Page 12 - seniors today August issue

Down Memory Lane

A Final

Homecoming

The untold story of an unsung hero,
Bhai Pratap - my father and builder of
the new Sindh in India.
By Aruna Jagtiani

Pratap Mulchand Dialdas (fondly known
as “Bhai Pratap”) was a most prominent
Sindhi businessman of Hyderabad, Sindh
and a dedicated Gandhian, in pre- and post-
partitioned India – the historic times of the
struggle for independence from colonial rule.
Funds flowed from his firm M. Dialdas & Sons
freely towards the Movement and he was one
of Sindh’s main contributors financially as clarion call – beyond the call of duty, so to speak.
also in other underground activities – helping He gave up his vast global business empires, his
and housing those involved. In the Quit India life of luxury and leisure, to build the townships
Movement of 1942, he secretly stamped one of Adipur, Gandhidham, Kandla and Kandla
rupee notes with ‘Quit India’ and distributed Port, in Kutch, under the aegis of the Sindhu
them to the public. Resettlement Corporation formed by him for the
As the spectre of a divided nation loomed over purpose. He reached out to his mentor, guru and
British India before August 1947, (when both guide, to rewrite the New Sindh in India.
Pakistan and our country went their separate As the stream of countless refugees came
ways), the Sindhi community was faced with the pouring in over the borders, father’s vision
dark despair of losing their ancient homeland– looked to the future - to provide permanent
when Sindh wholly assigned to Pakistan. This solutions to the misery he witnessed all around.
in spite of the fact that they had fought valiantly For the New Sindh in India he dreamt of a
in the freedom movement, shoulder to shoulder new port like Karachi; of a region the oustees
with every other Indian, for Independence. of Sindh could call their own; of business
The communal carnage that ensued during this enterprise; of trade; of commerce; of prosperity
struggle was terrible in its intensity. Gandhiji that had been theirs not long before.
now turned to his loyal supporters - including
PratapDialdas and other Sindhi political leaders
for help to assuage the flames that now were
engulfing the riot torn district. He pleaded
with them to rehabilitate the Sindhis - turned
overnight into refugees in their own country…

The Clarion Call
It was Bhai Pratap who took up the Mahatma’s
12
A Rare Picture of Bhai Pratap & Mahatma Gandhi in Discussion
SENIORS TODAY | Volume 1 | Issue 2
of the New Sindh