Anwar Pirzado Conference 

By Dr. Yasmeen Kazi

Anwer Pirzado, the late poet and journalist was remembered on at a conference in the Arts Council, Karachi. The conference was held to commemorate the poet’s death anniversary and to launch his book, The Cultural Heritage of Sindh.

It was organized by the Anwer Pirzado Academy, run by his sons, Zarar, Zaid and Amar and the Shah Latif Chair of the Sindhiology Department, University of Karachi. The speakers elaborated on Anwer Pirzado’s history and his many roles. Speakers included Saleem Memon, Mehtab Akbar Rashidi, Fahmida Hussain, Anees Memon, Fahmida Riaz, Sultana Vakassi, Hameeda Ghangro, Rubina Abro, Rauf Nizamani, Imdad Chandio and others.

Anwer Pirzado came into prominence in the Seventies. He had done MA in Sindhi and English and had joined the Air Force. He belonged to a village Balhreji, near Moenjo Daro. He was a communist as a student and his village came to be known as Little Moscow. In 1971, he wrote a letter to a friend, condemning the military action in East Pakistan and saying that Sheikh Mujib should be given power. The letter was intercepted and he was court martialled. His sentence was commuted and he was released after a few months in jail.

Anwer Pirzado then became a journalist and poet. He wrote a column for the Evening Star and wrote poetry in Sindhi. He worked for the Soviet Information Service publication, Tulu. He helped the cause of women’s education in his family and village. He was a scholar on Shah Latif Bhitai. He was an explorer, who traveled on the Indus River to see its origin. He wrote a book on the Indus Delta. He wrote for the conservation of Moenjo Daro. During Ziaul Haq’s rule, he wrote fearlessly against tyranny and oppression and was jailed again.
Fahmida Riaz said that when she was an office bearer of the National Book Council, she suggested Anwer Pirzado’s name for an award, but it was not approved for political reasons. Later, Bangladesh gave him the Foreign Friends of Bangladesh award.
Anwer Pirzado’s popular poem mentions Shah Latif, “O, Moon, tell Bhitai that the night he wrote about is still there, in Sindh”. He wrote against the action in Balochistan. His poem says that the Baloch people can be broken and crushed like stones, but not molded like clay.
The conference concluded with a music session, in which the poems of Anwer Pirzado and other poets were sung to music.