank will give a loan of 18 araab rupees directly to the province of Sindh, without any interest. This loan will be spent on Sindh’s agriculture and health sectors. From this loan, we will return 2 araab rupees in high-interest loans. One araab will be spent to create an endowment fund that will provide scholarships to any Sindhi who gets admission to Pakistan’s 8 top universities. In conclusion, he told the audience that they hold privileged status by virtue of having higher education and secure financial status. The onus is on you to pursue three questions: How to make the government to work for larger population and not just for those who are close to it? How to use the available resources that Sindh already has for the greater good of all Sindhis instead of these being looted for personal good of few people? How to guide Sindhi people to ask “right” questions that draw attention of key decision makers to the plight of Sindhis instead of alienating them?.

Mr. A. N. G. Abbasi (former Irrigation Minister of Sindh” made an eloquent presentation titled “RESTORATION OF SINDH’S PRIMARY RIGHTS OVER RIVER INDUS”. His presentation was supported by a set of slides that covered historical perspectives, current issues and possible solutions for restoring Sindh’s primary water rights. The first barrage on the 1900-mile long River Indus was constructed at Sukkur in 1932. At present time, there are 19 barrages and 43 canal systems on the Indus River System. Out of these six barrages on Indus main. At the time of partition in 1947, about 60 MAF of water from Indus was utilized and about 80 MAF water used to flow into sea. Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, the World Bank financed the Indus Basin Works consisting of dams, barrages and link canals to overcome the effects of allocation of Eastern rivers to India. The three storage reservoirs namely Mangla, Tarbella and Chashma were constructed with a total capacity of 15 MAF. In addition 12 link canals were constructed to transfer water from western rivers to eastern rivers. The flows of the three western rivers of Indus River System allocated to Pakistan are highly erratic. It shows a maximum flow of 187 MAF in 1959-60 to a minimum of 97 MAF in 1974-75 with an average flow of about 139 MAF. The average flow of River main is approximately 90 MAF. According to the 1991 Indus Water Accord, 117.35 MAF of water was allocated as follows: Punjab –55.94 MAF, Sindh – 48.76 MAF, North West Frontier Province – 8.78 MAF, and Balochistan – 3,87 MAF. The accord contained provisions for sharing the shortages and surplus and how much will flow into sea. According to a study carried out by the Water Management and Distribution Committee has revealed that water is not being distributed according to the provisions of 1991 Accord and the regions located in the lower riparian are suffering. Water is being stored during shortage periods when it is needed in Sindh for early Kharif sowing of crops. The same study states that no water is available for construction of any additional reservoirs or irrigation schemes. Due to continuos increase in water withdrawals, the outflow to sea has reduced considerably that has resulted in the erosion of 1.2 million acres. The quantity of 10 MAF provisionally earmarked for outflow to sea under 1991 Accord has been made available only 33 % of the time. The IUCN considers 10 MAF to be inadequate as outflow to sea and recommends 27 MAF. There is no water in River Indus for Thal canal and its construction would only mean still lesser water for Sindh. The canal will bring economic difficulties to the people of Sindh and will in all likelihood lead to serious political unrest in Sindh.

SINDHI YOUTH SESSION (10 AM to 1 PM and from 3 PM to 5 PM)
The introduction of Sindhi Youth session was another great addition to the SANA convention programming this year. Mr. Zafar Agha moderated this session. His own presentation was on the topic of “My Home Town in Sindh”. It consisted of an interactive discussion about Sindh’s cities and towns by talking to youth about their ancestral hometown. The next presentation was titled “History of Sindh” by Dr. Gul Agha and Nadeem Jamali. As Gul Agha could not attend the convention due to personal reasons, Nadeem made the presentation. The pre-historic period was covered through information Moenjodaro, Rohri Flint Quarries, and other like sites. This was followed about information on the Hindu and Buddhist dynasties that ruled Sindh. The Arab invasion, Mughal and Pathan onslaughts and English conquest were reviewed. The presenters shared evolution of cultural traditions including music, literature and Sindhi spirit for religious tolerance. In addition to the pictorial visit to shrines of holy saints, beautiful pictures of Sindh’s landscape and lifestyle captivated the audience throughout the session. The last segment of the presentation talked about some of the present day prominent Sindhi leaders, academicians and scientists.

In the afternoon session, a Sindhi feature film with English translation was shown.

EVENING PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION SEGMENT (3 PM to 7:45 PM)
The evening segment consisted of several sessions. The first session involved QUESTION-ANSWER (Q&A) with the guest speakers. Mostly pointed and candid, a majority of questions were directed at Dr. Hafeez Shaikh and A. N. G. Abbasi. At times, the two gentlemen disagreed with each other on the matters of root causes for water shortage and as to who was responsible. There were some tough questions asked from Dr. Shaikh about the record of the present government. He defended the government and said that they will end the corruption that denies Sindh’s population its due share of resources. Mr. Abbasi talked about reasons as to why he resigned as Minister of Irrigation. He emphasized that he did not see any light at the end of tunnel for Sindhis unless the government of day listened to concerns of Sindhis and acted honestly to alleviate them.

The second session was termed as “SINDH THROUGH CENTURIES” and was moderated by Mr. Nuruddin Saraki. First, Dr. Syed Mir Mohammad Shah talked about education and the role of Information Technology (IT) in reducing poverty in Sindh. He shared his assessment about the terrible conditions that discourage Sindhis from learning the state-of-art technologies. He made several recommendations on improving education system and improving cooperation between universities and industries in the IT sector. The second presenter was Dr. Louis Flam, who shared his story about how he discovered and carried out the excavation at Ghazi Shah. He revealed that cultural material excavated at this site is 4,000 B. C. (6,000 years ago) old with occupations from Amri, to Kot Diji to Indus Civilization. At the top of the site are remains of Mughal period. The site covers about five (5) acres and is 35 feet high. Buried inside the mound are the remains of people’s houses and their culture over the past 6000 years. He added that the Sindh Archaeological project and Ghazi Shah Excavations have received funding to conduct research from Fulbright, Smithsonian, National Science Foundation, and American Council of Learned Societies, American Institute of Pakistan Studies, and Research Foundation of The City University of New York. He criticized the recent decision (not abrogated) of Pakistan government to move Head Office of Archeological department from Karachi to Lahore. He said that he feels that instead of relying solely on government’s mercy to protect Sindhi heritage, Sindhi philanthropists and organizations such as SANA should take initiatives to protect Sindh’s heritage. He advised that instead of individual one-of-kind projects, they should encourage and support institutions such as the Archeology department at the Khairpur University to undertake heritage preservation projects. He suggested that a Sindh Heritage Foundation under SANA would be a good start for North American Sindhis. Following closing remarks by Mr. Nuruddin Saraki and a Q&A session with Dr. Flam, the audience gave a 2-minute standing ovation to Dr. Louis Flam.

The last session of this segment was titled “DISCUSSION ON SINDHI RIGHTS ”. Mr. Khalid Hashmani moderated the session. The theme of the session was “THE ROLE OF North American SINDHIS IN BETTERMENT OF SINDH”. The objective of the session was to review the current situation of economic, cultural, human, and political rights of Sindhis in Sindh and to come up with a program of specific and tangible steps. The session was divided into four sub-topics: “Water Rights of Sindhis”, “Alleviating Poverty in Sindh”, “Restoration of Democratic Rule in Sindh”, and how to synchronize efforts and aspirations of Sindhis. First, Dr. Altaf Memon summarized the environmental consequences of the shortage of water in River Indus. This was followed by open discussion that recommended that overseas Sindhis should publicize water issue at international forums. They should write letters to their congress members.

Yet another participant that people throughout the Pakistan be encouraged to conserve water. Mr. Iqbal Tareen summarized the situation regarding growing poverty in Sindh and suggested that overseas Sindhis should pursue large donor agencies for help and to improve education. Many members of audience participated in the follow-up discussion. The suggestions included adopting schools using the model of US-based Pakistani organization called Pakistan Human Development Foundation; sponsoring village education programs; and approaching former Presidents Carter and Clinton to initiate and support poverty alleviation projects in Sindh. It was felt that such efforts would draw world’s attention to the plight of Sindhis. On the point of creating a “Sindhi Ghariban-ji Bank”, some participants expressed concern that in the past some Sindh-organizations started such projects to provide low cost loans in Sindh’s rural area. Many North American Sindhis provided financial support but unfortunately all such initiatives did not go anywhere and no progress was ever reported on those initiatives. No one knows what happened to those share purchases and donations. Mr. Aziz Narejo introduced the third topic about the restoration of democratic rule in Pakistan. This was immediately followed up by introduction on the fourth sub-topic by Dr. Saghir Shaikh on the synchronization of activities by various overseas Sindhi organizations. In the follow-up open discussion, suggestions were made to create a medical web site to help Sindhis in health related issues. A member of audience emphasized that literacy rate need to be improved if democracy is to thrive in Pakistan. Suggestions to prioritize Sindh’s problem through a committee deliberation, working in a focused manner on a selected sub-set of projects were another suggestion that attracted interest. Finally audience were urged to write letter to the members of Congress to show their support to Senator Torecile’s resolution on the restoration of democracy in Pakistan that he plans to introduce in Congress soon. A crowd of more than 50 delegates were very interested to continue the discussion, the session had to be ended as dinner could not be held up.

DINNER AND MUSICAL SHOW (8:00 PM to 1:00 AM)
The dinner consisted of a 6-course Sindhi cuisine that was loved by every one. The SANA Executive Council expressed gratitude to the members of the Convention Organizing Committee and presented them wards (Sajjad Siddiqui, Falaksher Ahmed, Kohsher Ahmed, Zia Memon, Nadeem Junejo, Naveed Soomro, Noor Rajpar, Adi koonj and her husband Atif, Saeed and Ali Abro, Khalid Channa, and Imtiaz Memon). As was the case Friday night, both Jiji Zarina Baloch and Ustad Mazhar Hussain once again thrilled attendees with their beautiful renderings from Latif, Ayaz, Ustad Bukhari and other Sindhi poets. In keeping with the annual tradition Dr. Aijaz Turk did a great job in inspiring the crowd to make generous donations. A sum of $ 20,000 was pledged during the session.

SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2002 (8 AM to 11 AM)

This breakfast gathering on the last day of convention was like a “GOODBYE PARTY”. Most did not believe that three days had gone by so fast. Although most were sad, many were already talking about the next year’s convention in San Diego.

The SANA Conventions are a modern version of Sindhi mellas (fairs), where people to meet friends and family and people come share their and dreams. Generally no one goes disappointed in all areas. True, like anything else, there is always room to improve and SANA Members are always eager in their resolve to still do better next year.

By: KHALID HASHMANI