Suraiya Makhdoom
Jan 12, 2007
Anwar Pirzado-the Memory Lives on
My heart bleeds at the untimely death of our illustrious friend, Anwar Pirzado. Still can’t believe that somebody I only met quite recently could speak to us no more. When I visited Sindh last August, I also visited Anwar’s house with my family. Anwar had just been back from his tour of Tharparkar he did with my brother, ada Khalid and other friends. He was in very good health and as usual, in high sprits. He was so full of life.
Anwar showed me the pictures of the aforesaid tour, the beautiful Thar surroundings, dancing peacock, the famous Marui-a jo Khohu (well of Marui) and many many more. He then transferred the pictures on to a disc and gave it to me as a gift. He also gave me an ajrak, saying that it was Marui Ajrak, quite a unique speciality of Thar. Then he asked my brother jokingly, “don’t tell her the price.”
Thar, with the rest of Sindh last August was pouring with rain. In the words of Shah Latif,
درد ونديء جو ديس وسي پيو
The land of a dejected one has been blessed with rain
It is said that nature showers all its beauty on Thar when it rains. So people flocked from all over to visit Thar during that period. Being lovers of Sindh, both my brother and Anwar took the tour of Thar and were bursting with the stories. They told us that now roads were built and there were more facilities for the tourists, but both Ada Khalid and Anwar said, “It was good before when it was more natural, more unspoilt.” I too agreed and then Anwar concluded, “Somehow we, the Sindhis and Balouchs are anti-development.”
On the same occasion, Anwar also spoke on his all-time favourite subject: Bhitai. This time he was speaking about Moomala Rano and especially the character of Natar, who administered all the tricks in Kaka Mahal. Then he recited a few verses from the Suru (chapter) and said, “what an exhilarating poetry!”
ڇا ۃ غضب جي شاعري آ
Anwar and my family’s relations are very old dating back from the time of my nano saeen (maternal grand father). As far as Anwar is concerned, he was closer to my brothers Khalid Hussain Makhdoom, Zahid and me. When I heard about Anwars very sad demise, I phoned my sister in Karachi and she said that when our brother Khalid went to see him in hospital, he couldn’t speak and all the time he was just trying to hold back his tears! Ada Khalid also accompanied the family to Balhreji for the burial in ancestral graveyard and was seen shouldering the coffin on Sindh TV.
Anwar Pirzado was born in Balhreji, a village near Mohen-jo Daro, a fact about which he was very proud. He was a passionate lover of the Mohen-jo-Daro, or “Munhoon”, as the people of Balhreji call it. His house is full of various art works depicting the images of great civilization.
Whatever Anwar did, he excelled in it. He topped in Masters in English Literature from University of Sindh, although he was only an external candidate. He then served as a lecturer in English Department at the University. Soon after that in 1970 he was commissioned as a pilot with the Pakistan Air Force. But this job too didn’t last long: he wrote a letter to a friend in which criticised military action on Bangladesh and praised Sheikh Mujib Rehman. The letter was censored. Consequently, he was court martialled and sentenced to one year in jail. Anwar could never get a government after that.
At that time (1971), my brother Zahid, who was just an intermediate college student in Jacobabad, and his friends, issued a pamphlet condemning the military action in then East Pakistan. The leaflet was taken seriously by the establishment. So all the copies were confiscated and Zahid and all his friends were put behind the bars where they remained for the whole nine months period of Bangladesh war. They were only released in January 1972 after most of the political prisoners were released.
Anwar and Zahid’s imprisonment shattered their families and especially their mums. I remember my and Anwar’s mum sitting together crying, praying and cursing the ones who were responsible for their sons’ ordeal. In the words of Shah Abdul Latif,
اچو سورن واريون ڪريون سور پچار
ڪنين ٿورا ڪنين گھڻا، نانھن سورن ڌار
ڏنا سي ڏاتار، مون جھولي پائي جھليا
-ڀٽائي
Anwar was his mum’s youngest son and so is Zahid. Anwar’s mum often used to say,
“امان منھنجو سڀ کان ننڍو پٽ”
(Oh my daughter, he’s my youngest son).
Therefore, Anwar’s mum even used to accuse her older sons of jealousy with their youngest brother and not doing enough to get him released. It seemed as if the whole world had conspired against those illustrious mums’ precious sons. My mum, Bibi Shahzadi’s condition was so bad that we sometimes were more concerned about her than about Zahid.
In 1983 Anwar was arrested for the second time during the MRD movement. This time his inmates included veteran Sindhi leftist leader, Jam Saki.
Anwar had an excellent career in journalism. He worked in both Sindhi and English newspapers and magazines, which included, Sindhi Hilale-Pakistan, Awami Awaz, Barsaat and English Dawn and The Star. He also worked on TV.
Anwars is a great, traditional, down to earth Sindhi family. His mother, known lovingly to everybody, as Masi Shahan was the matriarch of whole the village. Almost all the people of the village, the surrounding areas and their friends who lived far away, used to come to her for advice and guidance. She settled their disputes, arranged the weddings and supported them in every way. His oldest brother, Faqir Yaar Mohammed was a great lover of Sindhi poetry and music and used to organise regular ragu (music) programmes in Balhreji. Anwar supported his brother in his endeavours. Ada Khalid used to attend those musical events as often as he could. His second brother, late Imam Bux Pirzado, was a great Sufi, who continued with the family tradition of supporting everybody in their hour of need. Third brother, a well-known vet in Karachi, known lovingly as Dr Pirzado, is an institution by himself. Hes always there to help and support whole the family, relatives and the friends. Anwar’s one sister, Bihisheta Khatoon is a headmistress in a local school in Balhreji, while another one looks after the family.
Anwar faced great family tragedies in the recent years: in 2003 his elder brother Imam Bux Pirzado died. That was followed by the death of Imam Bux’s widow, our beloved masee (aunty) Alane (عالڻ) or Alam Khatoon. She was a great lady in her own right and features in Where Peacocks Dance. 2004 saw the death of his eldest son, a very young person, Zubair. This loss shattered Anwar and his wife, Tajula. Being unable to come to terms with the loss of a young son, Tajula too said good-bye to this world in 2005. That left Anwar heart broken again. When I visited Sindh in 2005, Anwar spoke passionately about his wife. He told us how his whole household was devastated in the loss Zubairu and Tajula, and that how great a woman Tajula was. She got 4 of their children married and had arranged every thing for the wedding of the last one, son Amaru. When we visited Anwars house last August, the family showed us the jewellery Tajula had had made for Amar’s bride.
Anwar loved Sindh to bits. He loved its deserts, the mountains, rivers, villages, towns, cities, the very soil, in a word, whatever is contained in the land called Sindh! He was fully aware of the problems of Sindhi, he wrote on them, he fought for them, he went to jail for his beloved Sindh and was always prepared to do anything for his unhappy motherland. Anwar’s following verse, entitled Sindh shows how much concerned he was for Sindh. Addressing Shah Abdul Latif, Anwar says,
O god of poetry, I’m not asking for any personal glory. All I want from you is to put a new life in the corpse of Sindh.
سنڌ
!شاعريء جا ديوتا
ڀٽائي گھوٽ
تنھنجي در تي اچي
ن پٽ گھريو آھي مون
۽ ن وري باس ڪا باسي آھيم
مان ۃ ھڪ سين
ھڻڻ آيو آھيان
!!خالي ڪشڪول کڻي
ڏات ڌڻي
سنڌ جو لاش آيو آھيان
ان ۾ نئون ساھ وجھي ڏي مونکي
So Anwar desperately wanted to get rid of all the problems of Sindh. But at the same time he was an ever-optimistic person. He never despaired and always looked at the bright side of the things. Despite the mountains of problems Sindh faces today, Anwar was optimistic about the destiny of Sindh. He used to say,
“سنڌ اڃان گدڙن ن کاڌي آھي
(Sindh hasn’t been devoured by the foxes yet)
On the intellectual and cultural side, Anwar loved and promoted Sindhi language, literature, arts, heritage. He adored the traditions, customs, the wedding rituals, in which the women folk of his family were well versed. He was a traditional, ajrak wearing Sindhi with a modern, progressive outlook.
Not only did Anwar love Sindhi language, he also enriched it by his lovely writings. He was a poet and a writer. His prose contributions included short stories, articles, literary criticism and journalistic writings. He also enriched Sindh literature by translating masterpieces from other languages into Sindhi. I remember his translation of Maxim Gorkys short story “Mother of a Traitor”
(غدار جي ماء), which was published in a popular Sindhi magazine. His language is simple, yet quite impressive.
Having been associated with English journalism, Anwar also contributed a lot in English, mainly on different aspects of life in Sindh and on Sindhi literature, especially on Shah Latif.
Anwar’s main contribution in Sindhi literature is his poetry. He was a popular poet and a writer. He is one of the founders of Sindhi blank verse (azad nazm). His collection of verses “Aey chand’a Bhitai’a khey chaejan” (O moon convey my feelings to Bhitai) was published in 2005. In this collection he speaks about love, human emotions, his beloved Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif, Balochistan, child poverty and many more subjects. This book was awarded the Best poetry Collection of 2005 by Sindhi Adabi Sangat.
Anwar is well known for his love of Shah Abdul Latif, the greatest poet of Sindhi language. He hardly missed an Urs (anniversary) of Latif and on many occasions Ada Khalid too accompanied him. He presented Latif as a people’s poet. Speaking about Saeen G.M. Sayed, comrade Sobho once said that one of Sayed’s greatest contributions is his interpretation of Latif. Sayed rejected the religious interpretations of Latif and presented him as a poet who was well aware of the political realities of his time and guided his people accordingly. Anwar too belonged to that tradition. He shows Latif to be a poet of the downtrodden, the fishermen, poor Tharis (residents of Thar), women, love, peace and universalism. In one of the verses “Aey chand’a Bhitai’a khey chaejan” (title of the collection mentioned above), he laments on the way Shah Latif is interpreted. So addressing Latif, he says,
اي چنڊ ڀٽائيء کي چئجان
ھي ماڻھون تنھنجن بيتن کي
ڌرتيء کان ڌار ڇني ٿا ڪن
ٿيون وايون تنھنجون وار پٽن
۽سرڙا تنھنجا اوسارن
ھي ارھي سرھي دانھن ڏجا
اي چنڊ ڀٽائيء کي چئجان
Not only did Anwar spread the message himself, he inspired his generations to do so. Thus we see many lovers of Bhitai, like Lutuf Pirzado, commenting on Latif’s poetry in progressive terms. Anwar inspired a new love for Latifs poetry. His knowledge of Latif’s poetry was phenomenal.
Yet another passion of Anwar was archaeology. He passionately worked for the survival of Mohen-jo-Daro. He was instrumental behind the 1993 British TV, Channel 4 documentary Where Peacocks Dance (جتي مور نچن), in which the main focus is on Mohen-jo-Daro. So Anwar tried to make the international community aware of the plight of Sindh and her institutions.
Anwar strengthened Sindhi institutes. In 1970s Sindh Adabi Sangat was an inactive body and the elections were not held for 9 years. Illustrious writer Rashid Bhatti was the sitting Secretary. We used to hold meet regularly in Karachi and vowed to put Sindhi Adabi Sangat on back track. Those who were most instrumental in all that campaign were Anwar, Badar Abro and I. We pleaded with Rashid Bhatti to hold the elections. We were abused, criticised, but we never gave up and finally Sindhi Adabi Sangats elections were held and the structures revived. To this day, SAS has been a democratic and active body. Anwar became the Secretary of Karachi branch of the Sindhi Adabi Sangat in 1976-1977. Although Anwar was always active in SAS, but when he became the Secretary, he became more active. He conducted regular Sindhi literary meetings and evenings with prominent writers. Being a member of the Karachi branch, I too attended and helped organise the events, although I also used to be associated with the Jamshoro branch, where late saeen Zafar Hassan used to conduct the regular meetings and events.
Anwar was a passionate campaigner of women’s rights and he practised what he preached: he encouraged many women of his household to get education and jobs. Many of Pirzado ladies are working in different fields.
Anwar was a reformist as well. He brought about many changes in his beloved Balhreji, as he believed that charity begins at home. He inspired and helped many people to get education, jobs and to be writers and poets. No wonder that Balhreji came to be known as “little Moscow”.
In his private life, Anwar was a very loving and caring man. He loved his siblings and other relatives and would do anything for them. Anybody who met him once will never forget the warmth of his company. To his close friends he was a perpetual source of encouragement and support. He would never let anybody down. One could ask him anything and he would travel extra miles to serve them. He liked everybody and hated nobody. If he did dislike somebody it would be on ideological grounds. He nurtured no personal enmities.
He never complained about his sufferings in life. He didn’t say that he lost his career, his freedom and didn’t get anything material in return for his sacrifices for the cause of Sindh. He never cashed his contributions. Anwar never compromised on his principles. He held no grievances against life. On the contrary he graciously accepted whatever life offered him and made the most of it. He never sought any high office, yet he enjoys the respect and affection the people in so-called high offices can only dream of.
Anwar was loved and respected by the icons of our times. He was a worthy pupil of Comrade Sobho Gianchandani. Actually it was Anwar, who provided many young people an opportunity of a lifetime to come close to comrade Sobho and benefit from his enlightening company.
Alas, such a person is no more! My thoughts and prayers are with Dr Hassan Pirazdo, Anwar’s older brother, children Zarar, Zedu, Samina and Amar, Mehnaz, widow of late Zubair and whole the family.
Anwar, you will always rule the hearts of the people of Sindh, your memory will never die. Today your physical mum is no more to mourn your departure, but your امڙ (mother) Sindh, her daughters and sons are all mourning for you. Many of them are crying in their solitude. I haven’t stopped crying myself for I’ve lost a mentor, a true friend. Some of our common friends have written their condolences to me. Murtaza Solangi, an old mate writes,
“Sunday night when I heard of passing away of our dear friend Anwar Pirzado, I have been crying. I remember in 1978 when I joined Sindhi Adabi Sangat, I used to come to YMCA when Manik, Kehar Shaukat, Anwar Pirzado, Badar Abro, Faqir Lashari, Hidayat Mangi, Shamsher and you used to come. I still remember that. But the passing away of Anwar Pirzado is just too painful.”
What a great era, the cream of Sindh writers getting together on regular basis! And the credit for all this goes to you. Sindh will hardly see those days again!
Comrade Sobho is shattered at your departure, just as he was when his beloved son Kanhiyo died in 2000. He said, “Sindh has lost an illustrious son today.’ My brother, Ada Ahmed Hussain calls you “an Extraordinary Sindhi”. Sindhi Adabi Sangat, the institution you nurtured, has declared a three-day mourning. At Bhitshah, the flag has been lowered to half-mast. Shah Abdul Latif has declared permanent state of mourning until somebody else takes over your role of inspiring generations to read, love, interpret and spread his true message. With your departure, the life in Balhreji is never going to be the same again. Who will now inspire the disaffected young people to make something of their lives? You will be missed not by the human beings, but by Mohen-jo-Daro, the mountains, the rivers, the deserts of Sindh, who will miss your regular passionate visits. They’ve lost a true campaigner of their cause. Peacocks in Thar stopped dancing to mourn your departure.
Dear friend, we wish you a safe journey and we’re sure wherever you’re going, you will be thinking of Sindh. I will end this humble tribute to you in the world of your beloved Shah Lateef,
جکرو جس کرو،ٻيا سڀ آنيرا
جيائي جڙيوجکريو تيائي ن ٻيا
مٽي تنھن ماڳااصل ھئي ايتري
شاھ عبدالطيف