Women's Liberation in Sindhi Culture and Values

Shah Latif is recognized as a spiritual guide by almost all Sindhi people.Women in Shah's poetry (and in Sindhi folk stories generally) are the central character, the heroines: and they are dynamic, uninhibited, independent minded, autonomous, dedicated, and persistent.

While Sufi interpretations of Shah Latif abound, and these are Unilateralism and not gender specific, Dr. Durreshawar Sayed, considers Shah's poetry and the role of women and their status, among other topics, in her dissertation on Shah ("The Poetry of Shah Abd al-Latif", submitted to University of Edinburgh, UK 1984 for her PhD. A version is published by Sindhi Adabi Board, Hyderabad Sindh, 1988, 350pp, English). Dr. Sayed is not the first to consider this aspect but her analysis does go in far greater depth than previous work. While she has analyzed a number of surs (compositions) here are a few of the many examples cited by Dr. Sayed.

Sisters! Success is theirs, who abandon vanity.

Friends! You must give up mindlessness.

Become naked and come out.

“adiyuun varu ughaarra,

vihaanu jehen visaariyo jeddiyuun!

chhadde jaarra,

sabhi nangiyuun thii nikro”

By giving up avarice, greed and clothing set out for the desired goal.

Success with the beloved cannot be achieved merely by sleeping the veil, inhibitions.

“sabhi nangiyuun thii nikro,

laalacha chhadde lobha

supriyaan siin sobha,

ninddruun kande na thiye”

Marui (pron. Maaruii) is a Sindhi folktale about a Thari woman, who longing for her home (Malir) refused to marry the king and live in his palace in Umarkot. saairni Dr. Sayed writes: "Shah Abd al-Latif seems to suggest through Marui that country life is preferable to life in the town, since in the village women can enjoy more freedom. This is a view advanced by Tirathdas Hotchand who rightly points out that in the rural areas of Sindh, in former times, women were much freer to participate in agriculture and animal husbandry, and that they were thus able to maintain their independence and identity in society." In fact Saaiin Hotchand suggests that Shah Latif is speaking of a matriarchal society, a view Dr. Sayed believes goes too far. But she points o a number of poems in which Marui yearns for the life of the village where women move freely:

"Blessed are the women of my country Whose shelter and protection is the desert."

-- Shah Latif