PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
OF
SETH HAJI ABDOOLA HAROON
AT THE
SIND PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE
1920-7th SESSION, SUKKUR.
Brother delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I AM NOT using the language of mere formality when I
thank you for the singular honour you have done me,
by summoning me to preside at this the 7th Sind
Provincial Conference. To be frank, I have done
nothing to deserve such a mark of favour, and
knowing, as I do my incapacity for such an office, I
wish your choice had fallen on a worthier head than
myself but since your mandate has come to me, I am
here, in obedience to it; and I have every hope that
I can count upon your support, in conducting the
discussions on the various subjects that are to come
before us, for our consideration.
OUR GOAL
When we look to the past grandeur of our Motherland
and the height of civilization it attained, at a
time when all the world around was sunk into
ignorance and barbarism, the conviction becomes
irresistible that the future can have nothing but
sunshine, in store for us, only if we have the will
to dedicate ourselves to the service of the country.
The future bright as it promises to be, rests with
us alone. It depends not so much on the Acts of
Parliament as it does upon our own patriotism and
sacrifice, for our efforts in the future as in the
past are to mould the Acts of Parliament. No nation
has become great without an exertion from within. It
is therefore a sign of happy time that our country
men are every day increasing in numbers stepping
forward to strive for the great ideal for which the
Indian National Congress has laboured so long. With
the mention of the name of that august assembly, our
thoughts go back, in grateful remembrance to the
sacred memory of the immortal souls of Dadabhoy
Naoroji, Allan Octavian Hume, George Yule, Ananda
Mohan Bose, Sir Henry Cotton, Gopal Krisna Gokhale,
Tybjee and Pherozshah Mehta who, in their
farsightedness, more than a generation ago, prepared
the national plank for us to stand upon and hold
aloft the national banner of the United India. The
plank is on firmer foundation than even before,
being broad based on an immensely larger popular
support. The organization of the Congress has its
roots and branches scattered all over the country.
The message of Home Rule has been carried to the
masses and there is today a measure of political
awakening which is so much a wonder even to those
who started the work as it is a great hope for the
early attainment of our goal. That goal is
“Government of the people for the people,” and bas
been variously styled Home Rule, Self Government,
Responsible Government, all of which mean but the
same thing. To achieve that end of our ambition, we,
the children of the soil, should close our ranks
even it be at some sacrifice and make a united
stand. As a member of a democratic faith my advice
to you can only be to press on vigorously, until the
goal is reached. Mother-India, with a glorious past
that knows no parallel will have a still mare
glorious future that will place it at the forefront
of the nations of the world. I have visions of the
India of the future-the greatest democracy of the
world-moulding by its high example the life and
thought of its sister nations, whether of the West
or the East. How distant or rather how near that
future is to be is a matter which lies in the hands
of this and the next generation of India’s young men
and I hope and trust and pray that young Moslems and
young Hindus, standing shoulder to shoulder will
nobly fulfill their high mission.
REMORMS
There is a rude awakening as we turn
from the enchanting visions of the future to the
facts of the present, for we realize how little
headway we have made towards that future. The first
step vouchsafed to us in that direction is the
Reform Act which was placed on the Statute Book in
December last. The skeleton of that act was outlined
nearly two years ago in the Montague-Chelmsford
report, and although the Act has given us a stronger
and a more powerful frame and here and there a
vigorous muscle or two has been added the outline
remains materially unaltered. Flesh and blood have
yet to be supplied by the formation of numerous
Rules and Regulations. The outline has under gone
elaborate analysis, discussion and criticism during
these two years, and I do not think any good purpose
would be served by my entering, at this stage, into
a discussion of the scheme at it originally was or
as it was partially improved by the joint
Parliamentary Committee. Nor will the full effect of
the Act be correctly known, until the Rules supply
the flesh and blood to the skeleton. But it is
sufficiently clear that the Act does not at all
satisfy the needs of the country or the wishes of
the people, as a whole. The Amritsar Congress formed
the platform for the presentation of three
independent shades of opinion. There were those, who
led by Mrs. Besant, gratefully welcomed the Reforms
Act as a substantial step. There were others who led
by Lokmmanya Tilak and Mr. Das held that the Act was
inadequate, unsatisfactory and disappointing, there
were again those who led by Mahatama Gandhi were of
the opinion that although the Act was inadequate and
unsatisfactory, it yet constituted a step forward
and should be worked in a spirit of co-operation.
Among the delegates of the Amritsar Congress the
first view found hardly any support, while the
respective support of the latter two views was never
put to the test, for a compromise was effected
between them, at a later stage and the Congress
adopted the compromise, I am myself of the same
view, as the Congress eventually took. But I feel
that no good purpose is served by discussing as to
which of the three parties held the correct view.
The Reform is there on the Statute Book, good, bad
or fair; and it is not in our power to make
amendments in it. We have no alternative beyond
working it or boycotting it. No responsible public
men of any shade of political opinion, however
extreme, have suggested our boycotting the Reforms.
Everybody who is anybody is agreed that' we have to
work the Reforms and do our best to produce the
greatest results from the Act, while, in no way,
giving up work for achieving our goal. How for the
Moslems will be enabled to take their share in the
new Councils it is impossible for me to say, in view
of the Khilafat question. But otherwise all rounds,
in every province, the attention of political
workers is being more and more drawn to the
approaching formation of reformed councils, and the
work of educating and guiding the new electorates is
a subject of consideration among them. Let us
therefore not be still fighting a dead issue, as to
which adjective is most suitable to be applied to
the Act. It is not wisdom at this stage, to be
quarrelling over the transient point of dispute in
what words to describe the Act. It is there as a
hard fact and no amount of praise or condemnation
can alter its character or increase the power it
confers on the people. Let us rather-or those among
us who want to participate in elections either as
candidates, or voters or as workers to lay down
specific programs and policies to be worked out by
the people’s representatives in the new councils and
commence the work of educating the electorate in
light of these. Let us not unwisely waste our
energies in fighting between ourselves as to what
the Act is or not. Let us rather utilize our
energies in fighting with Government to see what the
rules are going to be. We have been neglecting this
important work and will have reason to repent our
negligence. As I have said above Mussalmans may not
be able to take part in the Council elections, and
all that I have said above has no reference to the
Moslem community. Let me say by the way that the
Khilafat question has assumed national significance;
we shall just have to define our policy as
nationalists, should the Muslims decide to withdraw
from the Reformed Councils. A delicate and difficult
task indeed! on the right solution of which I
believe the honour of our motherland and nation
depends considerably.
THE PUNJAB TREGEDY
Another All-India question of outstanding importance
is the great Punjab Tragedy, of last year. I do not
want to go with the familiar history of that period.
It is written in letters of blood on the heart of
the nation. Nor would it be appropriate to
anticipate the conclusions of the official Committee
of Inquiry whose report will soon be before the
public. But that does not prevent us from coming to
this irrefutable conclusion based on the evidence of
official witnesses themselves, that the disturbances
at Amritsar were the direct results of a deliberate
and ca1culated policy of repression by the
deportation of popular leaders and that the horrible
butchery of the 13th April last the
Jallianwalla Bagh will remain the darkest page in
the history of the British Rule in India. The
terrible inhumanity of the Martial Law period, when
it is fully exposed, will be an indelible blot on
the British nation, and if properly known to the
other nations of the world will ruin the reputation
of Great Britain, as a lover of liberty and freedom.
India can never forget the spring of last year, and
I have not the least doubt that the National Week-6th
to 13th April will be universally
observed in India, by all sections of the people;
and I hope that the sum of 10 Lacs will be over
subscribed. We should also appreciate Mahatma
Gandhi's advice that it is the sacrifice of the
people who died, which is being memorialized and not
the butchery of those who killed. No other advice
could have proceeded from one who is an Apostle of
Love and an Abhorer and Hate and I feel sure the
speakers at the functions during the National week
will remember the distinction thus made.
THE KHILAFAT QUESTION
There can be no doubt of the fact that the situation
in India in regard to the Khilafat Question is so
serious that it overshadows everything else and I
fervently pray all may yet be well. The sincerity of
British and Allied statesmen is being put to the
test and solemn pledges made by them at a time of
crisis await to be fulfilled. I am not hopeful of
Britain carrying out its entire promise. The thirst
for annexation and exploitation is still a living
force in European politics and the policy of grab
seems to override all considerations. The reply of
the Premier of Great Britain to our Khilafat
Deputation is most ominous. It clearly foreshadows
peace settlement that falls short of the irreducible
Moslem demands. Nothing but Constantinople is
evidently to remain with the Sultan-Khalif, and that
too under the kindly gaze of the Allied Artillery,
if the actual military occupation of the seat of
Khilafat is not prolonged indefinitely. Mr. Lyod
George had pledged, in January 1918, with all true
solemnity befitting the occasion of a public
declaration of the A1lied war Aims that. “We are not
fighting to deprive Turkey of Constantinople or of
the rich and renowned lands of Asia Minor and Thrace
which predominantly Turkish in race,” and yet in
reply to Mr. Muhammad Ali’s statement, he is
reported to have said that in Thrace the Mussalman
population was in a considerable minority and in
Symrna the majority of the population was
non-Turkish. Are facts to be twisted to suit policy?
Are broken pledges to be followed by perversions of
facts? Is British statesmanship all bankrupt? The
sky is dark and the Muslim World is in greater
unrest than .it has been for centuries. The sky is
very dark but whatever be the eventualities of the
situation, I hope Muslims will ever remember the
assistance given by the Hindus in making the
Khilafat movement a strong All-India Movement. To
all the well-wishers of the country the co-operation
of Hindus with Muslims in the Khilafat question will
give nothing but the sincerest pleasure. It is the
sympathy at the time of one’s grief that is valued
most, and I know that the hand of fellowship and
company extended by them in the hour of sorrow has
quickened the hearts of Muslims to its innermost. As
the question has assumed a national importance, I
trust every step would be by joint decision.
THE COMMISSONER’S POWERS
Having touched these All-India matters of the vital
importance to the nation, I would wish to come at
once to a consideration of the leading questions of
Provincial interest and there can be not two opinion
that the one question, which must engage our
attention, before all others, is that of the
position and powers of the Commissioner-in-Sind,
under the Reform Act. In para 214 of the
Montague-Chelmsford report, the distinguished
authors, after stating some reasons why one man’s
themselves thus: - “To our minds, however there is
an overriding reason of greater importance than any
of these. The retention of the administration of a
province in the hands of a single man preclude the
possibility of giving it a responsible character.”
In view of this very clear emphatic statement, our
complaint is that in matters, whether in transferred
or reserved departments of governmental activity in
which the Powers of a Governor in Council or
Governor, Ministers have already been delegated to
the Commissioner-in-Sind, the Minister and the
improved Executive and the improved Executive
Council cannot effectively determine the course .of
administrative action in Sind, so long as the
Commissioner enjoyed those delegated powers; and to
the extent to which final disposal of matters, which
in other divisions the Ministers alone can dispose
of, remain with the Commissioner-in-Sind,
responsible government will be non-existent many
powers of direction and control over local
self-governing bodies are conferred on the present
Governor-in-Council. Under the Delegation Act
(Commissioner-in Sind’s Act. V of 1868) a large
number of these powers have been delegated to the
Commissioner-in-Sind. With the introduction of the
Reform Act the Powers .of the Governor-in-Council,
in this behalf, will ipso facto devolve on the
responsible Minister in charge of the Local Self
Government, and the electorate obtains, through
their, representatives, the power of controlling the
administration of that department. But if the
Commissioner-in-Sind continues the enjoyment of his
present delegated powers in respect of local
self-governing bodies, the Minister in charge of the
portfolio cannot respond to the pressure of the
electorate of the Council, so far as Sind is
concerned, since he has not final voice in the
department so long as the delegation holds good.
This only means that Sind does not get any material
benefit from the Reforms Act, so far at least as the
Transferred Subjects are concerned. In regard to
Reserved Subjects also, it will be denied much of
the advantages of an improved Executive Council with
larger Indian representation in it. If Sind is to
receive the full benefit of the new Reforms there is
no alternative left to the Government but to take up
at once the question of placing the
Commissioner-in-Sind, in the same position, as the
Commissioners of other divisions of the Presidency.
Public opinion of all shades is dead against the
present exceptional position of the
Commissioner-in-Sind and ever since the question of
India Reforms was taken up by the political leaders
of the country, this local reforms has been the
subject of consideration in the public, press and at
the political conferences of the Province. The
people Hindus and Muslims are not convinced that the
local autocracy must end and I feel sure that they
will neither get nor give peace until this is done.
The antiquated reasons on which the exceptional
treatment of Sind was based, have no longer any
application unless it be that Sind has seen no
progress during the 77 years of British rule, and
earlier the Government of Bombay revises the present
system of administration the better it will be for
both the people and the Government.
REPRESSION IN SIND
I do not base the above on any particular incidents
of Sind Administration and my reference to two of
them should not be taken as arguments or
illustration in support of our claim. But they are
of such great importance from other points and bear
so vitally on the relations between the people and
the Government that I feel I must make a pointed
reference to them.
Brother Delegates, you all know of the aberration of
mind which the unfortunate of Sind official
underwent, during April last. They appeared to have
been obsessed with the happenings in Punjab and
losing their balance completely they launched on a
policy of repression in a province than which none
other wore a more peaceful appearance. They started
with indiscriminate house-searches at Karachi, of
men above all suspicion of conspiring against
Government in any fashion and thought it wisdom to
prosecute Mr. Durgadas, B. Advani and Mr. H. D.
Mariwalla for a small leaflet alleged to have been
seditious, which should not have, in any case, upset
the peace of mind of any sober mind. But it
unfortunately did and undue and severe sentences
were passed against both of them. In Hyderabad
incidents were even worse. Six respectable political
workers of the town, including a man of the position
of the Honorable Mr. G. M. Bhurgri were made the
victims of a conspiracy by the officials. A false
“first report” was trumped up against them, whose
truth the Government themselves had to deny, in the
Bombay Council. Five of them were arrested and let
on heavy sureties and personal recognizance, but the
concocted plot was exposed and the Local officials
had to beat a retreat with such farce as they could
command. In the meantime another trial far sedition
was launched at Hyderabad and this time the popular
Editor of “the Hindvasi” Mr. Jethmal Parsaram became
their victim. Mr. Jethmal fared no better than his
Karachi friends, but thanks to His Majesty’s
proclamation, and our friends were released, after a
month’s excellent mental and physical training, and
are again back in our midst for the country, each
according to his lights.
SIND OFFICIALS AND KHILAFAT
Another illustration of Rowdyism in Sind was the
mean attempt of some officials. I am ashamed to say
Mussalman officials at least they profess to be
so-to use their official position and influence to
set on foot and maintain an anti-Khilafat agitation
in Sind. Under the belief that illiterate mass of
Sind Muslims, already living In great dread of
officialdom, offered the best material far a
propaganda which country to the beliefs and feelings
of practically the entire Moslem community of India,
two Mussalman officials, occupying a position of
great trust and influence stooped to any and every
means to make Mussalmans declare false views and
propagate false beliefs. This artificial agitation
against the Khilafat was carried on with a high
handedness, boldness and impunity which greatly
compromised the position of the Commissioner-in-Sind
and the Bombay Government, and when open allegations
of the methods employed to coerce Moslem opinion
were made in the press, the Sind administration
chose to remain quiet far a long time and the two
officials went on managing the stage show for
months, the public came naturally to believe that
the Government wanted this agitation and the
officials were mere agents. I am glad to say that
the Government was ultimately made to realize the
grave inadvisability and inexpediency of this belief
gathering more strength or acquiring any plausible
basis, by its continued silence and H. E. the
Governor of Bombay had to warn the officials not to
take any part in the movement. While we are thankful
that the Government saw the wisdom of a public
disavowal and condemnation of the officials, we must
reiterate here our demand for a full and independent
inquiry into the allegations of coercion employed by
those officials and their underlings. Does
Government expect that all who have been victims of
this coercion and those who have suffered for their
courageous stand for what they regard as truth must
pocket the insults, the threats and worse because
Government has a tender regard for the prestige of
an official who has abused his powers. Is this a
wise or statesmanlike attitude to take up in such a
matter? The Larkana Khilafat Conference put their
case for an enquiry before the Government of Bombay,
in the form of a memorial and appointed a deputation
to wait upon His Excellency the Governor. Not only
was the deputation denied a personal interview, but
the enquiry itself was refused. One cannot
appreciate the logic of the Government position. If
the allegations of the public so openly and
persistently made are false, government will have
proved, beyond dispute, the correctness of their
present position viz that they do not think there is
ground for any complaint of coercion and Government
will have a strong and effective argument for future
use, if public made unreasonable demands for inquiry
on any other matters. If however the allegations are
proved to be correct, government will only have
given an opportunity to punish the guilty for an
offence actually proved, and to punish the guilty
official or non official is one of the functions of
the government, and we shall have deserved the
thanks of government for helping it to discharge its
functions aright. I hope that Sir George Lloyd yet
see the reasonableness of our request and concede it
at an early date.
THE 19TH MARCH
His Excellency Sir George Lloyd, in speaking of the
warning he had administered to the government
subordinates on account of their taking part in the
anti Khilafat movement spoke of it as a “religious
controversy,” and now the government circularizes
the Khilafat movement to be a political one, and we
have probably therefore the spectacle of a number of
District Magistrates in Sind, making as much use of
the Bombay District Police Act as they possibly
could, in gagging the Muslims. The Khilafat
movement, as it has repeatedly been urged is
essentially a religious movement, and therefore any
interference with it is calculated to cause, as
experience shows, the greatest possible resentment.
Indians are a peaceful people. They want to live and
let others live; and therefore in the case of such a
people unnecessary provocation is at once
justifiable. In Karachi section 42 of the Police Act
was promulgated in the Municipal and cantonment
areas, while in Hyderabad, Sukkur and some other
places notices under it were served on individuals.
Not satisfied with the extremely elastic and all
embracing wording of the section, the District
Magistrate of Hyderabad went out of his way and
beyond the scope of the section in notifying that
the “declaration of any class of persons” as
“Kaffirs” or “outcastes” or similar expressions are
within the scope of the order. . . .”. It is well
known that in the Holy Quran the word “Kaffir”
occurs pretty often, and suppose a man read a
portion having that word, will section 42 of the
Police Act, as understood by the magistrate make him
liable to a prosecution? If it does it is a clear
interference with the religious liberty of the
people. “Outcastes” again do not form a class by
themselves. They are at the most as has always been
the case, a few individuals. Therefore giving them
the position and dignity of a “a class” of people is
an absurd attempt to prevent people from adjusting
their social relations with these individuals, who
have, by their behavior dropped out of the
community. It is therefore clearly outside the
province of a magistrate to take upon himself the
supervision of the social matters of the community.
Here in Sukkur, we have read in the papers in what
manner our much respected Chairman of the Reception
Committee Mr. Virumal Begraj has been served with
“summons” by a Police subordinate. Such unnecessary
and often times vexatious exhibitions of the
official powers do not serve any useful purpose, but
they go a long way in creating estrangement between
the officials and the people, and the sooner Sind
officialdom shakes off its old traditions of
displaying its strength, on unnecessary occasions,
the better it would be for all concerned.
HINDU MUSLIM UNITY
Brother delegates! Inspite of the whole atmosphere
being surcharged with deep anxiety and the sky being
overcast with dark clouds, there is a welcome silver
lining. The on rush of a feeling of oneness among
the Hindus and Moslems of India, at this time of
grave crises, has deepened the foundations of the
Hindu Moslem Unity, and this partnership, in
distress, will, I hope, one day blossom in
partnership in happiness, when our goal is achieved.
The unity between the two communities is not a new
thing. It is as old as the coming of Islam into
India. The religion and the everyday conduct of
Moslems can permit of no barrier to separate them
from their neighbors. The Hindus and moreover if it
be remembered that most of the Indian Mussalmans are
of the same origin as the Hindus, there can be
nothing that can really be an obstacle in the
Hindu-Muslim entente. In the past, as History amply
proves, Hindus and Muslims have been the best of
best neighbors, sincere friends, and faithful
comrades and a little, on both the sides, would
strengthen the solidarity between the two
communities and mould them into one, great nation.
It cannot be denied that petty jealousies, over
petty objects, and backward state of modern
education, among Muslims, had contributed a good
deal, to great in recent times, a feeling of
distrust among the educated sections of the two
communities. Happily the masses, to very great
extent remained unaffected by the feelings of the
educated strata and with a little effort at
sincerity towards one another Hindu-Muslim unity has
come to have a remarkable revival. I am certain that
the spread of education, among Muslims, will prepare
them to take their share of the national obligations
more readily than they have done in the past. I
already see that one of the greatest results of the
present Hindu-Muslim entente is the spirit of
nationalism that is taking a firm root in the Muslim
mind and as time goes on Muslims will be found to be
working for the good of the country not less
enthusiastically and strenuously than the Hindus.
Muslims cannot afford to neglect the interest of the
Indian Nation, just as Hindus should not remain
indifferent to the comparative backwardness of the
Muslims. Each needs the other, and each must exert
to co-operate with the other. I trust that steps
would be taken to bring home to the masses the
message of Hindu-Muslim unity, and I have every hope
that the unpleasant criticism we sometimes hear, in
the Civil Courts, about the high rate of interest
charged in the mofussil, will have ere long, ceased
to exist.
I find from the public press that the Hindus of Sind
have not been given their due share of the seats,
available for the Hindus of the whole Presidency, on
the new provincial Legislative Council. Between
these two sections of the same community, the
distribution of the representation on the reformed
councils has not been fair and just. The voting
strength of Sind Hindus entitles them to four seats,
whereas they have been given only two. The fact that
Government and the National Congress and Muslim
League have recognized the claim of a minority to
receive favorable treatment further strengthens the
claim of the Sind Hindus, and I think that the
Mussalmans of Sind as Sindhis, ought to extend their
whole-hearted support to Sind Hindus, in obtaining
from the Bombay Hindus, two additional seats to make
up their fair share of representation. I understand
that the Hindus have placed their case before the
Reform Commissioner appointed for Bombay province,
but the claim has not yet been conceded to. I hope
that the claim will be placed and strongly pressed
before higher authorities and that it will receive
the cordial support of the Mussalmans of Sind.
JOINT RECONCILATION BOARDS
Since a long time the suggestion of forming joint
Reconciliation Boards, to adjust civil and communal
disputes, without the intervention of Courts, has
been, before the public; and it is a great pity that
we, in Sind, have all along slept over it. Private
arbitration would not only save time and money, but
would considerably diminish the number of such cases
and would give a healthy tone for the life of the
people. It seems to me that the Joint Boards should
be created not only to settle disputes between
Hindus and Muslims, but also between Hindus and
Hindus and between Muslims and Muslims themselves.
The time is now ripe for giving a practical shape to
the proposal and so far as I can see the public is
really to respond Social relations between the two
communities, particularly in large towns also stand
in need of reconsideration and I would urge the
leaders to devise means for their reconstruction in
view of the growing harmony and the present day
demands of the Society and Nation.
SWADESHI
Necessity has successfully goaded our people, in
Sind, to prefer the Khathas to the costly blankets
and as a substitute for the foreign flannel and
woolen cloth prepared in the Deset has been made use
of in a large quantity. The demand for woolen
materials prepared in the Deset far exceeds the
supply, but I hear, on reliable authority, that a
little financial assistance to the weavers would
bring to Sind larger stock, than has hitherto come.
It is not only the woolen materials that we can get
locally so cheaply, but decent cotton cloth for
shirting and other purposes would easily become
procurable and is obtainable even now, though its
quantity may not be sufficient. The necessity for
cheaper and more durable cloth is very great and
urgent. Once the Swadeshi material, howsoever coarse
it may be, is on the market, there remains not the
least necessity for canvassing for it. All that is
needed is capital, and I venture to hope that our
leading men in the Province, Peers and Zamindars and
Capitalists will take steps to advance some money to
weavers, who are now abandoning their ancestral
profession to enable them to restart their work. It
would be advantageous to have a system of
exhibitions of the country made cloth at the fairs,
so numerous in Sind. Every village or a group of
villages should have enough of hand looms to meet
the demands and already Swedshism in cloth is so
much in prominence in Sind that it only requires
putting our shoulder to the wheel. We mercantile
class in the commercial centres is quite absorbed in
foreign trade and speculation thereby acting as
agents of the exploiters. We have been certainly
great sinners to our motherland and children of the
soil past, present and the future. Time has come
when we should make amends and devote suffice
attention to country made articles and provide them
in the market: I see a wave of enthusiasm all round
in this respect and people are eager to patronize
even with some sacrifice. I fervently beg and appeal
to my fellow businessmen to open eyes and the bright
possibilities before them and invest their capital
for the great good of Bharat Land.
RASAI COMMITTEE
Nearly two years have passed away, and we do not
know anything about the results of the labors of the
Rasai Committee. We have seen it in the past and we
see it till today that whenever a Committee is
appointed by Government to investigate any Sind
grievance, the publication of the report of it takes
a number of years. The evils of Rasai Lapo and Cheer
are there, and it is the duty of the Government to
take immediate steps to issue their orders without
further delay.
I least expect improvement in these evil systems,
whatsoever be the recommendations of the Committee
or the orders of the Government. In my opinion
landholders, who are victims of these extortions are
they to blame and they prepare themselves to be men.
I call upon the Zamindars, most of whom profess the
same faith as I, to join hands in the working of
national regeneration. In the Quran we find a
passage conveying deep meaning in which God has said
that, no change will come into the lot of any Nation
unless it takes pains to do so. You possess heads
and hearts to realize and understand famine,
poverty, pestilence, all sorts of evils, disease,
and high mortality are order of the day in our
Beautiful Country. O’do knows that you have lost
much of your vitality, by subjection, rivalry
amongst yourselves and lethargy and your case is
evidently hopeless. In India if any class has
suffered most it is yours and those under you.
The material/data/information can be provided on
request
