The Sindhi population in India is over 8 million, but in the census only 2.5 million are recorded.
Chehra WebDesk
The unfortunate reality is that when the census takes place, many Sindhis declare Hindi as their mother tongue instead of Sindhi. Poet and artist Nari Lakhwani of Bairagarh, Bhopal, shared his thoughts:
Sindhi language has been deliberately suppressed in India. Yet, if efforts are made, Sindhi can still be revived. In Madhya Pradesh, Sindhi has the advantage that after Hindi and English, Sindhi can be chosen, since Sanskrit is not given importance here.
Naseer Aijaz
In Hirdaram Nagar (formerly Bairagarh), near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, lives Nari Lakhwani, a renowned Sindhi poet and artist. Bairagarh was originally a British-era military prison camp, later used as a refugee camp after Partition. Sindhis developed this camp into a thriving settlement, and today it is considered the capital city of Sindhis in India, especially those from the Sāhti region of Sindh. The community established its own schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and welfare institutions. This was largely due to the efforts of Hirdaram, a saint from Bharia in Sindh, after whom the city was renamed by the Madhya Pradesh government. Even the railway station bears this name.
Because most Sindhis here are from Sāhti, Nari Lakhwani too is deeply rooted in Sindhi culture and language.
He explained how Sindhi gradually declined. Earlier, the Textbook Corporation of Madhya Pradesh used to publish Sindhi books up to grade eleven. Every subject was available in Sindhi. Later, this was stopped to promote Devanagari. Slowly, Sindhi education was phased out, and the number of printed books dropped drastically.
His younger brother Ram, who was a manager in the Corporation, told him that books were available but there were no students left to read them. Thus, millions of rupees worth of books went to waste. Later, the Corporation sought someone with good Sindhi handwriting to prepare manuscripts for limited printing. Since Nari Lakhwani’s handwriting was excellent, he was given the responsibility, and four Sindhi textbooks were published under his hand. His name became well known, and even Gujarat contacted him, where Sindhi students were once numerous. But now, Sindhi has been removed from schools there too.
In 2020, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a new education policy was introduced, making it compulsory for children to be taught in their mother tongue. This gave some hope for Sindhi’s revival. Writer Asha Chand began efforts to promote Sindhi teaching in schools, meeting donors abroad to encourage them to support Sindhi education.
Nari Lakhwani proudly mentioned that in two schools—Novind Hassumal Lakhani Girls Higher Secondary School and Mithu Govindram Boys Higher Secondary School—Sindhi is taught from grades five to eight. His two daughters, Sameeksha and Sapna, teach Sindhi there.
He added that he himself teaches Sindhi at home, not only to his own children but also to many children in the neighborhood. He said, “We know Devanagari too, but Sindhi in Arabic-Persian script feels like our own. Devanagari we use only when forced.”
Finally, he remarked:
“In India, Sindhi has been deliberately suppressed. But if efforts are made, it can still be revived. In Madhya Pradesh, Sindhi has the advantage of being chosen after Hindi and English, since Sanskrit is not prioritized. Similarly, in the newly formed state of Chhattisgarh (2000), there are opportunities to promote Sindhi.”
On the mindset of Sindhi youth, he said:
“Here, English is considered essential for progress, followed by Hindi. As a result, the younger generation has no inclination toward their mother tongue.”
He expressed regret:
“The most painful fact is that during the census, Sindhis themselves do not record Sindhi as their mother tongue. More than 50% write Hindi instead. That is why in 2011 and later censuses, the official Sindhi population in India was shown as only 2.5 million, while the actual number is over 8 million. In Madhya Pradesh alone, there are 1.1 to 1.2 million Sindhis, but official records show only 200–300 thousand.”
