Islamabad: The first Afro-Pakistani lawmaker Tanzeela Qambrani is a beacon of hope for Pakistan’s little known and marginalised Sidi community, mostly living in Markan and Karachi.
African-Pakistanis or the Sidi, also referred to as Siddi, Sheedi or Habashi, are direct descendants of the Bantu people in the African great lakes region and have long been sidelined due to their ethnic background.
But Tanzeela Qambrani, a 39-year old Sidi, who has been nominated to a seat reserved for women in a provincial parliament in Sindh, aims to tackle the stigma attached to her community. Qambrani was nominated by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the party of Pakistan’s first woman prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Hindu woman in parliament
PPP is also acclaimed for electing a Dalit Hindu woman, Krishna Kumari, in Parliament with the help of majority Muslim votes in water-scarce Thar region.
To the surprise of many Pakistanis, Qambrani has a master’s degree in computer sciences from University of Sindh, Jamshoro. She has three children and hails from Matli in Badin district in Sindh province. She has sufficient experience of political office, as she has been a local councillor after joining the PPP in 2010.
“I have been involved in social and community work for the past 12 years,” she said. She strongly believes that women cannot become part of the decision-making process unless they are economically independent, strong and empowered. This is why she aims to focus on the economic independence of women.
Qambrani who is also known as Tanzeela Sheedi is also a passionate advocate for girls’ education.
“My message to the parents is that please educate your daughters,” Tanzeela Qambrani, told media, adding that there is no progress without education and empowering Sindh and Sidi women.
The small ethnic community of 50,000 Afro-Pakistanis is mostly concentrated in the regions of Makran in Balochistan and Badin and Karachi city in Sindh. Many Sidis are believed to be descendants of merchants, sailors, and soldiers of East Africa. Many were brought to Pakistan and India as slaves by the Arabs and Ottomans and later by the Portuguese and the Dutch. Historians say Sidis enjoyed senior positions during the Mughal empire such as soldiers or guards and some even went on to become rulers and military strategists such as Malek Ambar in Ahmadnagar (in western India). However, they faced discrimination under British colonial rule.
This well-integrated community of Sidis is famous for preserving its African roots and cultural traditions alive such as the annual festival at the shrine of Manghopir in Karachi. Sidis are mostly Muslims and some are Christians, but overall they keep together and most do not marry outside their circle.
This is why to keep their African connections alive, one of Qambrani’s sisters was married in Tanzania, while another has a husband from Ghana.
They came a century back
Her ancestors came to Sindh from Tanzania around a century ago. “That’s why one of my sisters is married off in Tanzania”, she said.
Tanzeela Qambrani, the proud member of Pakistan’s minority community, feels the seat of the parliament is both an opportunity and a challenge for her as she has a new responsibility towards her community. She hopes her appointment will bring equal opportunity and respectable life to Pakistan’s Sidi community. She will be sworn in on Monday during the first session of new assembly.
