Freedom Movement’s unsung hero Sibghatullah Shah Shaheed remembered

KARACHI: Renowned scholars paid a glowing tribute to Pir Syed Sibghatullah Shah Shaheed and his struggle for freedom from British occupation and termed him an unsung hero of the Freedom Movement.

They said this at a memorial seminar on the 78th martyrdom anniversary of Syed Sibghatullah Shah Shaheed.

The seminar, which was titled “The Hur Resistance Movement: Reflections on De-colonial History and Heritage in Postcolonial Pakistan”, was organized by the Soreh Badshah Study Circle at the Karachi Press Club here.

The speakers at the seminar also underlined the need for conducting thorough research to unveil facts and forgotten aspects of the Hur movement.

Addressing the seminar renowned scholars Aftab Nabi, Naseer Aijaz, Prof. Mumtaz Bhutto, Javed Qazi, former MPA Anwer Mahar and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional general-secretary Sardar Rahim termed the Hur resistance movement — led by Sibghatullah Shah, famously known as Soreh Badshah — a linchpin of the Freedom Movement of Pakistan.

Deliberating upon the history of the movement they informed the audience that the Hur movement spanned over a century as the first phase of the movement started in the 1830s when the East India Company was eyeing the state of Sindh from one side while Raja Ranjit Singh was posing threats from the northern frontiers.

At that time Sibghatullah Shah I supported Syed Ahmed Shaheed and provided him with fighters and finance so that the threats to the Muslims of the area could be effectively countered, they said, adding that the second phase of the movement was witnessed during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

Sibghatullah Shah II in the 1930s mobilized his followers against the oppressive colonial power and opted for an armed resistance for the freedom of the country. They said that the then Sindh government had to enact a draconian law, the Hur Act, to suppress the movement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021