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{{Short description|Sindhi nationalist and politician}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| caption = G.M Syed in ceremony program
| name = Ghulam Murtaza Syed
| image = Syed Ghulam Murtaza Shah.jpg
| native_name = {{Lang|sd|{{Naskh|غلام مرتضي سيد}}}}
| office = [[Sindh Education and Literacy Department|Minister of Education of Sind]]
| premier = [[Mir Bandeh Ali Khan Talpur]]
| governor = [[Lancelot Graham]] [[Hugh Dow]]
| term_start = 18 March 1940
| term_end = 7 March 1941<ref name="PrepartitionGovementsSindh">{{cite web|title=Provinces of British India|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Sind|website=worldstatesmen.org|publisher=WORLD STATESMEN.org|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn" />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1904|01|17}}
| birth_place = [[Sann, Sindh|Sann]], than [[Karachi District (Sind)]] [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]] {{small|(present-day [[Jamshoro District]] [[Sindh]], Pakistan)}}
| death_date = {{death date|df=yes|1995|04|25}} (age 91)
| death_place = [[Karachi]], [[Sindh]], Pakistan
| resting_place = [[Sann, Sindh]]
| known_for = Sindhi nationalist
| nationality =
| signature =
| parents = Syed Mohammed Shah Kazmi (father)
| children = Syed Amir Hyder Shah Syed Imdad Muhammad Shah Zarin Taj Shama Aimen Dr. Durreshahwar
| honorific_prefix = Saeen
}}

'''Ghulam Murtaza Syed'''{{Efn|{{langx|sd|{{Naskh|غلام مرتضيٰ سيد}}}}}} (17 January 1904 – 25 April 1995),<ref name="zaffarJunejo">{{cite web|last1=Zaffar|first1=Junejo|title=G M Syed (Sindhi): Remembering a visionary|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/823803/g-m-syed-remembering-a-visionary/|website=tribune.com.pk|publisher=[[The Express Tribune]]|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=19 January 2015}}</ref> known as '''G. M. Syed''' was a [[Sindhi nationalist]] and [[politician]], who is known for his scholarly work,<ref name="SindhAssemblyResolution">{{cite web|title=KARACHI 1943: A PROCESSION IN TRIUMPH|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1341487|website=dawn.com|publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=24 June 2017}}</ref> later proposing ideological groundwork for separate [[Sindhi people|Sindhi]] identity and laying the foundations of [[Sindhudesh]] movement.<ref name="Sindhudeshfounder">{{cite web|title='No China, Go China' slogans reverberate at JSMM rally in Sindh|url=https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/no-china-go-china-slogans-reverberate-at-jsmm-rally-in-sindh201801191055380002/|website=aninews.in|publisher=Asian News International|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=19 January 2018}}</ref> He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern [[Sindhi nationalism]].<ref name="FatherSindhiNationalism">{{cite book|author=Farhan Hanif Siddiqi|title=The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KN7fCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-33697-3|page=76}}</ref> He was known as "Saeen" by his supporters.

G.M Syed started his political career at the age of 16, when he organised [[Ottoman Caliphate|Khilafat]] Conference at his hometown, [[Sann, Sindh|Sann]], on 17 March 1920.<ref name="Kothari2007">{{cite book|author=Rita Kothari|title=The burden of refuge: the Sindhi Hindus of Gujarat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hpuAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Orient Longman|language=en|isbn=978-81-250-3157-4|page=48}}</ref> Syed was one of the earliest Sindhi politician who sought the creation of Islamic Pakistan, and became a vocal supporter of the [[Two-Nation Theory]], advocated by the Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah; Syed's political propaganda for a purely 'Muslim-dominated state' is witnessed after the Manzilgah incident,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hpuAAAAMAAJ&q=Amidst+the+chaos+of+the+Manzilgah+incident+he+is+known+to+have+said,+%22all+Hindus+shall+be+driven+out+of+Sindh+like+the+Jews+from+Germany%22+(K.R.+Malkani+1984,+121). | title=The Burden of Refuge: The Sindhi Hindus of Gujarat | isbn=9788125031574 | last1=Kothari | first1=Rita | year=2007 | publisher=Orient Longman }}</ref> However, once the independent nation was formed, he became a [[political prisoner]] of the state in 1948, due to differences with the country's leadership.<ref name="1948politicalprisoner">{{cite web|last1=World Sindh|first1=congress|title=Statement by Dr. Haleem Uddin Bhatti, Information Secretary, World Sindhi Congress|url=http://www.worldsindhicongress.org/1995/09/statement-by-dr-haleem-uddin-bhatti-information-secretary-world-sindhi-congress/|website=worldsindhicongress.org|publisher=[[World Sindhi Congress]]|access-date=23 May 2018|archive-date=7 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707230417/http://www.worldsindhicongress.org/1995/09/statement-by-dr-haleem-uddin-bhatti-information-secretary-world-sindhi-congress/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn">{{cite web|last1=KHADIM|first1=SOOMRO|title=G.M. Syed remembered|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/867039|website=dawn.com|date =20 January 2009|publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|dawn]]|access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> He restated his political propaganda of ideologies which advocated for Islamic principles, secularism, Sindhi nationalism and laid the basis for [[Sindhudesh]] Movement.<ref name="NadeemFparacha">{{cite web|author1=Nadeem F. Paracha|author-link1=Nadeem F. Paracha|title=Making of the Sindhi identity: From Shah Latif to GM Syed (Sindhi) to Bhutto|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/867039|website=dawn.com|publisher=Dawn|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=10 September 2015}}</ref> He spent approximately thirty years of his life in imprisonment and house arrests for his political views.<ref name="naseermemon">{{cite web|last1=Naseer|first1=Memon|title=Relevance of GM Syed today|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/494904/relevance-of-gm-syed-today/|website=tribune.com.pk|publisher=[[The Express Tribune]]|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=17 January 2013|quote=he remained interned for over 30 years}}</ref> He was entitled as the ''prisoner of conscience'' by [[Amnesty International]] in 1995.<ref name="International1995">{{cite book|author=Amnesty International|title=Amnesty International: The 1995 Report on Human Rights Around the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrfnHQtkbWkC|year=1995|publisher=Hunter House|isbn=978-0-89793-183-0}}</ref> He died during his [[house arrest]] in [[Karachi]] on 26 April 1995.<ref name="Das2001">{{cite book|author=Suranjan Das|title=Kashmir and Sindh: Nation-building, Ethnicity and Regional Politics in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxA6FOe_NUcC&pg=PA140|year=2001|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-1-898855-69-9|page=140}}</ref>

After his father's death, he grew up with his father's best family friend Rais Faqir Bux Khan Kaachhi, whom at that time, was the chief of the Kaachhi tribe, Rais Faqir Bux Khan Kaachhi was GM Syed's Ustaad and a uncle like figure to him and protected him from the enemies of GM. Syed's father. Gm syed had also mentioned Rais Faqir Bux Khan Kaachhi in his books.

== Early life ==
===Childhood: 1904–15===
G. M. Syed was born to the Sadat family of [[Sindh]] in the town of [[Sann, Sindh|Sann]] on 17 January 1904. He was an [[infant]] when his father, Syed Mohammed Shah Kazmi, was killed in a family feud on 1 November 1905. After the death of his father, Syed was the only male infant in the family, so in 1906 the [[British Raj|British Government]] took temporary custody of the family property through the [[Court of Wards (India)|Court of Wards]], giving the family a monthly [[pension]]. He had five years of primary education, in the [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], from the age of six, ending in 1915. The female elders of his family and Mother Haneefa Bibi decided to [[home-school]] him thereafter in order to safeguard him from feuding as he was the only male heir in the family. He was taught [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[English language|English]] at home.<ref name="storyofpakistan">{{cite web|title=G.M Syed|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/g-m-syed|website=storyofpakistan.com|date=4 January 2008 |publisher=Story of Pakistan|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Sayyidu1995">{{cite book|author=Jī. Em Sayyidu|title=The Case of Sindh: G.M. Sayed's Deposition for the Court|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvhtAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Naeen Sindh Academy|language=en|pages=4–10}}</ref><ref name="Soomro2004">{{cite book|author=Khadim Hussain Soomro|title=The Path Not Taken: G.M. Sayed : Vision and Valour in Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvptAAAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Sain Publishers|page=10}}</ref>

===Teenage: 1920–24===
Syed became politically active through participation in the [[Khilafat Movement]]. He first attended Khilafat Conference held on 7th, 8th, and 9 February 1920 in [[Larkana]]. He was inspired by the speeches of [[Abul Kalam Azad]], [[Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali]], [[Maulana Shaukat Ali]] and [[Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi]]. He himself called upon the next Khilafat Conference on 17 March 1920 in his hometown [[Sann, Sindh|Sann]].<ref name="Soomro2004" /><ref name="Sayyidu1995" /><ref name="Korejo2000">{{cite book|author=Muhammad Soaleh Korejo|title=G.M. Syed: An Analysis of His Political Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPQ8AAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|language=en|isbn=978-0-19-579273-7|page=142}}</ref> Two days after this conference, his native town Sann observed a shutter-down strike in protest against the injustices of the Allied Powers against the [[Ottoman Caliphate]] on 20 March 1920. He remained active throughout the entire Khilafat Movement afterward.<ref name="Sayyidu1995" />
He addressed the Khilafat Conference held on 26 March 1920, in [[Makhdoom Bilawal]]'s [[Mausoleum]] as the youngest speaker. He was of a short-height and stood upon a wooden chair to be visible to the audience during his speech.<ref name="Soomro2004" /> He met [[Mahatma Gandhi]] on 27 April 1921 at the [[Sann railway station]] while Mr. Gandhi was traveling from [[Dadu, Pakistan|Dadu]] to [[Hyderabad Pakistan|Hyderabad]]. Gandhi instructed him to wear [[Khadi]].<ref name="BaudRutten2004">{{cite book|author1=Jan Michiel Baud|author2=Rosanne Adriënne Rutten|title=Popular Intellectuals and Social Movements: Framing Protest in Asia, Africa, and Latin America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JeGJ6PnwVy0C&pg=PA76|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-521-61348-4|page=76}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Touqeer|first1=Fatima|last2=Mushtaq|first2=Abdul Qadir|last3=Chawla|first3=Muhammad Iqbal|date=June 2016|title=Political Struggle of G. M. Syed 1934-1947: A Journey from Indian National Congress to Progressive Sindh Muslim League|url=http://lhcpakistan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vol2No1-1.-1-12.pdf|journal=Lyallpur Historical & Cultural Research Journal|volume=2| issue = 1|access-date=26 May 2018|issn=2523-2770|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526185747/http://lhcpakistan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vol2No1-1.-1-12.pdf |archive-date=26 May 2018 }}</ref> Syed visited the office of the Collector in [[Karachi]] on 23 June 1921 to free his lands from the custody of [[Court of Wards (India)|Court of Wards]] but he was refused. He filed a complaint against the Collector and Mukhtiarkar on 4 December 1922, for hurdling the delivery of his lands from custody.<ref name="Soomro2004" /><ref name="Sayyidu1995" />
Finally, he was awarded his lands back from the custody of Court of Wards in the year 1924, after two years of legal prosecution.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.sindhiadabiboard.org/catalogue/Personalties/Book23/Book_page30.html|title=Janab Guzaryam Jin Seen|last=Ghulam|first=Murtaza|publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board|year=1967|edition=First|location=Jamshoro|language=sd}}</ref>

== Political activism ==
G.M Syed was the founder of Sindh Awami Mahaz, which went on to join the [[National Awami Party]] (National Peoples Party). Like [[Ibrahim Joyo]], Syed blended [[Sindhi nationalism]] with [[Communism]] and [[Sufism]] through the ideas of [[Gandhi]] and [[Marx]].

Syed Sindhi's position brought him ample opportunity to have free income through tributes, cash offerings and landed property. This lifestyle was rejected by him, subsequently he plunged into politics with enthusiasm. Politically, he evolved and traveled from Pan-Islamist to Indian nationalist and then Pakistani nationalist, having joined Muslim League; and ended with being a Sindhi nationalist.<ref name="Gm Syed Biography">{{cite web|last1=Shah|first1=G.M.|title=Biography of GM Syed|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/g-m-syed/|website=Story of Pakistan|date=4 January 2008 |publisher=ETeam|access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref>

== AV School ==
In the early 1920s, Syed opened Anglo-Vernacular (AV) school in his village Sann, where education for certain language classes was free of cost. AV School offered combo of Sindhi education with English language. The school also offered options of Arabic, French and Persian languages. Prominent Sindhi educationist [[Ibrahim Joyo]] was also schooled at AV.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/learning-education-from-ibrahim-joyo/#.VupZCFk6sVF |title=Learning education from Joyo | TNS - The News on Sunday |website=Tns.thenews.com.pk |date=2016-03-27 |access-date=2016-03-31 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412004842/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/learning-education-from-ibrahim-joyo/#.VupZCFk6sVF |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Timeline ==
*At the early age of fourteen years, Syed started his career as an activist.<ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn"/>
* In 1919, became Chairman of the School Board of his own [[tehsil]]. He later became its president.
* In 1929, was elected as a President of Karachi District Local Board.<ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn" />
* In 1930, organized the Sindh Hari (Peasants) Conference and became its Secretary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/national/02-Jul-2012/-zulfikarabad-an-israel-in-the-making |title=Zulfikarabad: An Israel in the making |website=Nation.com.pk |date=2012-07-02 |access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref>
* In 1937, was for the first time elected a member of Sindh Legislative Assembly.<ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn" />
* In 1938, joined the [[All-India Muslim League]]. In 1940, he became Minister of Education in Sindh.<ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn" />
* In 1941, became one of the members of the Central Committee of the Muslim League.
* In 1943, became President of the [[Sindh Muslim League]].<ref name="KhadimSoomroDawn" />
* In 1946, conditions compelled him to dissociate from the Muslim League, and formed a new party named the [[Progressive Muslim League]]. The same year, he was elected as leader of the Coalition Party in the Sindh Assembly.
* In 1954, acted as Chairman of Sindhi Adabi Board.
* In 1966, founded Bazm-e-Soofia-e Sindh.
* In 1969, formed the [[Sindh United Front]].
* In 1972, formed Jeay Sindh Mahaz.

== Jeay Sindh movement ==
[[File:GM Syed.jpg|thumb|right|Final resting place of sain G.M Syed]]
Syed was the architect of "Jeay-Sindh" movement, aimed at achieving [[Sindhudesh]]. He is also the author of more than 60 books, (with) subjects ranging from politics, religion, culture, literature and commentaries on famous poet [[Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai]]. For his part as a political thinker, literary figure and mystic, he dominated the political arena of pre and post-partition era for decades, while he remained in jail for 30 years.<ref name="Gm Syed Biography" />

On 19 January 1992, Syed was put under house arrest, his house was declared a sub-jail. He died on 25 April 1995.<ref name="Gm Syed Biography" />

== Books ==
Syed was the author of more than sixty books, written mainly in [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], but also [[English language|English]] and [[Urdu language|Urdu]].<ref>Muhammad Soaleh Korejo, ''G.M. Syed: An Analysis of His Political Perspectives'', Oxford University Press (2000), p. 2</ref> His works are on numerous subjects, ranging from literature to politics, religion and culture. Due to his breath of knowledge, he has been described by the Dutch scholar of Islam [http://www.uva.nl/profiel/v/e/o.g.a.verkaaik/o.g.a.verkaaik.html Oskar Verkaaik] as "in many ways a remarkably productive, original, and largely autodidact intellectual, creating his own personal interpretation of Islam out of a range of intellectual influences such as 19th-century Islamic reform, Darwinian [[evolution theory]], [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]], 18th century [[Sindhi poetry]], [[Marxism]], classical [[Sufism]], [[German idealism]], and probably more."<ref>{{cite web|author=Amar Sindhu|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1032297/column-gm-syed-the-controversial-mystic-of-modern-times|title=Column: G.M. Syed: the controversial mystic of modern times|website=Dawn News|date=2013-07-28|access-date=2017-06-18}}</ref>

Some of his well-known books are:

*''Janam Guzarium Jin Sein (In [[Sindhi language]])''
*''Dayar Dil Dastan-e- Muhabt (In [[Sindhi language]])''
*''Sindh Ja Soorma (In [[Sindhi language]])''
*''Sindh Speaks'' (English)
*''Struggle for New Sindh'' (English)
*''Religion and Reality'' (English)
*''Shah Latif's Message'' ({{Langx|sd|لطيف جو پيغام}}) is a 1992 book written by [[GM Syed]] about the life of Sindhi Sufi poet [[Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai]] and his teachings. The book was originally published in [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]. It received an English translation by Egnert Azariah.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dandekar |first1=Deepra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQNADQAAQBAJ&q=%22Shah+Latif+and+his+message&pg=PA212 |title=Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia |last2=Tschacher |first2=Torsten |date=2016-09-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-43596-9 |language=en}}</ref> Syed depicts Latif "as a nationalist and patriotic poet because of his immense love and commitment to Sindh and its people."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Memon |first=Amanullah |title=Popular Literature and Pre-Modern Societies in South Asia |publisher=[[Longman]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1358-7 |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Surinder |location=Delhi |pages=133–134 |chapter=Alternative Voices from Sindh: A Critical Study of Shah Abdul Latif's Poetry |editor-last2=Gaur}}</ref>
*''A Nation in Chains'' (English)

==See also==
* [[Hyder Manzil]]
* [[Rasool Bux Palijo]]
* [[Abdul Wahid Aresar]]
* [[Shafi Muhammad Burfat]]
* [[Bashir Ahmed Qureshi]]
* [[G.M Syed Edifice]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" />
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.gmsyed.org Information about G M Syed]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110731005225/http://www.sikhspectrum.com/022005/gmsyed.htm G.M. Syed on the "Unity and Diversity of Religion"]}}

{{Sindhi nationalism}}
{{Pakistan Movement}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syed, G. M.}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Pakistani writers]]
[[Category:Sindhi politicians]]
[[Category:Pakistani scholars]]
[[Category:Pakistani Theosophists]]
[[Category:Islamic philosophers]]
[[Category:Muslim reformers]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Pakistan Movement]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Sind Province]]
[[Category:Pakistan Muslim League politicians]]
[[Category:Pakistani prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Sindhi-language writers]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement activists from Sindh]]
[[Category:Sindh independence activists]]

G. M. Syed - Revision history

Igorzen at 11:37, 9 March 2026