HYDERABAD: Describing com­­rade Sobho Gyanchandani as a great revolutionary leader of the subcontinent and true son of the soil, speakers have called for allotment of land for building a burial place for him in Larkana.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannefeen at the Sindhi Language Authority (SLA) on Monday to pay homage to comrade Sobho, they said that if the government failed to allot land, Sindh’s intellectuals should make efforts on their own.

Noted story writer Ghulam Nabi Mughal said the comrade faced tremendous difficulties in his life, but they could not deter him from loving Sindh. If the Sindh government was not willing to allot a piece of land, it could be bought for the purpose, he said.

Anjuman secretary general Rahat Saeed said it was indeed a positive sign that today people paid tribute to comrade Sobho, but regretted that few people attended the programme, which was a big question mark on society.

He said the comrade used to dream of emancipation and prosperity of Sindh and its people. He devoted his entire life to Sindh. He said Sobho faced tremendous difficulties, but he never quit Sindh.

Former student leader Imdad Chandio said comrade Sobho Gyanchandani was a great Marxist revolutionary leader of the subcontinent.

He was one of those who laid foundation for revolution in the subcontinent, he added. He said Mr Gyanchandani did not need any death or birth anniversary; progressive and enlightened forces were true heirs of his legacy, he said.

He said the personality of Sobho could not be associated with any faith or religion. The comrade refused to leave Sindh because he had accepted the notion that Sindh was his motherland, he said.

The daughter-in-law of comrade Sobho, Kalpana Devi, stated that many condoled the death of Sobho Gyanchandani, but it was painful that today there was no place for the burial of his ashes; the man who devoted his entire life for Sindh had no burial place today. She stated that he was an encyclopaedia of knowledge.

She recalled that Sobho Gyanchandani told late Bashir Khan Qureshi, who called on him once, that both of them would raise voice against tribal feuds and try to unite Sindh.

She said people like Mr Gyanchandani, G.M. Syed, comrade Hyder Bux Jatoi, Hoshu Sheedi and other nationalists would never die. Sobho’s soul was still alive in the shape of his ideology, thinking and nationalism.

Writer Mohammad Ali Pathan said he was a great intellectual of the subcontinent, adding that Shaikh Ayaz and Sobho Gyanchandani faced imprisonment together. Ayaz used to term Sobho his mentor, but no one today eulogised Sobho Gyanchandani. Even Mohammad Ibrahim Joyo had termed Sobho his mentor, he said.

He said the comrade had once written in his column that gun could bring about a revolution, but it could not help build a prosperous home. He said it was high time that people should own Sobho Gyanchandani, considering the fact that extremism and terrorism were surrounding Sindh.

Sindh United Party leader Dr Dodo Mehri said Sobho Gyanchandani’s thinking and ideology could not be matched by anyone.

He stated that Sobho gave modern thinking to Sindh.

Anjuman Hyderabad chapter president Yousuf Sindhi, Punhal Sario and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2016