Sindhiani Tahreek ( sd, سنڌياڻي تحريڪ, "Sindhi women's movement") (also known as The Sindhiyani Tehreek) is a women-led

political organization A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in poli ...

formed by rural women in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, the southern province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

History

Sindhiyani Tehreek was launched in 1980 by rural women of

province of

to fight the discriminatory laws against women promulgated by Zia's regime. The founding women were members of the Awami Tehreek, a Left-leaning Sindhi

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. Ideologically, the Sindhiyani Tehreek was influenced by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. The organization's membership consisted of peasant women, students, school teachers, educated housewives and professional women. Sindhiyani Tehreek fought against

honour killings An honor killing (American English), honour killing (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect wha ...

forced conversion Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which ...

and unequal distribution of land. Allied with Awami Tahreek in Sindh, Sindhiani tahreek endeavoured to make women aware of larger provincial issues such as question of using

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India ...

in schools and political institutions in the province, accelerating practice of auctioning land to Non-Sindhi people, and the growing Sindhi nationalism. Sindhiani Tahreek fully participated with shoulder to shoulder with their men comrades in

MRD MRD may refer to: Fiction * Mutant Response Division, fictional Marvel Comics organization * MRD, fictional substance used for time travel in the 2015 film ''Synchronicity'' Medicine * Medical records department in a hospital * Minimal residual dis ...

against

Zia Zia or ZIA (also spelled Ziya, Ḍiya , Dia or Diya) may refer to: People * Zia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** A romanization of the Wu ( Shanghainese) pronunciation of the Chinese surname Xie (謝) ...

regime.

1980s

Sindhiyani joined Anti-Kalabagh Dam movement in late ‘80s. Members participated in long marches in hot summer days, they walked on foot, with their children hanging around their waist. The marches include hundreds of Sindhi women.

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

also joined them in late ‘90s, in one of their protests in Obauro near

Ghotki Ghotki ( ur, ; sd, گهوٽڪي) is a city in northern Sindh, Pakistan. It is the headquarter of Ghotki District. It is the 87th largest city of Pakistan by population. Ghotki is famous for Pera Sweet. History According to Mirza Kalich Beg ...

then during the Long March to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

from

Sukkur Sukkur (; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and Hyderabad, and 14th largest ci ...

2000s

The movement is now divided into three factions, one led by

Rasool Bux Palijo Rasul Bux Palejo (also spelled Rasool Bux Palijo) (, ur, ; 21 February 1930 – 7 June 2018) was a Pakistani leftist, Marxist leader from Sindh, scholar and writer. He was a human-rights lawyer and the leader and founder of Awami Tahre ...

, second led by,

Ayaz Latif Palijo Ayaz Latif Palijo ( Sindhi, ur, اياز لطیف پلیجو) (born 15 November 1968, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan) is a politician, lawyer, activist, writer and teacher. Palijo is the current president of Qomi Awami Tahreek (Peoples National Move ...

and third called "''Sindhi Aurantan Ji Tanzeem''" (Sindhi Women's Movement) (a front of the Awami Jamhoori Party), is led by Zahida Dahri and Nazir Qureshi. The last two have a good presence in several districts including Karachi and Hyderabad. Members of Sindhiani Tahreek participated in Aurat March in 2020.

Notable members

* President: Umrao Samoon * Former president: Zeenat Samoon * Members include: Hajiani Lanjo, Nazeer Qureshi, Ghazala Siddiqui, Zahida Sheikh

Zarina Baloch Zarina Baloch ( sd, زرينه بلوچ) (29 December 1930 – 25 October 2005) was a Pakistani folk music singer, vocalist and composer. She was also an actress, Radio and TV artist, writer, teacher for over 30 years, political activist and soc ...

, Shahnaz Rahoo, Khairunisa Khoso, Shama Bhatti, Sahibzadi Dahri, Mumtaz Nizamani, Naseem Sindhi, Husna Rahujo Subahni Dahri, Noorbano Mallah, Zarina Kalrani, Fatima Halepoto, Lakshmi, Shamshad Leghari, Noor Nisa Palijo, Saleha Gopang, Husna Nahiyo and Sakina Memon.

References

Women's organisations based in Pakistan Women's rights in Pakistan Feminism in Pakistan Politics of Sindh {{Org-stub