A poet in New York

Asif Farrukhi in Dawn:

Whether you think of Lyari as Karachi’s Harlem or Harlem as a Lyari in New York, for Noon Meem Danish places provide a context but not a definition. ‘I am what I am’; he explains his signature with a characteristic mixture of pride and humility. Off-beat and defiant, he was a familiar figure in the literary landscape of the ’70s and ’80s. His poems expressing solidarity with the Negritude and the plight of blacks all over the world were referred to in Dr Firoze Ahmed’s social topography of the African-descent inhabitants of Pakistan. Karachi’s poet Noon Meem Danish now makes his home in the New York state of mind, and feels that he is very much in his element there. It is where I met him again after a gap of many years, as he came to the Columbia University to attend a talk I was giving. We made our way afterwards to the student centre, talking freely in the relaxed and informal atmosphere.

Noor Mohammed was born in Lyari in 1958. He received his early education in Okhai Memon School in Kharadar and soon metamorphosed into Noon Meem Danish, the poet.

More here.  [Thanks to Maniza Naqvi.]

Comments

[Justin]

I'm intrigued. How many Pakistanis of African descent are there? How did they wind up there? How long ago?

[Abbas Raza]

I believe, Justin, that they were African slaves brought to the Makran coast of Baluchistan by Arab merchants in the 8th century, after the invasion of Sind in 711 by Mohammad bin Qasim, who hailed from Baghdad. There are roughly about a half mllion of them.

[maniza]

Justin,
the Sheedi communities in Southern Pakistan on the Makran Coast and in Karachi (mainly in the large slum area of Lyari) trace their roots to Ethiopian and Absynnian slaves that came to the South Asia with the Arabs.:

WORD FOR WORD: The ‘Sheedi’ of Sindh —Khaled Ahmed
‘Sheedi’ may be a misused word today but it comes from the same root as Syed. The question is: what is the root of Syed? The root (swd) actually means black. When ‘sheedis’ of Sindh were named, it simply meant ‘black people’

I have come across the word sheedi in Sindh, meaning a bad person, just as in Punjab majha is a bad word, meaning hoodlum. Both words have noble origins. Majha is from Mi’raj, a proper noun celebrating the ascension of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the sacred month of Rajab.

At times we add sajha to our list of bad names. This should be horrible become it comes from Siraj (lamp) which is a name given to the Prophet (PBUH) in the Quran.

Sheedi is from Sidi. If you go to Morocco you will find that our honorific appellation Syed is reduced to Sidi or simply Sid. There was a soldier of fortune in Spain who fought both Christians and Muslims to become the country’s national hero.

The 11th century conqueror Rodrigo Diaz was called El Cid by the Muslims and El Camprador (the champion) by his countrymen. He was immortalised in European literature, French classical poet Corneille writing a play titled El Cid.

In the 1960s, Sindhi nationalism focused on Hoshoo Sheedi, the martyred general of the Talpurs, who had fought the British army bravely and was buried in Pakka Qila in Hyderabad, the traditional castle of the Talpur rulers which is now home to muhajirs from India.

The tombstone of his grave was actually found in Pakka Qila, after which the call to resettle the muhajirs was made. Sindhi nationalists wanted Pakka Qila preserved as a historic site.

In 1962, resettlement was imposed and the muhajir houses began to be demolished, especially in areas settled by late arrivals.

This led to a fight between muhajirs and Sindhis. It was the trouble at Pakka Qila — and the growing gulf between prime minister Benazir Bhutto and army chief Mirza Aslam Beg — that resulted in the dismissal of the PPP government in 1990.

Who was Hoshoo Sheedi? Why was he called Sheedi? The original word must have been Syedi which means ‘my lord’ in Arabic. But why should a Sindhi person be called Sheedi?

Helene Basu, associate professor at Free University in Berlin, is a leading authority on Sheedis. In medieval times, black African slaves were brought to South Asia in large numbers. Medieval Indian history refers to Ethiopian or Abyssinian slaves serving at royal courts or in the armies of imperial/local rulers.

According to Dr Basu, Sheedis are found in many states in India, but nowhere do they exceed 20,000. The largest community of Sheedis is found in Sindh: some years ago, there were 50,000 of them, ‘but that number must have trebled’.

The question is why are black people called sidi? Is it some kind of euphemism to avoid giving offence? After all, maula (owner) in Arabic also means slave. The answer is in etymology. And a very strange etymology it is, as found in the Quran.

The root is swd. It means black. It is from this root that we get aswad the adjective we apply to hajr aswad, the black stone that lies at the centre of the ritual of Hajj. Somehow the Quran also uses the word for any thick collection of things.

Thickness implies blackness especially in regard to trees. The Quran denotes wealth and a large population by sawwaad. The leader of a large population is called al saayid, from where Syed (leader) is derived. He is rich and commands respect. We often refer to the majority population as sawad-e-azam.

It is therefore not surprising that African slaves brought to Sindh were called sidis. We made sheedi out of that and applied it to hoodlums. Some sidis must have taken to bad ways. But the root of sidi does mean black. It is another way of saying habshi (negro).

http://www.europaworld.org/issue67/festivalofsheedi1202.htm

http://www.dawn.com/2007/07/16/local9.htm

Maniza