Faiz Khoso shoots an episode with his cameraman. – Photo courtesy KTN

“I know we are expecting a guest but who is this Faiz, anyway?” The informer was asked.

“He’s coming from Hyderabad.”

“But which one of your friends is named Faiz?” The question persisted.

“Yaar he is a Khoso.”

“But… Anyway, we will see once he comes. I still don’t understand who this Faiz Khosao is.”

“Faiz Khoso from KTN TV. Tareekh Wala.”

“What?” Several  voices shrieked with great interest and bewilderment.

“Saeen Faiz Khoso Tareekh Wala. Wow! Saeen, there will be festivity at mach (fire) tonight”, said the person who was the first one to be surprised at Faiz’s name. And so, a group of young men began discussing Sindh and its history, courage and ancestry, wealth and standing, honour and esteem. Amongst these tales of history, Faiz Khoso stood tall .

This is the story of a village in Sindh where journalists, intellectuals, historians, TV hosts and most importantly, a learned honest Sindhi was about to reach the far-away destination to record his TV program.

Sindhi cable television channel KTN’s series of ‘historical’ documentary series, which had surpassed a hundred episodes and on a Sunday in May, 2012, was to be broadcasted one last time.

With the arrival of the 21st century, the media industry went through a massive transition. Pakistani media went from print media to broadcasting media and this was made possible by private cable television channels. Now, after almost a decade, news broadcasting is still a work in progress. Where Urdu and English channels came in view, so did the first Sindhi news channel named ‘KTN’.

Sindhi print journalism has a steeped history; its roots can be found at the end of nineteenth century. It further strengthened after creation of Pakistan but the initiation of Sindhi news and journalism was through daily ‘Kawish’.

Around two decades ago, when Ali Qazi presided over the commencement of Kawish, there were more than a dozen Sindhi daily newspapers in circulation. Some boasted strong roots but gradually, aggressive reporting and modern layout made Kawish Sindh’s most popular daily.

When private TV channels went live in the country, Kawish Television Network came out with its acronym, ‘KTN’ and became the first complete news channel in the Sindhi language. Even today, its popularity remains strong. Aggressive reporting, straightforward conversation and love for Sindh are some of its unwritten basic principles.

Several years ago I met a traveller from Mumbai named Jay Prakash in Sukkur’s Sa’dhoo Bela temple. Prakesh’s parents had migrated from Hyderabad to India at the time of partition. Prakash told me that his father fought with the cable operator to be able to watch KTN channel. Now he tells me and the kids to watch this channel, and that it is a representation of Sindh. “Correct your Sindhi by listening to it.”

Jay Prakash’s father wanted KTN to improve his children’s language, but Faiz Khoso was two steps ahead of him. He was already a part of the KTN team. He was interested in history and its promotion, so he forwarded a proposal to the administration.

“At a time when no TV channel of Pakistan was airing a purely educational program; giving such a proposal required a lot of guts,” he tells Dawn.com. “But it’s the administration’s courage and appreciation that they took the risk and we were successful,” he adds, smiling.

Faiz proposed that a 50-minute documentary program be produced, covering Sindh’s cities, towns and villages. It was proposed that it also include Sindh’s history, views from historians and traditions kept alive by the elderly. The aim of the program was to revive Sindh’s forgotten heritage and discover new facets of history.

The idea was accepted after a briefing and it was decided that the first program would be on the awareness of history among the public.

“We went to bazaars, streets, educational institutions…everywhere. We asked people what they knew about history. The responses which we received were disheartening but instead of losing hope, we turned it into a victory. We started the program ‘Tareekh’ and after the first program, the response we received from the audience and Sindhi scholars was positive,” Faiz recalls.

‘Tareekh’ had its first weekly program broadcasted at 8pm on a Sunday of March, 2010. The documentary program then gained so much popularity throughout Sindh that the marketing team deemed it as a successful endeavour.

Faiz said, “These days Pakistani TV channels don’t give slots to purely educational programs, that too at primetime, it’s quite unlikely. This history documentary series changed the common perspective that the audience is not interested in educational topics and dry subjects like history.”

‘Tareekh’ was immensely successful in its two years. It was the first documentary film series to be made in Sindhi or maybe even Urdu which was focussed on one topic. Yet, one hundred episodes were broadcasted with a total airing time of around 5000 minutes. This program gained so much popularity throughout Sindh that it became my identity,” says Faiz Khooso.

Faiz was the researcher, host, script-writer and director. “Now, wherever I go in Sindh, people recognise me by this program and add ‘tareekh wala’ after my name. It makes me very happy.”

According to Faiz this series took him to far-away, dangerous places of Sindh. “At times police officials told us not to go, but we pursued. People who were branded as dangerous, greeted us affectionately. They opened their hearts and their houses for us. This is their love for their land, its history and those who present it on TV.”

Faiz Khoso says that Sindh’s greatest Sufi poet Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai’s wife Syed Bibi was of Turkish origin. Sindh’s late historian Dr Nabi Bux Baloch had verified that Shah Bhatti’s father-in-law Mirza Mughal Baig’s grave was somewhere around Hyderabad but exactly where, nobody knew.

“Once when preparing for the program, we arrived at the Toor Ki graveyard in Tando Allayar. It was also known as Baiglaron cemetery. We presumed that Toor Ki was a distorted version of ‘Turkey’ and the word Baiglar was from ‘Baig’. This assumption is further strengthened by the fact that most Turks are buried here. Whilst reading gravestones there, we came across one and were left astounded. Our curiosity was accurate. The gravestone’s writing and year were of Shah’s time and it had the name ‘Mirza Mughal Baig’ inscribed on it. He was the same man who had the honour of being Shah’s father-in-law. We had made a historical breakthrough and several historians agreed with us,” Faiz said.

There were two cameramen involved in the filming of this series, Fahim Lodhi and Javaid Solangi.

“Initially we thought this would be an easy task but later realised that it is actually very difficult. Honestly, the more we progressed, the more enjoyable it became,” says Fahim.

Javaid Solangi agrees, “We faced obstacles but learnt a lot. Especially about our history, its understanding and learning from elders our historical evidences advanced our knowledge greatly.”

When it comes to obstacles Faiz says, “In terms of technicality, this was very difficult. We did not have access to archaic footage; it was very difficult to find old pictures of Sindh’s towns and villages. We had to narrate as well as show everything but we were able to make a hundred documentary films successfully.”

The executive director of Centre of Environment and Development, Nasir Panhwar, “Faiz’s program, possibly for the first time in Pakistan, portrayed the history of Sindh’s jungles. It showed such astonishing aspects that I was shocked. It was the history of Sindh’s jungles and environment.”

Nasir advised that KTN should make DVDs of these documentary films to make them accessible to the public.

The late historian Dr M. H. Panhwar had a multi-dimensional personality and a strong knowledge of Sindh’s history. He used to say that after Moen jo Daro, the following 2,500 years of Sindh’s history are lost and there is a need to excavate them. Our present history starts after those 2,500 years.

Unveiling history is the work of researchers and historians but surely the history Faiz wanted to uncover, understand and present; he was more successful than expected.

Within the time span of two years he has made a hundred documentary films on Sindh’s scattered history – 5,000 minutes of broadcast time and discoveries…

There lies a lot in these films.

There is a need for research institutes such as Institute of Sindhology and Sindh Archives to obtain copyright of these films and save them in their video libraries so that an important piece in Sindh’s history is available for future researchers and historians.

The author is a novelist, documentary filmmaker, columnist and author of several books.

Shamsher-ul-Hyderi speaks during an interview. – Photo from YouTube video grab

BADIN: Renowned Sindhi poet Shamsher-ul-Hyderi passed away on Friday after protracted illness. Hyderi, 79, was in Karachi at the time of his death and also lost his sight during his last days. He was born on September 15, 1932 in the Kandhan town of Badin district.

Besides being an acclaimed poet and writer of the Sindhi language, Hyderi was also a well-known columnist and drama-writer. He authored over a dozen books – ranging from poetry, travelogues to fiction novels – during his prolonged career.

In the early days of Pakistan Television’s Sindhi broadcast, Hyderi hosted several programs for the state television. He also wrote several Sindhi-language drama serials for PTV.

As a journalist, Hyderi served as editor of several Sindhi dailies and magazines, including Mehran, Hilal-i-Pakistan and Naee Zindagi.

Hyderi was also one of the founding fathers of Sindh Graduate Association and remained at the forefront of struggle against military dictatorship from the era of General Ayub Khan to General Pervez Musharaf through his literary work. Hyderi was jailed for issuing a pamphlet against former military dictator Ayub Khan, during his one-unit scheme period. His novel ‘Kak Mahal’ earned great popularity in Sindhi literature and his poetry was sung by the likes of Abida Parveen and Ustad Mohammad Yousaf.

The Sindhi Adbi Sangat (organisation of Sindhi poets and writers), where Hyderi served as secretary general for seven years, will observe a seven-day mourning period, the organisation’s Chairman Dr Mushtaq Phul announced.

“Sindhi literature has been deprived of a revolutionary poet, journalist and great son of soil,” Phul told Dawn.com.

Well-known writer and broadcaster Naseer Mirza as well as other literary figures of Sindh including Dr Ayaz Gul, Dr Akash Ansari, Jami Chandio, Firak Halepoto, Dr Adal Soomro, Sindh Minister for Culture Sussui Palijo and others termed Hyderi’s demise a great loss for the world of literature and journalism of Sindh and Pakistan.

Intellectuals, scholars and writers suggested to declare Sindhi as a national language. —File photo by Taimur Sikander/Dawn.com

HYDERABAD: Eminent scholars, writers and intellectuals have said that it is high time to declare Sindhi a national language by implementing legislation made on the subject in the past.

Sindhi language, they said, was not only the oldest but the richest language of the country and it must be provided protection and the educational system of the province should be strengthened.

They were speaking at a seminar on “Sindhi language, national language: its importance and significance” at Dr NA Baloch hall here on Tuesday evening. The seminar was jointly organised by the Sindh culture department and Sindhi Language Authority to mark the International Mother Tongue Day.

Renowned scholar Mohammad Ibrahim Joyo said that some elements had always tried in the past to harm Sindhi language but the people of Sindh had foiled such conspiracies.

Not only in Pakistan but in other countries as well frequent attempts were made to eliminate mother languages and this was the reason that this day was being observed throughout the world to protect mother languages.

Joyo said that after the inception of Pakistan, it was decided that both Sindhi and Urdu languages would be taught as a compulsory subject in Sindh. He, however, said that while Urdu language was taught in all the educational institutions, Sindhi was ignored. He said those settling in Sindh should adopt Sindhi language. He said that in the rural areas of Sindh, people were living in abject poverty and floods and rains had further aggravated the situation.

He said under these circumstances, the people could not pay attention to education.

He said several schools in the rural areas had been occupied by politicians and feudal lords.

Sindhi language, he added, was in grave danger, therefore, it was extremely necessary to launch a joint struggle to protect it.

Dr Ghulam Ali Allana said the Sindh culture department and the SLA had been working hard for the development and promotion of Sindhi language.

He, however, said that the Sindhi language was still in danger because it was not being taught in private schools nor was it being enforced in the government organisations as per law. He stressed the need for implementing the law in this regard.

Dr Allana urged the Sindhi TV channels to telecast research reports on Sindhi language and history of Sindh. He said the responsibility of the universities to promote Sindhi language could not be over-emphasised.

SLA chairperson Dr Fehmida Hussain in her paper stressed the need for giving national status to Sindhi language. She said, the government and the writers of Sindh were rendering yeomen services to the language and added that it will be a great honour for the present government if the language bill was approved.

Professor Dr Sehar Imdad said that joint efforts were needed by people from all walks of life to ensure that Sindhi was given the status of national language.

Noted writer and poet Adal Soomro said that mother languages had been discriminated against for centuries, adding that the importance of Sindhi language could not be over-emphasised.

Shoukat Hussain Shoro said that the educational system of Sindh needed radical changes to protect Sindhi language. He said that it was an irony that Sindhi language was not given due importance in the higher educational institutions.

Azad Qazi said Sindhi language was symbol of the civilisation and identity of Sindh and the best weapon for the survival of Sindhi people.

He urged the government to take concrete measures for the protection of Sindhi language.

Dr Kamal Jamro, culture department director Dr Mohammad Ali Manjhi and SLA secretary Taj Joyo also spoke on the occasion.

Titled “Pakistani Zabanon Ka Adab,” the session included panelists Sindhi poetess Amar Sindhu, who recited some poems from her new book; author and poet Ahmad Fouad, who recited his poems both in Pashto and Urdu languages and Nukhbah Langah, a critic who spoke on the new trend in Seraiki poetry. —Text and Photos by Suhail Yusuf/Dawn.com

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Dr. Prof. Nabi Bux Baloch. –Photo montage by Suhail Yusuf

Dr. Prof. Nabi Bux Baloch is no more with us. He breathed his last on Wednesday morning April 6, 2011.The news of his demise shocked the nation because he was a polymath of history, literature, lexicography, geography, education, culture and civilization.

Baloch was born on December 17, 1917, in the impoverished village of Jafar Khan Leghari, Sanghar district of Sindh. He traveled many miles every day on a bull cart to reach his primary school as there was no school in his village.

In 1941, he did BA honors first class from Bombay University, then an MA first class (first) and LLB from Aligarh University, where he made the company of luminaries such as Dr. Sir Ziauddin Ahmed, Nawab Bahadur Yaar Jang and Allama Inayatullah Khan Mashriqui and also joined the Khaksaar movement. Here he was inspired by his Arabic teacher Abdul Aziz Memon , a great scholar of Arabic. Dr Baloch even noted his daily conversation with Memon and even his quotes in a diary!

Baloch then moved to the US where he completed his MA and then took on a PhD in education from Columbia. He was a pioneer of the education department at Sindh University and was also appointed as VC of International Islamic University and Sindh University.

Baloch was also appointed as a member of Hijra committee and decided to translate 100 top books in Urdu in different western languages, but due to some hurdles he left the project.

He worked as a secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Education and also served the nation as the Chairman of National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. Baloch was elected as a member of UNESCO’s international scientific committee on the history and civilization of central Asia.

A workaholic scholar

The inner thirst, dedication and passion of Dr. Baloch resulted in wonderful masterpieces.

He did immeasurable research work on a spectrum of disciplines such as ancient history of Sindh, Sindhi Lexicography, folklores, Makran civilization, Islamic history, literature, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s work, languages of Kohistan and many more. Dr. Baloch has contributed some 150 books in Balochi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Persian, Urdu, Arabic and English.

Simple living and high-thinking were the rules of this great man. Some of his contributions are listed below:

He is the first person to point out the ancient city of Debal where the final battle between Muhammad Bin Qasim and Raja Dahir took place. In early 1950s the Bhambhor excavations confirmed his analogy.

After his doctorate, he returned to Pakistan but failed to find any job for more than a year. In the meantime he traveled to every corner and village of Sindh to hear and write old folklores and turned the oral literature into a 46 volume opus.

When renowned scholar Dr. Prof. Hameedullah asked him to find a plant in the Sindh Delta, he traveled in a boat and finally discovered the tree which was mentioned in 10th century literature by Iraqi scholar, Abu Hanifa Dinwari.

In 1988, he presented a rare literary piece of Balochi literature in the Golden Jubilee ceremony at Baloch Academy, Quetta. He actually hired the manuscript from the British Library, UK.

He traveled to all the public and private libraries of Interior Sindh to make a bibliographical chart. He mentioned the title, author, subject, year and even condition of the thousands of books- all by himself!

He also compiled a small book about the sayings of the father of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, for the students and teachers.

Sindhi-Urdu and Urdu-Sindhi dictionary and his work on Shah Latif is another major triumph which took three decades of hard work.

Dr. Baloch caught rare deadly snakes from Tharparkar and other areas of Sindh and handed them over to the experts to produce anti-venom.

A few months ago, at the Karachi Literature Festival, I met Michel Boivin, a French expert on Sindhi culture. When I asked if he knew Dr. Baloch, he exclaimed, “Oh! Dr. Baloch is a mount of knowledge!” Indeed he was a scholar of international repute.

Dr. Baloch was always miserable about the education conditions in Pakistan. He was a strong advocate of literacy for all the children of Pakistan.

He said that not only Urdu but Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki, Brahvi, Punjabi and all other languages are also the national languages of Pakistan as they successfully served the needs. However, he considered the Urdu language as state language. He was also a tireless discoverer of old manuscripts.

A year ago, he gifted me a book called ‘Gulshan-e-Urdu’ with his autograph and gave me remarkable advice for success. He said, “For research you should always look upon the original source, you will never fail.”