Editing Sindh (section)

==== British Raj ====
{{See also|Sind Province (1936–55)}}
[[File:Bombay Prov 1909.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Sindh became part of the [[Bombay Presidency]] in 1909.]]
The [[United Kingdom|British]] conquered Sindh in 1843. General [[Charles James Napier|Charles Napier]] is said to have reported victory to the Governor General with a one-word telegram, namely ''"[[Peccavi]]"'' &ndash; or ''"I have sinned"'' ([[Latin]]).<ref>General Napier apocryphally reported his conquest of the province to his superiors with the one-word message ''peccavi'', a schoolgirl's pun recorded in [[Punch (magazine)]] relying on the Latin word's meaning, "I have sinned", homophonous to "I have Sindh". [[Eugene Ehrlich]], ''Nil Desperandum: A Dictionary of Latin Tags and Useful Phrases ''[Original title: ''Amo, Amas, Amat and More''], BCA 1992 [1985], p. 175.</ref> The British had two objectives in their rule of Sindh: the consolidation of British rule and the use of Sindh as a market for British products and a source of revenue and raw materials. With the appropriate infrastructure in place, the British hoped to utilise Sindh for its economic potential.<ref name="LongSingh2015">{{citation|author1=Roger D. Long|author2=Gurharpal Singh|author3=Yunas Samad|author4=Ian Talbot|title=State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzivCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA102|date=8 October 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-44820-4|pages=102–}}</ref> The British incorporated Sindh, some years later after annexing it, into the [[Bombay Presidency]]. Distance from the provincial capital, Bombay, led to grievances that Sindh was neglected in contrast to other parts of the Presidency. The merger of Sindh into Punjab province was considered from time to time but was turned down because of British disagreement and Sindhi opposition, both from Muslims and Hindus, to being annexed to Punjab.<ref name="LongSingh2015" />

Later, desire for a separate administrative status for Sindh grew. At the annual session of the Indian National Congress in 1913, a Sindhi Hindu put forward the demand for Sindh's separation from the Bombay Presidency on the grounds of Sindh's unique cultural character. This reflected the desire of Sindh's predominantly Hindu commercial class to free itself from competing with the more powerful Bombay's business interests.<ref name="LongSingh2015" /> Meanwhile, Sindhi politics was characterised in the 1920s by the growing importance of Karachi and the Khilafat Movement.<ref name="Malik1999">{{citation|author=I. Malik|title=Islam, Nationalism and the West: Issues of Identity in Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyWBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|date=3 June 1999|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-37539-0|pages=56–}}</ref> A number of Sindhi pirs, descendants of Sufi saints who had proselytised in Sindh, joined the Khilafat Movement, which propagated the protection of the Ottoman Caliphate, and those pirs who did not join the movement found a decline in their following.<ref name="Minault1982">{{citation|author=Gail Minault|title=The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAW8GreFqjkC&pg=PA105 |year=1982 |publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-05072-2|pages=105–}}</ref> The pirs generated huge support for the Khilafat cause in Sindh.{{sfn|Ansari|1992|p=77}} Sindh came to be at the forefront of the [[Khilafat Movement]].<ref name="Society2007">{{citation|author=Pakistan Historical Society|title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_svAQAAIAAJ|year=2007 |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society.|page=245}}</ref>

Although Sindh had a cleaner record of communal harmony than other parts of India, the province's Muslim elite and emerging Muslim middle class demanded separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency as a safeguard for their own interests. In this campaign, local Sindhi Muslims identified 'Hindu' with Bombay instead of Sindh. Sindhi Hindus were seen as representing the interests of Bombay instead of the majority of Sindhi Muslims. Sindhi Hindus, for the most part, opposed the separation of Sindh from Bombay.<ref name="LongSingh2015" /> Although Sindh had a culture of religious syncretism, communal harmony and tolerance due to Sindh's strong [[Sufism|Sufi]] culture in which both Sindhi Muslims and Sindhi Hindus partook,<ref name="auto">Priya Kumar & Rita Kothari (2016) Sindh, 1947 and Beyond, ''South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies'', 39:4, 775, {{doi|10.1080/00856401.2016.1244752}}</ref> both the Muslim landed elite, ''waderas'', and the Hindu commercial elements, ''[[Bania (caste)|banias]]'', collaborated in oppressing the predominantly Muslim peasantry of Sindh who were economically exploited.<ref name="Jalal20022">{{cite book |author=Ayesha Jalal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sa6CAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA415 |title=Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850 |date=4 January 2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-59937-0 |pages=415–}}</ref> Sindhi Muslims eventually demanded the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, a move opposed by Sindhi Hindus.{{sfn|Ansari|1992|p=77}}<ref name="LongSingh20152">{{cite book |author1=Roger D. Long |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzivCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA102 |title=State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security |author2=Gurharpal Singh |author3=Yunas Samad |author4=Ian Talbot |date=8 October 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-44820-4 |pages=102–}}</ref><ref name="Society20072">{{cite book |author=Pakistan Historical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_svAQAAIAAJ |title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society. |year=2007 |page=245}}</ref>

In Sindh's first provincial election after its separation from Bombay in 1936, economic interests were an essential factor of politics informed by religious and cultural issues.<ref name="Jalal2002">{{harvnb|Jalal|2002|p=415}}</ref> Due to British policies, much land in Sindh was transferred from Muslim to Hindu hands over the decades.<ref name="SinghIyer2016">{{citation|author1=Amritjit Singh|author2=Nalini Iyer|author3=Rahul K. Gairola|title=Revisiting India's Partition: New Essays on Memory, Culture, and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmA0DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|date=15 June 2016|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-1-4985-3105-4|pages=127–}}</ref> Religious tensions rose in Sindh over the Sukkur Manzilgah issue where Muslims and Hindus disputed over an abandoned mosque in proximity to an area sacred to Hindus. The Sindh Muslim League exploited the issue and agitated for the return of the mosque to Muslims. Consequentially, a thousand members of the Muslim League were imprisoned. Eventually, due to panic the government restored the mosque to Muslims.<ref name="Jalal2002" /> The separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency triggered Sindhi Muslim nationalists to support the Pakistan Movement. Even while the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province were ruled by parties hostile to the Muslim League, Sindh remained loyal to Jinnah.<ref name="Ahmed2016">{{citation|author=Khaled Ahmed|title=Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbzBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT230|date=18 August 2016|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-86057-62-4|pages=230–}}</ref> Although the prominent Sindhi Muslim nationalist [[G. M. Syed]] left the All India Muslim League in the mid-1940s and his relationship with Jinnah never improved, the overwhelming majority of Sindhi Muslims supported the creation of Pakistan, seeing in it their deliverance.<ref name="Malik1999" /> Sindhi support for the Pakistan Movement arose from the desire of the Sindhi Muslim business class to drive out their Hindu competitors.<ref name="Kukreja2003">{{citation|author=Veena Kukreja|title=Contemporary Pakistan: Political Processes, Conflicts and Crises|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dp05sFFSAbIC&pg=PA138|date=24 February 2003|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-9683-5|pages=138–}}</ref> The Muslim League's rise to becoming the party with the strongest support in Sindh was in large part linked to its winning over of the religious pir families.{{sfn|Ansari|1992|p=115}} Although the Muslim League had previously fared poorly in the 1937 elections in Sindh, when local Sindhi Muslim parties won more seats,{{sfn|Ansari|1992|p=115}} the Muslim League's cultivation of support from local pirs in 1946 helped it gain a foothold in the province,{{sfn|Ansari|1992|p=122}} it didn't take long for the overwhelming majority of Sindhi Muslims to campaign for the creation of Pakistan.<ref name="Malik19992">{{cite book |author=I. Malik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyWBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |title=Islam, Nationalism and the West: Issues of Identity in Pakistan |date=3 June 1999 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-230-37539-0 |pages=56–}}</ref><ref name="Kukreja20032">{{cite book |author=Veena Kukreja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dp05sFFSAbIC&pg=PA138 |title=Contemporary Pakistan: Political Processes, Conflicts and Crises |date=24 February 2003 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-9683-5 |pages=138–}}</ref>