HYDERABAD, Oct 18: Ancient Sindh has a chequered history as it comprised areas from Kashmir to Karachi and Mekran under various historical epochs, said Sindh University Vice Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui during the inauguration of the two-day Pir Hussamuddin international conference.

The conference, jointly organised by the Department of General History, Faculty of Social Sciences, Sindh University in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) on History of Sindh at Allama I.I.Kazi campus Jamshoro, opened on Saturday with 150 historians, scholars and intellectuals attending it. More than 50 scholars from the US, UK, Iran and Malaysia and from universities and literary organisations within the country will read their papers.He said that the Sindh Assembly was the first and only to have passed the resolution for creation of Pakistan with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah being son of the soil.

Sindh provided facilities to sea-borne transcontinental trade of major regional empires, he said adding the Sindhi society had a vibrant culture and people believed in peace and tolerance, despite occasional wars and conflicts imposed upon the land and its people.

“I feel honoured to claim that modern Pakistan is ancient Sindh in a revitalised form”, Mr Siddiqui said and added that many people are yet to research and understand the message of great national poet of Sindh Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

He invited scholars to investigate Latif Saeen’s worldview of Sindh as he defines socio-cultural boundaries of Sindh which more or less, in geopolitical terms, comprise entire Pakistan, he said.

He said that this conference is also an effort to remind overseas based scholars that with the dissolution of former Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and revitalisation of the adjacent Central Asian national identities, the geopolitical theatre has changed considerably.

He said the revitalisation of Central Asia also means the revitalisation of strategic location of ancient Sindh, now called Pakistan.

In his keynote paper on the contribution of Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi as an historian of high calibre, Dr M.Saleem Akhtar lauded his valuable services and said that Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi was founder of many literary organisations for the promotion of Urdu and Sindhi literature.

He said Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi throughout his life struggled for the promotion of culture and values of Sindh and he was also a great promoter of history, culture and literature. He further said that Pir Saheb was an academic intellectual and social reformer.

He said that though Pir Saheb did not receive formal education from college or university but his contribution in journalism and literature is unparallel.

He said that the government of Sindh in 1950 established the Sindhi Adabi Board whose credit goes to Pir Saheb. He said that from 1950 to 1975, Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi played a vital role in the academic field.

He said the contribution of Rashidi will be remembered for all times to come and his work will always encourage scholars to do more for the society in terms of promotion of language, literature and culture.

He also highlighted the role of Pir Saheb in promotion of Persian literature and sustainable relations between Pakistan and Iran and added that Pir Saheb was the founder of Pakistan-Iran Cultural Association.

He appreciated the Sindh University for organising such an important conference dedicated to Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi and said that plenty of time was required for analysing the contribution of Pir Saheb in the academic field.

Iranian scholar, Dr M.M. Tavassoli paying rich tributes to Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi said that Iran is maintaining relations with scholars from ancient period.

He said that Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi was familiar to Iranian people and its culture and his services for the promotion of Persian literature will always be remembered.

He said that it is a great opportunity for scholars from Pakistan and abroad to participate in such an important conference and hoped that this would encourage future historians to do more research.

Chairman, Organising Committee and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr Iqbal Ahmed Panhwar and Secretary Dr Ghulam Mohammad Lakho, Chairman of the Department Prof Mohammad Qasim Soomro also expressed their views.

In first session Dr Riaz Ahmed presented his paper on Quaid-e-Azam’s role for the separation of Sindh from Bombay presidency.

Gul Mohammad presented paper on Masjid Manzil Gah riots – a step towards Pakistan, Dr Aftab Qazi, Dr Minhajul Hassan, Dr Abdul Jabbar Junejo, Dr Syed M. Taha, M. Umer Soomro and other scholars also presented their papers.

Renowned scholar Dr Shariful Mujahid presided over the first session while the second was presided over by Abdul Hameed Sindhi.

Dr M.M. Tavassoli, Ghulam Rabbani Agro, Dr M.Qasim Bughio, Dr Javed Iqbal, Dr Nawaz Ali Shouq, Dr M.Yaqoob Mughal and Taj Joyo presented their papers.

DINNER: The District Nazim Hyderabad, Kanwar Naveed Jamil on Friday night hosted a dinner in honour of the participants of Pir Hussamuddin Rashidi international conference. A large number of scholars attended it.