It was the first event honouring the social activist, who was the founding member of the Cremation Ground Association and the first president of the Hindu Panchayat. A freshly painted sculpture of Motandas, which portrayed him as a fair-skinned man wearing a black coat, was unveiled at the event. Throughout the day, men coming from different parts of the city offered special prayers, listened to bhajans and ate free food.
The president of the Hindu Panchayat’s Karachi division, Amarnath Motumal, called Motandas his mentor. “We Hindus give him as much respect as we do to our gods,” he said. Motumal added that when he was struggling to make ends meet as a lawyer, Motandas helped him set up an office. “There are many like me whose lives had been changed by Motandas.”
Visitors said that the philanthropist played a vital role in preserving and maintaining the cremation site when it was in danger of being taken over by land grabbers. “During Partition, Motandas stood firmly against illegal grabbers and did not let anyone destroy this site,” said businessman Kanya Lala Gauba. “If it wasn’t for him, this would have been someone’s house.”
Gardari Lal recalled that around 50 years ago, when he was a young boy playing at the Lakshmi Narayan temple, Motandas gave him a small coin as a token of love. “A coin back then was worth quite a bit. He would give money to those he felt needed it and did not ask them who they were,” he said. “If he was alive today, he would have cried to see the state of the poor Hindus in the country.”
Motumal shared the interesting journey of Motandas from a young labourer who earned a pittance to a successful businessman. Born in Sukkur and orphaned at a young age, Motandas sifted through maize and put them into sacks. “A British businessman who was staying at a hotel near Motandas’ workplace was so impressed by his punctuality and honesty that he took him to Karachi,” said Motumal. “He opened up an office and made Motandas oversee the biscuit and chips companies that they were dealing with.” Motandas eventually became the owner of the market where the office was located and today it is known as Motandas Market. Later, he went on to establish the Sindh Trading Company.
His former colleagues remembered him as a person who was ever ready to help those in need. Chaman Lal, who had worked with him for 23 years, bowed his head in reverence to the statue. “Whoever went to his house never returned home empty-handed. He did a lot for the poor people and donated anonymously.”
Motandas died in 1979 and the preservation of the cremation site is now being carried out by his admirers. Six new crematoriums have been built and a proper seating arrangement has been made. “It is a person’s good qualities that should be remembered, and right now we are following all of Motandas’ virtuous traits,” said Gauba.
Published in The Express Tribune, 25th, 2012.
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