The Pakistani Sindhi Diaspora in North America: Impacts on Sindh Through SANA, WSC, and WSI

Abstract

Sindhis were generally misperceived as homesick people who do not like to leave their homeland, Sindh. This idea was challenged by scholarly research on the Sindhi diaspora over the last two decades, but unfortunately, most of it focuses on Hindu (Indian) Sindhi emigrants from India. International scholars and writers have focused on the Hindu Sindhis who migrated from Sindh to India after the partition and from India to all across the world. However, the Pakistani Muslim Sindhis who migrated from Sindh to various parts of the world after the 1970s remain an under-researched phenomenon. This study aims to fill that gap in diaspora studies. However, this study focuses on the Pakistani Sindhi diaspora living in the North America. This research employs a qualitative approach, drawing on primary and secondary sources. The Pakistani Sindhi diaspora has established community groups and organizations abroad that exert transnational influence on Sindh, particularly in socio-economic and cultural spheres. The study shows how the three Pakistani Sindhi diaspora organizations, the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA), the World Sindhi Congress (WSC), and the World Sindhi Institute (WSI), play their part in building connection between the diaspora and homeland.