Publishing scenario in Sindhi Language (Historically & now)

(Note: Year 1947 marks an important watershed for Sindhi speaking Community as that year due to partition of the country many Sindhi Hindus had to seek refuge in India. It is beyond the scope of this presentation to dwell on the trauma and horrors of the partition. However the present paper for Historical perspective will have to be divided in two distinct parts i.e. Pre- partition and post Partition)

Background before 1947:

While speaking about publishing in Sindhi from Historical perspective following factors need to be taken into consideration.

Sind was the last territory to be conquered by British in this subcontinent in 1843 and it was annexed to Bombay Presidency for administrative purpose. Before the advent of the British rule the court language was Persian and Sindhi language became official language of Sind only after the British rule. By that time Sindhi was well developed language and had a rich literature in poetry but it did not have any significant prose literature in Sindhi Language. The script for the Sindhi Language was nor formalized or standardized. British rulers were confronted with a bewildering situation as Sindhi language was being written in 13/14   different   Scripts. A Committee was set up consisting of Sindhi Scholars from both the community that formalized present Presio- Arabic based script with various changes of 52 letters in 1854.

Education of Sindhi Language on modern lines started only thereafter. At that initial phase time Text books and books from other Indian Languages were translated in a large number. The books of academic nature were also published during this initial period. At that time various Social reform movements like that of Brahmo Samaj and others  made a strong impact on the original creative literature Published in Sindhi language and books translated  from English and other I This was followed by influence of Freedom movement on literature. During decade of 1940 as with other Indian languages the literature of Sindhi Language also came under the influence of ‘Progressive movement of Literature’. All these books were published by publishers based in various important towns of Sind but Hyderabad ( Sind) Continued to be main center of Publications.

The main Publishing houses in that period were:

(1)Sunder Sahit Mandal (2) Ratan sahit Mala. (3) Sind Muslim Society ( 4) Sikh Tract Society ( 4) Zindagi Sahit Mala (5) Naeen Duniya Kitab Ghar. First Literary Magazine ‘ Saraswati’ started its Publication in 1890. First original Novel ‘ ZEENAT’  by Miraza Kalich Beg was also written in 1890. First original Short story ‘ Hura Makhi a Ja’ written by Lalchand Amardinomal  was published in 1914. Till 1947 about 3000 books were published by various publishers in Sindhi Langauge.

Post 1947:

Due to partition of the country Sindhi speaking people found themselves scattered in various parts of India. As they settled as a community in the camps that were left by army in the aftermath of the Second World War they could identify themselves as a distinct ‘Refugee Community’.  The band of the population that migrated to India consisted mainly of middle class businessmen or people in various Professions and services and sprinkling of landed gentry that had been rendered landless. The working class, peasantry and artisans had converted to Islam during the past centuries and remained back in Pakistan. Fortunately this section of the community proved to be most resilient as it had in its fold small traders, students, teachers and other professionals.

As the life force asserted itself students and Teachers resumed their activities in the new environment and this called for Publications and other teaching material and books of knowledge. Thus initially text books and related books were published on the pattern that was in vogue before 1947 thus continuity was maintained and no loss in education occurred in spite of great upheaval.

Another blow was soon to strike the community. As the Indian constitution of India came into existence Sindhi Language did not find its place in the constitution. This led to widespread discrimination in the field of education and all fields related to language thus a strong movement for inclusion of Sindhi Language in the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution started in which all sections of community participated. This upsurge led to realization of Language being a part of the core identity of any Community. This movement was led by writers, educationist and Artist of the community. This was called a movement of “Sindhyat”.  This demand was met after 20 years of struggle on 10^th April 1967 Sindhi Language found its place in the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution.

During this process many magazines were published from various parts of the country wherever Sindhi People resided in a sizeable number. In Indian context the publication of literature is often linked to the publishers of literary Magazines. It is not possible to list all the magazines that were published during this period but only those could be mentioned that had publishing activity also as its adjunct.

Mr. Jehanand Bhavandas Lalwani from Bombay started his popular monthly Magazine ‘Raj Filimstan’ and continued to publish books also, under the banner of “ Bharat Jeewan sahit Mandal” and during his  time he is reckoned to have published about 500 books on various subjects. Most of the  books by Prof: Ram Panjwani ( Sahitya Akademi Awardee and Padam Shri) have been published by them. Another important writer whose main body of books continued to be published by them was Cahndulal Jaisinghani who wrote his series of books “Bagoo Barrister” on the lines of Perry Mason Mysteries.  . He published religious books also and publishing GURU GRANTH SAHIB in Sindhi script is note worthy.

Mr. Jagat Advani started his Kahani Sahit Mandal in Sind itself in 1939 and published 17 books of fiction mostly translated by him. He resumed that Publication in Bombay in 1949 and is said to have published fiction mostly translated by him. He was a prolific translator is said to have translated about 60 books. He introduced in Sindhi literature Hindi writers like Dharamvir Bharti and Agaiy.  During last phase he was influenced by philosophy of Satya Sai Baba and started Sai Publication under whose auspices he published 6 Books. He translated books for Other Publications like ‘Pirha Phuti’ and translated two books for Sahitya Akademi.

Dr, Narayan Bharti published a weekly Magazine sindhi Times from Ulhasnagar. Under the banner of ‘Sindhi Times Publications” he published about 200 books of various genres of literature. Some of the books published by this publication include the autobiographies of some prominent writer.

During early 50’s Mr. Tej Parwani from Poona Started “Nargis” Magazine as well as established  “ Nargis Publication”  he  is said to have published more than 100 books mostly   translated by him. Unfortunately this venture did not continue for a long time.

Before partition of the country Progressive writers movement had made inroads into Sindhi Literature and a Magazine Naeen Duniya and “ Naeen Duniya  Kitab Ghar” were established. Before partition of the country handful of books were published under this banner. After the partition of the country the Magazine resumed Publication and became a rallying venture for writers to struggle for inclusion of Sindhi Language in 8^th Schedule of Indian Constitution. It introduced many new writers to Sindhi Language and continued to uphold the Values of Progressive literature. It in its span of 25 years Published 500 poems, 200 short Stories and many literary articles. Most of the matter Published was comiled and Published in book form and it Published about 75 books that are valued today also by Scholars doing research on Sindhi Literature in various Universities.

“Koonj” literary magazine was started by late Hari Motwani  and now ins being edited by Mr. Nand Chughani. Under the auspices also about 200 books have been published. The special issues devoted to then various living writers have proved to be a valuable reference material for research scholars while writing Monographs on them as assigned by Sahitya Akademi under the series Makers of Modern Indian Literature.

Hindustan was a daily newspaper that in early days had a large readership and Weekly issue Hindvasi was much catered for. Under banner of  “Hinduatan Kitab Ghar” they published about 50 books. Books were mostly translated they are of  motivating nature for Health and Spirituality. ‘How to win Friends and Influence people’ was translated by late Prof: Ram Panjwani proved to be very popular and the books of complete poetry of  Shah Abdul Latif has set a bench mark.

Due to generational shift in last 75 years the reader base in Sindhi language is considerably been eroded. The fact remains that Sindhi speaking people account for only about. 0.5% of the population of India and that too scattered all across the country. Sindhi Language is not official language of any state in India. It is not spoken in markets and it is not a language of trade and commerce.  Therefore In this situation the utility aspect of the language in missing. So the  centralized distribution channel for Sindhi books is also absent..  It has only relevance of being distinct literary and cultural identity of the community. Without any state support it would not be possible to promote and preserve this language therefore some Community sponsored and Government sponsored support structures have been created.

Indian Institute of Sindhology at Adipur ( Kutch) is a community effort by intelligentsia of the community aimed at preserving  and furtherance of Sindhi Literature and culture. They have established a library of books and magazines that has about 30000 books on its shelf all dealing with Sind and most of the books published in Sindhi. They have showcased Sindhi History and Culture in a specially created gallery. They have been Publishing ‘Rachna’ a literary magazine from 1979 and have published 50 books important being Sindhi Translation of Constitution of India and trilingual dictionary.

Sahitya Akademi was established by Government of India in 1954 as an autonomous body of Indian writers of Indian Languages. It adopted Sindhi Language for its activities in 1959.

It has so far published Sindhi Translation of 22 Novels from various Languages. 18 collections of Short Stories, 8 books of Drama, 24 books of poetry and 30 books on other literary subjects. It has published 28 Monographs of sindhi writers under the series “Makers of Indian Literature”.

National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language was established by central Government under Education Ministry only after great struggle by Sindhi writers and Activists in 1994.In absence of any linguistic state and absence of distribution channel it encourages writers to publish their own books and gives partial aid for publication of the books in last 5 years aid had been given for 121 books. Further among its activities is Bulk purchase Scheme. It Purchases about 150 copies at discounted rate from author-publishers and distributes to school libraries and institutions. In last 5 years it has purchased 389 books. In order to promote Sindhi Language it conducts regular vacation classes also.

Wherever Sindhi speaking Population is in sizeable number the state concerned have established Sindhi Academies to cater to local needs and encourage writers of those states.

Sindhi Sahitya Academy Gujrat: It has done commendable work in field of Sindhi Folk literature and Children’s’ literature. It has Published 44 books till 2020.

Delhi Sindhi Academi:  It was established in 1994. It regularly publishes Magazine “SIndhu Jyot” so far 73 issues have been published and it has published 60 books.

After 1947, about 4000 in various genres are published in Sindhi Language.

Due to globalization all languages are being deserted by urban elite and aspiring middle class in favor of English. Audio-Visual content has edge over printed word. This is the challenge that all Indian Languages are facing but for Sindhi speaking people in India this challenge assumes grave threat as other languages have villages to preserve their Language in case of Sindhi Language that factor is missing as most of Sindhi population is concentrated in urban centers.

Yet every challenge has an opportunity also in its womb.  In cyber world all boundaries have been rendered redundant. Thus the handicap imposed by partition of the country may no longer remain a defining factor for growth and enrichment of literature and cross border exchange of Sindhi literature.

(Published in the commemorative volume of Federation of Indian Publishers )