Sindhiani Tahreek (, "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 polit ...

formed by rural women in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, the southern province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

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 area'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,

forced conversion Forced conversion is the adoption of a religion or 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 were originally held, w ...

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 ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...

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 against Zia 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 (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

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

Ghotki Ghotki (; ) is a city in northern Sindh, Pakistan, and the headquarter of Ghotki District. Its population as of 2023 is . Ghotki is famous for its date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant spec ...

then during the Long March to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

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 List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

2000s

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

Rasool Bux Palijo Rasool Bux Palijo ( Sindhi, ; 21 February 1930 – 7 June 2018) was a Pakistani leftist, Marxist leader, scholar and writer. He was a leading human-rights lawyer and the leader and founder of Awami Tahreek, a progressive and leftist party. ...

, second led by, Ayaz Latif Palijo 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 The Aurat March (, ) is an annual socio-political demonstration in Pakistani cities such as Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Islamabad to observe International Women's Day. The first Aurat Marches were begun by women's collec ...

in 2020.

Notable members

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

{{Reflist Women's organisations based in Pakistan Women's rights in Pakistan Feminism in Pakistan Politics of Sindh