Preserving Distinctive Identity through Cultural Revival: An Analysis of Sindhi Nationalist Movement during One-Unit Era

Abstract

Islam The paper intends to address the fundamental question that whether the movement for cultural revival in Sindh during the One-Unit period was a surrogate effort for the achievement of political goals or it was an effort by the Sindhi intelligentsia to protect Sindhi culture against the government's patronized onslaught of foreign cultures and to ensure the survival of cultural personality of indigenous Sindhis. The abolishment of Sindh's provincial status in 1955 to create a unified province of West Pakistan, also called as One-Unit, had triggered a campaign in Sindh to regain the provincial status. The political environment was not permissible for any overt political agitation, so a vigorous campaign for cultural revival spearheaded by the intelligentsia and educated youth emerged with vigor. The study focuses on investigating the goals and objectives of the movement by qualitative analysis of data and concludes that the movement endeavoured to protect and strengthen the distinctive cultural personality of indigenous Sindhis within Pakistan.