Book launch: Charting the history of activism in Sindh

Role of writers in nation-building emphasised.

ISLAMABAD: Nations cannot achieve meaningful social and political change without the contributions of writers and intellectuals.

“Writers represent the middle classes of society, therefore their role is crucial in organising public
opinion and mobilising the masses,” veteran politician Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch said on Sunday.

Baloch was speaking at the launch of a book on the Sindh Local Government Act of 2012. The book, titled “Hik Sindh: 2 Nizam” (One Sindh: Two Systems), was written by Yousif Sindhi. It was launched at the Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai Community Centre in Islamabad.

Baloch said the writers and intellectuals of Sindh have protected their motherland for centuries and they continue to play that role even now.

Fazullah Qureshi, a prominent writer, said Sindh has been a centre of social and political movements, but its history has not been properly documented.



“Yousif Sindhi’s book is an attempt to fill that gap in the historical record,” Qureshi said.

The book charts Sindh’s movements against the backdrop of the recent local government act. It also presents a chronological analysis
of the events that led to the act.

Naseer Memon, a writer and intellectual, said people have turned violent because their peaceful movements have been largely ignored by the state and government authorities.

Memon also criticised the local government act. He said the new law gives power to metropolitan corporations — such as that of Karachi — to create any new departments with their own resources.

“This provision could be used to create departments or units on ethnic basis and it would be like playing with fire, given the ethnic divide in Karachi,” he said.

The launch participants also passed a resolution condemning the killings of Hazara Shia community members in Quetta and other acts of terrorism around the country. The resolution supported the sit-ins which continued in Quetta and other cities of the country on Sunday.

The ceremony was organised by the Sindh Graduates Association.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2013.