Sindh Won - Sindh Lost

After a long, long wait of more than 45 years, my father finally gave his last dream with his unfulfilled dream of returning to Sindh, of kissing the land of Jeejal or Mother Sindh. He lamented in one of his poems written in Sindhi: "Oh, I can die uprooted from my homeland ... all hopes are gone, my dream has not come true ... I may not see Jeejal again, Mother Sindh again ... no, not in this life, it seems ... "
He arrived in Indonesia in the 1930s, when he was twenty years old. Like Sindhwarki, an overseas Sindhi, as they were called then, he treasured the dream of "earning money abroad and returning to Sindh to settle."
During the 1930s and early 1940s, he could have made two trips back to Kotri, his hometown or, rather, hometown in those days. He had decided for the third trip as the last one, "vari bhi pahinjo mulq pahinjo, pardes mein kahitro waqt guzaarbo?!" - How long you can live abroad; One must finally return to where their roots are?
During World War II, he could not make any trip back to Sindh. There was no communication with the family at home. And yet, hope lasted. Then, when the war finally ended in 1945, and it was possible to communicate again, he quickly began to close his business in Indonesia to start some business in Sindh again.
Meanwhile, there was confirmed news about the impending "Hindustan amputation," as it would refer to the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the independence of India and the birth of Pakistan.
But it didn't really matter, “Sindh is still my homeland. How does it matter if she is part of Pakistan? I am Sindhi, and I will return to Sindh,” was his conviction.
And, with such conviction, in the year 1947 when the subcontinent burned and bled, he returned to his homeland, Jeejal Sindh, Mother Sindh.
He carried all his earnings in the form of precious metals, since both regular banks and "private banks", quite common at the time, still did not work. He was not alone, there were also other Sindhwarkis, all without preparation for what they would face.
Anything they carried was confiscated: “We were so shocked that we didn't even know if they were authorized to do something like that, whether they were authorities, officials or hooligans. Upon leaving the port and going out to the streets of Karachi, we realized that we had lost Sindh ... "
Back in Kotri, one of his closest friends, a Muslim, let's call him Abdullah, lamented: “Tolaram, why have you returned? We could have helped his family board a ship to Mumbai.
Abdullah was very worried about Baba, my father's safety. In fact, I had been waiting for some news. I did not expect him to return while the subcontinent was burning.
Years later, Baba would remember: “It made no sense to me. I could not understand the situation. He could not believe that someone could be uprooted from his homeland. Everything was very absurd. "
“And why Bombay, why India? Why did my family and I have to migrate? It was a shock. I couldn't believe what I was hearing or what I was seeing. I hoped against hope that it was just a dream and that I would soon wake up. I thought it was a passing madness, and that the frenzy and madness would soon end.

By: Preeti Narula
Content: https://www.esamskriti.com/e/History/Indian-History/Sindh-Gained-~-Sindh-Lost-1.aspx