HYDERABAD: Speakers at a condolence reference organised in Sindh Univer­sity on Monday paid rich tribute to Jawaid Bhutto, a philosopher and scholar.

Bhutto was recently murdered in the US and buried in Shikarpur on Sunday.

They termed him Sindh’s ambassador of love and peace for the world. They said Jawaid Bhutto was the Socrates of Sindh and he would remain immortal in the hearts of people for his intellectual contribution to society. They said Bhutto’s death had created a void which would be hard to fill.

Sindh University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat said that he was a legend and a practitioner of philosophy. He said that he had served as chairman of the SU’s department of philosophy. The VC recalled the days he spent with Bhutto as his batch-mate in Karachi University.

He said he had pleasant memories of Bhutto and his visit to the SU as well as his subsequent interaction with him at a lecture at Shaikh Ayaz auditorium last year.

Sindh University Tea­chers Association (SUTA) office-bearer and an associate of Bhutto, Dr Arfana Mallah said she was one of those individuals who greatly benefitted from his company. She said that he was a mystic and opined that Bhutto loved people regardless of their social status. She declared him essentially a people’s person.

SU teacher and rights activist Amar Sindhu said Bhutto was the first person in Sindh who created love for philosophy in youth, adding that students took keen interest in the subject of philosophy under his guidance.

Senior faculty member of the Institute of Information and Communication Techn­ology (IICT), Dr Azhar Ali Shah, termed his murder a terrible incident, saying that the killing had deprived Sindh of an extraordinary icon.

Another senior faculty member of the IICT, Prof Dr Khalil-ur-Rehman Khumbhati recollected fond memories about friends and the time he spent with Bhutto at SU.

The host and in-charge chairperson of SU’s philosophy department, Ayaz Hyder Mugheri, described Bhutto as a lighthouse of philosophical wisdom and an intellectual lamp that illuminated many a heart.

Shafqat Qadri, Naveed Sandeelo and others also spoke. A candlelight vigil was also organised at the reference attended by a large number of teachers, students, men of letters and philosophy lovers.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019