Latest news with #Sindhis
India Gazette
a day ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
JSMM Chairman Shafi Burfat slams Pak army for using Bilawal Bhutto as anti-India propaganda tool
Munich [Germany], June 3 (ANI): Shafi Burfat, the leader of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), accused that the Pakistani military is manipulating Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a pawn to disseminate anti-India rhetoric and distract the global community from state-sponsored terrorism and human rights abuses against marginalised groups such as Sindhis, Baloch, and Pashtuns within Pakistan. 'Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is being strategically utilised by the Pakistani military to redirect international focus. This shift seeks to overshadow the increasing awareness of the severe oppression faced by Pakistan's historical nations, including Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns, Seraikis, and the population of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB), who endure an imposed state framework upheld by the Punjabi-dominated military establishment. These communities continue to face military occupation, systemic human rights breaches, ethnic cleansing, political oppression, and economic exploitation,' Shafi Burfat remarked. Shafi Burfat pointed out that the Pakistani military and its intelligence service, ISI, have consistently kidnapped political activists through extrajudicial actions, later abandoning their disfigured bodies in isolated locations--a regime of state terror aimed at silencing dissenting voices and stifling aspirations for freedom. 'The internal struggles of these nations for justice and liberty are being violently repressed through state fascism, as Pakistan attempts to conceal this truth from the international community,' Shafi Burfat asserted. Sending Bilawal Bhutto to the United Nations serves merely as a diplomatic facade for the military's colonial strategies, aiming to manipulate the global narrative while suppressing genuine democratic and nationalist movements internally, Burfat emphasised in his statement. 'Bilawal Bhutto is a politically inexperienced individual who is currently being exploited by the Pakistani military in its propaganda effort against India. Although he hails from Sindh, a nation with a history of oppression, the Punjabi-oriented Pakistani state and its military have long perpetrated fascist atrocities and brutally repressed all historical nations within its confines,' Burfat contended. In Balochistan, the Pakistani army--especially the ISI--is involved in the systematic abduction, torture, and enforced disappearance of political activists. Inhumane torture facilities are employed against those seeking justice, and the disfigured bodies of Sindhi, Baloch, and Pashtun activists frequently emerge in deserted areas, standing as grim evidence of state terrorism, Burfat remarked. 'Pakistan has devolved into a living nightmare for the nations confined within its borders. These communities are denied the right to exist with dignity, stripped of political liberties, and silenced through violence and intimidation. Their voices are stifled, and their aspirations for self-determination are crushed. Meanwhile, their mineral and natural resources are exploited by Punjabi imperialism, leaving these communities in a state of poverty, malnutrition, and social despair,' Burfat stated. The military establishment, largely dominated by Punjabis, has seized millions of acres of land that belong to the Sindhis. They forcibly displace entire communities and villages from their ancestral homes. Recently, in Moro City, Sindh, a coordinated operation to grab land in the village of Bajrani Laghari resulted in the brutal murder of two residents, Zahid Laghari and Irfan Laghari, by operatives from the ISI disguised as civilians. This was a deliberate tactic to instil fear, suppress opposition, and facilitate a military takeover of Sindhi territory, according to Shafi Burfat. In his remarks, Shafi Burfat stated that the military establishment in Sindh is continuing to unlawfully control river waters and extensive agricultural lands. The Sindhi population is persistently protesting against this occupation and the resulting exploitation. The historic nations confined within the borders of Pakistan are actively fighting for liberation from political oppression, economic subjugation, and forced domination. 'As representatives of the Sindhi nation, we vehemently denounce and express our shock at Bilawal Bhutto's involvement in supporting the deceptive propaganda of Pakistan's oppressive Punjabi ruling class and its corrupt military. His recent attempts to mislead the international community with narratives against India are nothing more than a perilous act of self-delusion and an effort to mislead the world,' stated Shafi Burfat. We are profoundly disturbed by Bilawal Bhutto's immature and irresponsible actions, as he, despite his lack of experience, is being exploited by the Pakistani state and its military to disseminate false narratives about India on global platforms. This is particularly concerning in light of the recent terrorist attacks orchestrated by Pakistan's military within Indian territory. In retaliation, India initiated Operation Sindoor, a targeted and morally justified mission aimed solely at dismantling terrorist sanctuaries within Pakistan, Burfat remarked. 'We reject the Pakistani establishment's exploitation of Bilawal Bhutto to falsely portray solidarity among oppressed nations within Pakistan, especially the Sindhis, in its antagonistic stance towards India. The Sindhi nation distinguishes itself from such deception and continues its non-violent fight for freedom and justice. The global community must recognise the reality that the nations trapped and colonised within Pakistan are struggling for liberation from its occupation, fascism, and brutality,' claimed Burfat. (ANI)
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Shabana Azmi was denied a flat because of her faith, Javed Akhtar reflects on bitterness of Partition: ‘Apne girebaan mein jhaanko'
In a candid conversation with The Lallantop, veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar recounted an incident from about 20–25 years ago, when his wife, actor Shabana Azmi, was denied the opportunity to purchase a flat simply because of her religion. He narrated the entire incident: 'This happened about 20–25 years ago. Shabana wanted to buy a flat as an investment in a building, and they refused. The broker clearly told us they wouldn't sell a flat to a Muslim.' Javed then reflected on the deeper reasons why such discrimination is so common: 'Who were these people? They were the ones whose parents lived in Sindh, who were expelled from Sindh, taking away their land, property, social respect, profession, everything. They were forced out and made to come here like refugees. These very Sindhis sold clothes and chhole on the streets, and through their hard work built their position. But the bitterness of what happened to them is still inside them. And that bitterness gets taken out on us. So who is responsible? You are, you who expelled them. And now you tell me they didn't give me a house? They didn't give it because you drove them from their own house. People have no idea what the real problem is.' Also Read | Javed Akhtar on Bollywood's silence over Operation Sindoor: 'Kuch log abhi abhi paisa aur naam kamane mein lage hain…' He continued: 'I ask myself, I live in Bombay, a non-Maharashtrian who came here at 19. I worked hard, made a name for myself, I got a house. But if tomorrow someone told me to leave everything in 24 hours, carrying all my belongings in a bundle, I ask, where would I go? Anywhere! If I had to leave my house, my reputation, my money, my status, my friends behind, and see my companions killed on the way, and finally be put in a tent and handed a plate, how would I feel? Toh yeh aadmi jisne tumko ghar nahi diya, usse blame kar rahi ho? Apne girebaan mein jhaanko (And now you blame the man who didn't give you a house? Look into your own conscience)' He shared this story in response to Pakistani actress Bushra Ansari's claim that 'no one in Mumbai rents homes to Muslims.' Before narrating the incident, Akhtar laughed and sarcastically said, 'Yes, of course! Shabana and I are sleeping on the streets now.' He strongly questioned who had the authority to silence him: 'Who is she to tell me when to talk and when not to? She said Naseeruddin Shah stays quiet, so I should too. But who is she to decide when I should speak? Who gave her that right?' He acknowledged the internal issues within India but refused to stay silent when criticism comes from outside: 'Yes, we Indians do have our internal issues. But when someone from outside points fingers, I am first and foremost an Indian. I won't stay silent.'
News18
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Javed Akhtar Recalls Pain Of Sindhi Hindus, Slams Pakistan's Bushra Ansari: 'You Threw Them Out'
Last Updated: Akhtar went on to recall an incident from about 25 years ago, when his wife and actress Shabana Azmi was denied a house in Mumbai simply because they were Muslims. Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar has responded strongly to Pakistani actress Bushra Ansari's recent remark, where she claimed that 'no one in Mumbai rents homes to Muslims." Speaking in an interview with Lallantop, Akhtar not only dismissed her suggestion but also shared a historical perspective to underline the lingering trauma of Partition among Indian Sindhi Hindus. 'Who is she to tell me when to talk and when not to?" Akhtar asked, reacting to Ansari's earlier advice that he should 'stay quiet like Naseeruddin Shah." He firmly added, 'Who gave you this right and why do you expect me to take your advice?" Lallantop wasn't ready for this!Javed Akhtar explains why they dont rent out their houses to muslims.. — Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) May 30, 2025 Akhtar went on to recall an incident from about 25 years ago, when his wife and actress Shabana Azmi was denied a house in Mumbai simply because they were Muslims. While such discrimination is unfortunate, Akhtar pointed out that there's a deeper emotional context that often goes unacknowledged. He explained, 'The owner refused to sell the flat because his parents were from Sindh in Pakistan and were forced to flee. They were thrown out. Their land, property, social respect, profession, everything was taken from them. They arrived in India as refugees." He spoke about how many Sindhi Hindus who fled Pakistan post-Partition had to rebuild their lives from scratch. 'These same Sindhis, poor Sindhis, used to sell clothes on the streets, sell chhole. Through their hard work, they built a position for themselves. But what happened to them? That bitterness still lives within them," he said. 'Anyone with a wound that big and deep, will react the way the owner reacted," he explained. He then pointedly said, 'If he didn't give that house, it was because of you, because you threw him out." He continued, 'Imagine if someone told me, within 24 hours, pack up and leave Mumbai. Where would I go? Where do I even belong?" He detailed how painful it would be to lose his home, status, money, and recognition, and then be reduced to a refugee waiting in line for food. 'That's exactly what happened to the man you're blaming for not giving the house," he said, concluding, 'You're blaming me? Look within your own home." First Published: May 31, 2025, 02:27 IST
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Musician Tarun Balani's latest album is a meditation on memory and loss
Thirty-eight-year-old Tarun Balani has never been to Sindh, his ancestral homeland that was lost to Partition. Named after river Sindhu, meaning Indus, he has never felt the soil of the land between his fingers or visited the revered Jhulelal shrine in Pakistan's Odero Lal, where Sindhi Hindus and Muslims worship together. But through the stories that the Delhi-based musician heard about his grandfather, who came from Sindh and lived in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar — the refugee colony created post-Partition and where many displaced Sindhis and Multanis were accommodated — Balani would often conjure a place, which was never going to be straightforward to go back to, even sonically. Home was a loss he had inherited. 'I feel with Sindhis, the diaspora stories are still missing. It is understandable, probably because Sindh completely went to Pakistan. But there was, and is, so much palpable grief that no one really speaks about. And that's also what I wanted to explore,' says Balani, who wanted to portray this feeling through sonic narratives. Another major reason was that he sorely missed his grandfather, whom he had never met. He only had a bunch of photos and his Yashica 635 since he was very young. 'Since my grandfather passed away in a car accident when he was 40, my family didn't speak much about him,' says Balani, who began poring over whatever was left behind. He found that KS Balani was a postmodern Sindhi writer, photographer and painter in the Delhi of the 1960s. 'It is only now that I have discovered his manuscripts, his writing. I started to explore his journey of migration and that is when I wanted to find my Sindhi identity as well,' says Balani. The longing for his grandfather also turned into a longing for the homeland that his community lost. The result of the emotional turmoil is a seven-track, deeply personal album that is a meditation on memory and loss. 'The album is a metaphor for my grandfather as much as it is for the lost homeland,' says Balani, who was inspired by famed Sindhi poet Sheikh Ayaz's poem Tiri Pawanda about the pain of separation and reuniting someday. Balani flipped one of the lines — Tadahen milandaaseen (We will meet then) to Kadahin Milandaasin (When will we meet again?), which is the title of the album. He adds that as people, we don't talk about grief enough and he wanted to honour the feeling he felt for his grandfather. His father's death last year in November amplified the pain. He wondered about two photographs his father gave him last February. One is a black-and-white shot of his grandparents and other a self-portrait of his grandfather — both are now part of the album cover. With Adam O'Farrill on trumpet, Sharik Hasan on piano, Olli Hirvonen on guitar and electronics and Balani on drums and vocals, the album was recorded by Grammy-winning sound engineer and producer John Davis. There are no Sindhi stringed instruments or field recordings from Pakistan that have been layered with jazz sounds. Instead, Balani has stayed true to his sound and that of his band and delineated loss as a feeling. He has represented his heritage through what he identifies with most and not reproduced what he's heard and even loved from his culture. While the elegant Lajpat Nagar Sometimes comes from Balani's fascination with the idea that his studio space is also the one where his grandfather wrote and painted, the title track is where he's sung for the first time, an ode to his father, who sang Hindustani classical, and always wanted his son to sing. The haunting Sailaab plays out the 2020 floods in Sindh while Every Man Saved A Victim Will Be Found is an interpretation of Balani's most-streamed track from his EP In Song (2021), inspired by a line in Viktor Frankl's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning based on his time living in concentration camps. In the music video of the title track, Balani has attempted to recreate the parties from his childhood; with typical Sindhi motifs — the Ajrakh shawl, Sindhi topi and Sindhi roti make an appearance. But such an album was likely to come at an emotional cost, and if he was lucky, with an emotional reward as well. Does Balani understand his place better? 'Absolutely. I went in with a simple quest to understand my roots and legacy, but it was still a borrowed experience; the grief was through the lens of other people, but after losing my dad, I understood it more deeply. In the end, I was tracing my granddad and his lineage but I found a version of myself that I didn't know existed,' says Balani. Recently, some Sindhi literature teachers have written to Balani telling him that they teach his grandfather's stories to their students. 'Life has come full circle,' he says.
India Gazette
20-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
JSMM Chairman alleges Punjabi military using Bilawal Bhutto as pawn against India
Frankfurt [Germany], May 20 (ANI): In a strongly worded statement, Shafi Burfat, Chairman of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), has accused Pakistan's military establishment of manipulating Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to serve its geopolitical objectives, particularly in an anti-India campaign on the international stage. In a post on X, Burfat claimed that the 'Punjabi army and establishment' are offering Bilawal the promise of political power and the possibility of becoming Prime Minister in return for leading a global diplomatic offensive against India. However, he warned that this alliance is temporary, and alleged that Bilawal could ultimately face the same fate as his grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and his mother, Benazir Bhutto -- both of whom were assassinated under controversial circumstances. Burfat labeled this as a 'historic pattern' of betrayal by the Punjabi-dominated military. According to Burfat, the PPP has long failed to represent the genuine interests of Sindh and its people. Instead, he claimed, the party has acted as a political proxy for Punjab, serving the interests of feudal landlords rather than standing up for Sindhi rights or autonomy. He characterized Bilawal as 'immature, power-hungry, and unserious,' and accused him of playing a role in promoting misleading narratives about India on behalf of the Pakistani establishment. Burfat also emphasised the cultural, spiritual, and historical ties between Sindh and India, rejecting any notion that India is an enemy of the Sindhi people. He described India as a 'spiritual and cultural sister' and stated that the Sindhi nation has always viewed India as a neighborly and supportive presence throughout history. The JSMM chairman went further, accusing Pakistan and specifically its military of being a tool of regional destabilization, used by foreign powers like China and Turkey to target India. He referenced alleged Pakistani involvement in violent acts, including incidents in areas such as Pahalgam, and condemned what he called the military's terrorist activities. Burfat stressed that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's actions on the world stage do not reflect the will or sentiment of the Sindhi people. He called upon the international community and Indian leadership to recognise this distinction and understand that Sindhis do not share the anti-India stance allegedly promoted by Pakistan's military and establishment. Concluding his statement, Burfat reiterated a stark warning to Bilawal Bhutto, predicting that he is being exploited by the military and may eventually be cast aside violently, as other Bhuttos were in the past. He denounced what he called the 'cruel and dishonest tradition' of Pakistan's ruling elite. 'We Sindhis consider India our friend and the Punjabi establishment views India as an enemy, that is their thinking, not ours' said Burfat. (ANI)
