HYDERABAD, Oct 11: Rich tributes were paid to noted poet Ustad Bukhari for his services to the Sindhi literature at a function held to mark his 12th death anniversary at the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.

The function was organized by the Sindh National Party. Speakers said that Ustad Bukhari was a poet of resistance and the Sindhi nation must follow the path shown by the great poet to achieve their rights.

In his presidential speech, the chairman of the Sindh National Party, Ameer Bhambhro, said that poets like Shah Latif Bhitai, Shaikh Ayaz and Ustad Bukhari were the guides of the Sindhi nation. But, he added: "We had failed to follow their teachings".

He said hollow slogans could not solve problems of the Sindhi nation. He said: "We would have to follow the revolutionary path shown to us by great poets like the Ustad Bukhari".

He said the ruling clique had created 1971-like situation in the country as it wanted to dismember Pakistan. Mr Bhambhro warned that if all the nationalities were not given their due rights as envisaged in the 1940 Pakistan Resolution, the country could not be saved.

He said the people of Sindh had always responded to the call of their political leaders but they had always been disappointed. The secretary of the Sindhi Adabi Board, Mr Inam Shaikh, said it were only the poets who infused a new spirit in the hearts and souls.

He said the late Ustad was the embodiment of truth and sacrifice. He said despite waging a relentless struggle, the Sindhis had not been able to bring about a change because of disunity in their ranks.

Ayaz Latif Palijo said the intelligentsia always led national movements but a majority of writers and poets had relinquished this role because of the martial law. He said that educational institutions in Sindh had been destroyed.

He said Ustad Bukhari had given the Sindhi nation a message of multi-dimensional struggle. Hakim Bukhari, Aziz Kangrani, Dilshad Bhutto, Ishaque Samejo and Ashraf Noonari also spoke on the occasion.

The gathering adopted several resolutions demanding that public holiday should be declared on the death anniversary of Ustad Bukhari, his poetry be included in the syllabus and an Ustad Bukhari chair be established in the universities of Sindh.