WITH the passing away of Dr Nabi Bux Khan Baloch in the wee hours of April 6, Pakistan, especially Sindh, has lost a great educationist and scholar of international repute.

Born on Dec 16, 1917, in a small and dusty village of Jaffer Khan Leghari, Dr Baloch outshone in education right from his early schooling at Nowshera Feroz. He did his graduation from Junagarh College and his master’s in Arabic from Bombay University.  He did his LLB from Aligarh Muslim University.

He did his Master’s in Education from Columbia University where he was also awarded his doctorate. His thesis was Teacher Education in Pakistan.

True to his salt, he joined the newly-established Sindh University at the invitation of Allama I. I. Kazi, after a short sojourn in the Information and Broadcasting Division and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the university he rose to the position of vice-chancellor.

His great achievement was establishment of the first-ever Education Department in Pakistan in Sindh University. In 1976, at the call of the federal government, he established the Islamic University at Islamabad. There he initiated the scheme of ‘Great Books of Islamic Civilisation’ under the Pakistan National Hijra Council.

He also worked as Member of the Sindhi Adabi Board and as the first Chairman of the Sindhi Language Authority, as well as lifetime honorary Director of Allama I. I. Kazi Chair.

Professor Emeritus Dr Baloch was an eminent research scholar of Sindhi, Persian, Arabic, and Urdu languages. He has written a number of books on history of Sindh and about 42 volumes on Sindh folklore.

In addition, he compiled and published Sindhi dictionary in five volumes and also compiled Sindhi-to-Urdu and Urdu-to-Sindhi dictionaries, co-authored with the late Dr Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

He compiled works of classical Sindhi poets, including Shah Inayat, Qazi Qadin, Khalifo Nabibakhsh and Hamal Faqir. His compilation of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in 10 volumes is the greatest piece of work that a man of pen has ever produced. The latest work covering his correspondence with world scholars from 1946 to 2006 has been published under the title ‘World of work: A scholar’s dilemma’.

Dr Baloch’s more than 60 years of indefatigable work in preserving the history of Sindh and building an education system in the country will always be treasured in the archives of history.

I would like to request the president and the prime minister to establish an education institution at the federal capital in the name of the great scholar. I would also like to request the provincial education minister and the vice-chancellor Sindh University to establish ‘Dr Nabi Bux Khan Baloch Chair’ so that his mission of spreading learning and education would continue to excel unimpeded. This alone could be a befitting tribute to him.

MANZOOR H. KURESHIKarachi