We may at times stumble upon some rather interesting people, but it is quite seldom that we encounter someone so intellectually and culturally vibrant that we are allured by his charm, and it seems difficult not to engage in conversation with such a person. Such has been my rendezvous with Jami Chandio, a renowned persona who has produced a plethora of writing on arts, politics, philosophy and social issues, amongst many other accomplishments.

Born near Larkana, in Kamber Shahdadkot, which was then called Kambar Ali Khan, Chandio was encouraged to indulge in arts and poetry since his childhood. Being a scholar of Persian and Arabic, his father placed a lot of value and emphasis on intellectualism and reading. Such ethics have echoed in his family for generations as they were among a line of highly educated people who valued education long before it became the norm in the subcontinent. Since his early years, Chandio was encouraged to read more and develop his scholarly and artistic flair which very few parents tended to those days. It was in Kambar Ali Khan where he received his primary education. During his days at school, he spent an elaborate amount of time reading and writing poetry and fiction which nurtured his abilities to succeed as a writer.

To continue his education from class eight up to intermediate, he attended the prestigious Cadet College Petaro where his writing skills continued to improve. There, he became the editor of three magazines in Urdu, English and Sindhi, a record which is yet to be broken. During his college years his interest in fiction waned away and an inquisitive Chandio became more interested in philosophy and politics. For his higher education, he attended the University of Sindh where he studied physics up to a master’s level.

Although he first mastered in a science subject, his interest in philosophy and politics led him to take another career path unrelated to his science education. Upon completion of his physics degree he went onto study law, again at the University of Sindh. While he initially attained these degrees, he continued to study at the world renowned institution. In Sri Lanka, he went on a fellowship at the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies and he also completed a fellowship at the International Academy for Leadership in Germany in 2001.

Since then he has attended many fellowships and conferences and his most recent one was one of the most competitive award (five-month Reagan Fascell fellowship) at the International Forum for Democratic Studies supported by National Endowment for Democracy in Washington. Possessing such a broad array of knowledge and analytical skills, Chandio has also been part of many think tanks during his fellowships.

He is a self-professed progressive and was elected chairperson of the Liberal Forum Pakistan during 2004-05. He regards inclusive federalism as a solution to most of Pakistan’s troubles and declares that most of our issues today are federal and consequently, solutions too should be federal. For his normative political ideals he feels that achieving pluralism and diversity in Pakistan is imperative to sustain a society with so many different linguistic and ethnic forms and doing so will make the local culture richer in many respects. He also cares about poverty alleviation and injustices and feels that fiscal decentralisation, maximum provincial autonomy and a balanced devolution of the government is the key towards achieving a better society in Pakistan. He has been at the forefront of politics for most part of his adult life.

During his university years he was a part of the Asian Student Association and was a chairperson of ASA’s Education Commission. During the period, he rallied around the ideals of the progressive student movement which was organised throughout Asia and the membership of the movement also gave him the privilege to travel across Asia. At a domestic front, on the one hand, he was influenced by radical writings of G. M. Syed, Muhammad Usman Deeplai, and on the other hand he aligned himself with Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo — an intellectual icon of modern Sindh — who did Chandio’s intellectual mentoring.

Apart from this he joined Awami Tahrik, led by Rasool Bakhsh Paleejo, at the age of 17. Though he parted his ways from Awami Tahrik on a few differences on pertinent policy issues, he acknowledges Palijo Sahib’s great role in his political training. Chandio’s association with politics continues to this day as he has written a plethora of books, newspaper columns and research articles on politics. He also provides training to senior politicians, media personnel, academics, journalists, youth groups and many other people related to the field.

He also founded a think tank based in Hyderabad named the Centre for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS) which is committed to promoting democracy, freedom, secularism and social justice in the the country. He is currently serving as the executive director of this organisation. He has also been at the forefront of the global debate over federalism and its virtues for the subcontinent. His new research book regarding the deficits of federalism in Pakistan is expected to be an important read for the subject in Pakistan and the book has already attracted acclamation from many experts on the subject like Washington-based South Asian expert Selig Harrison.

Having published many books on the subject, he is also an expert on arts and poetry. He has compiled a book named, Critic in Sindhi Literature: An Anthology, which is used extensively in the coursework of Sindhi language in many prominent universities such as  Karachi and the University of Sindh. Since an early age his passion for politics, pure literature and philosophy has continued. In his book he has mentioned intricate details regarding different aspects of the Sindhi literature including its philosophy and poetry.

Apart from books, Chandio has also worked in journalism at the daily Ibrat where he was an editor and won the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) media award twice for best columnist and analyst. He is currently serving as an editor of the quarterly journal of his CPCS think tank named Freedom. Public speaking is one of his strengths and he has delivered lectures not only for training but has also spoken at renowned institutions such as Bonn University regarding Oriental philosophy.

He argues that Oriental philosophy differs from western philosophy in one important aspect: it is a derivative of poetry unlike western philosophy which is written in prose. This causes misunderstandings among western people regarding the subject and it is difficult for them to understand symbolism which the literate in the Oriental philosophy can easily comprehend. Chandio also greatly admires the poetry of Shah Latif, Ghalib, Sheikh Ayaz, Ustad Bukhari and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Apart from poetry music is his life and he particularly enjoys the genre of Khyal.

In spite of embodying such diverse roles, he maintains that his primary identity is that of a writer. He has written extensively over the course of his life. He has written in three languages and has published 14 books which range from those on poetry and philosophy to more concrete issues including political institutions. He is proud of the fact that he has inherited this scholarly tradition from his father, and has imparted it to his children as well as to those who love poetry and arts. Coming from an educated family one of his sisters is a college principal and a professor of physics, and another is an educationist in Sindh Education Foundation, and he takes great pride in that.

With so much of drama encapsulated in today’s politics, it is hard to come across people who care less for their political agenda and more about the strengthening of the civil society in Pakistan. It is refreshing to meet scholars such as the likes of Chandio who have genuine empathy for societal pains and work tirelessly for the secularisation and democratisation of the polity and society. Jami Chandio is a timeless, priceless treasure for a country with failed leadership and people like him can provide an apparatus to revolutionise governance in a society.