I have recently started reading the internet editions of Sindhi newspapers and I find the standard of journalism there at par, if not better than Urdu and English. While Urdu and English media gets all the attention, Sindhi press is lesser recognized.
Sindhi newspapers cover all those items that one finds in national newspapers. Besides ‘aham khabrooN’ (important news), ‘wadheek khabrooN’ (more news) we can find business news, Showbiz, Sports, Editorials, cartoons, feature articles etc all in Sindhi newspapers. One obvious contrast between Urdu, English versus Sindhi newspapers however, is the news prioritization. Sometimes the headlines on Sindhi newspapers find a small place on back page of national dailies and vice versa.
On Irrigation Water Issues
One topic which I have consistently found appearing in bold in Sindhi newspapers is about the irrigation water. While Urdu press does not mention irrigation issues unless there is a flood or severe drought, water flow measurements at Sindh barrages make regular appearence in Sindhi news. Every few days I see a news item showing concern on depleting water levels at Guddu, Sukkur and desert like conditions downstream of Kotri. It shows that sharing of river water is a matter much more serious for Sindh than it gets its share on national media. This issue gets such a unanimous support in Sindhi press that I have not yet seen a single editorial in support of building new dams like Kalabagh etc. My guess is that in coming years, water sharing will become a major problem among provinces.
Who reads Sindhi Newspapers?
I believe the newspapers are alive and thriving because Sindhi is loved by the people who speak it and they prefer to get their news in Sindhi. Then there is another group of people whose mother tongue is not Sindhi but they like to read Sindhi newspapers in order to understand the regional perspective. I belong to this second group of people.
Sindhi newspapers also cater to the strong currents of Sindhi nationalism present in Sindh province.
The Sindh-Punjab Equation
Another thing which I have noticed in Sindhi newspaper is their stress on the Sindh-Punjab comparison. It is not a secret that smaller provinces feel that they have to compete with the larger province in every social and economic field to maintain their historical and current provincial identity. This feeling is reflected in provincial newspapers also where almost all Sindhi newspapers try to dwelve on Sindh-Punjab comparison or try to show the picture where smaller provinces are not being treated fairly.
There is a strong need of bringing Sindhi and other provincial issues at National level to build consensus on them which in turn will strengthen national harmony. Currently many hot issues brew up and remain hidden from people in larger cities because Urdu and English media does not cover them as well as Sindhi newspapers do. Translating important news from Sindhi to Urdu/English and getting them prime real state on National dailies is the need of the hour. Here I must mention that the daily Dawn does give a weekly review of Sindhi newspapers in its features section.
Current State of Sindhi Press
More than fifteen daily Sindhi newspapers are published in Pakistan with Hyderabad being the largest center of such publications. Karachi and Sukkur follow suit. Largest circulation belongs to Kawish.
Ibrat newspaper has a leaning or a soft corner towards Pakistan Peoples Party. It is circulated more among politically conscious readership. Kawish on the other hand is more of an awami(public) newspaper and has a larger circulation. Kawaish has recently ventured into TV media also and KTV channel belongs to them.
Brief History of Sindhi Press
The pioneers of journalism in Sindh were the Persian language newspapers. First Persian language newspaper started in Sindh in 1855. Its owner was Mirza Mukhlis Ali. In 1860, Mirza Mukhlis started a bilingual newspaper from Sukkur which printed one column in Persian and the other column contained its Sindhi translation. This newspaper was called ‘Matla Khursheed’ and is considered as the first Sindhi newspaper of the subcontinent. Matla Khursheed continued to publish until 1910.
The first Sindhi only newspaper was called ‘Moin-ul-Islam’ and it started its circulation in 1880. This was followed by various other papers such as Sind Sudhar, Muawan Majma, Saraswati, Aftab Sind, Kher Khoah, Musafir and Al Haq
The second period of Sindhi Journalism began with the publication of Al Hilal in 1901. The first Sindhi daily called Sind Wasi came out in 1908 and the second Hind Wasi in 1917. During this period a number of important papers were brought out which included Al Kashif, Al Ameen, Tauheed, Sitara-e-Sind and Subah Sind. This period culminated with publication of Al Waheed, the greatest Sindhi newspaper to date which was not only a newspaper but a movement and played a leading role in the establishment of Pakistan. Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi, Maulana Din Mohammad Wafai, Prof. Din Mohammad Alig, Pir Ali Mohammad Rashidi and Kazi Abdur Rehman were some of the stalwarts of journalism at the time who with their pens raised the consciousness of the people and made them aware of their rights.
Hilal-e-Pakistan began publication in 1946 at Hyderabad. It also mobilized people in favor of Pakistan. Hilal-e-Pakistan is probably the only Sindhi newspaper which has offices in Islamabad and Lahore also.
After independence of Pakistan several new papers came into existence, including Naeen Sind, Mehran, Azad, Nawai Sind.
List of current
Sindhi Newspapers
- Kawish, Hyderabad
- Ibrat, Hyderabad
- Hilal-e-Pakistan, Hyderabad
- Khadim-e-Watan
- Mehran, Hyderabad
- Awami Awaz, Karachi
- Nai Zindagi
- Parish
- Udhar
- Gulful
- Halar
- Sham
- Koshish
- Tameer-e-Sindh
- Halchal
- The Daily Nijat: Sukkur, Karachi
Reference:
(1) Material for “Brief History of Sindhi Newspapers” has been taken from an article “Sindhi Press in Pakistan” written by Shahida Mirza
(2) ‘aaj ka Sindh’ by Mahmood Mirza.
Hi its me Saleem please emergenct are announced in pakistan bhaj t bhajooon …………………….
The link to Mr. Mahmood Mirza’s book ‘aaj ka Sindh’ is here. Same link is added in the reference section of this post.
The Larkana City
The city of heaven became hell the city of garden became a jungle ,city of education became ignorance, city of justice became unjustice, City of light became anorchy , city of games became the city of death games , Due to corrupted Administration that city is changing day by day.
Our larkanian people must arise their voice against this corrupted people. Each and every thing and beauty of Larkana has been looted by those people who did not want to make it as a Paris According to the Opinion Of Zulfikar Ali bhutto .
The city named as Larkana is the place of those leaders. from them the our former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Also belongs to this city. But when he got his Post of Prime Minister then once he came to Larkana city and was passing from the bazar then the an old man the fakeer wanted to meet him due to heavy rush of people he did not move from his position and he shouted and called bhutto be stop here. And Bhutto laid down from his car and met to that fakeer . and gave him the one thousand in chairity.and the Bhutto requested Fakeer that oh Fakeer please pray to Allah for me then the fakeer replied that Allah has rewarded you with his blessings and have given you the post of PM and you are till demanding many others. what Should Allah give you .Give me your post of PM to me And take my fakeeri post
from mentioned real storey of ZA bhutto we ourselves can see the difference what was the role of PM in Past time and What is the role of Currrent PM .
In that Government the Begger was giving the orders to PM that If you are not agree then leave this post. But nowadays if the media is reporting against them then the media is to brobeaten and tortured by the Government forces
In the time what was the dare of the begger and they had cofidence and courage how to get our rights from this man
and they were understanding the PM that He is our servant
But Nowadays PM is understanding that nation is foolish and they are our servants
I appeal to every Pakistani . If in your Mohalla, In your city, In your District, in Your province, in your Pakistan If the Administration is not doing better works for you then make a nation case against them.
I appeal to whole the sindhi media and nation that Pakistani Politics is going to take only their profits so you all the people must be carefull and only give vote to those who have the value for our sindhi nation. other wise donot give to them votes to them who are only sitting for getting their own purposes.
Media is not in a complete freedom. I Pray to Allah Almighty that when media is freed then all dishonest, unsincere, enemy of the Pakistan, corrupted person who snatches the rights will be exposed. That day will be the last day of their corruption and due to media all those people will disappear from the Assemblies, from the police and from all other institutions.
The stadium of larkana city was in a cricitical conditions for many years after the thousands application they only establish only the lights. not to make a groud better
What will happen if the our sports grounds are in these conditions how will the Pakistan won world cup if our Players going to leave the cricket . there having no facilities this game has become the game of curse.