LARKANA: Poet Ahmed Sultan Khoso was awarded a golden crown on Thursday in recognition of his literary services.

He was crowned by Syed Waqar Hussain Shah, the 12th custodian of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai shrine, at a literary evening organised by the Shah Abdul Latif Foundation, Sukkur and Larkana division. Mr Waqar presided over the function.

A writer, poet and secretary of the Larkana District Historical Society, Prof Mukhtiar Samo, was the chief guest on the occasion while writers and poets Sarmad Chandio, Fayaz Latif and Prof Jam Jamali were guests of honour.

In his presidential address, Waqar Shah said that though the whole of Sindh belonged to Shah Abdul Bhitai and he loved it very much, Larkana had a special place in history because it was a land of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for democracy. He said Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai had given the message of truth and universal peace.

Appreciating Ahmed Sultan Khoso, he said he (Khoso) was a good person who sided with the truth through his written words and practised it as well. He said that first one should realise the truth and then one should follow it fully. Leading life in doubt would be a sheer waste of time and energy, he said. Life was short; it should not be wasted in wrongdoings, he added.

Prof Samo said that living with simplicity, behaving honestly and serving humanity selflessly were the traits of any decent person. Morally upright and people of strong character attached importance to the place they belonged to. The poet (Khoso) followed good values of society and in return, he earned himself respect and love from the people.

He described Khoso as a poet of the people, whose poetry reflected aspirations, deprivations, hope, love and longing of people of his native land. His poetry book included many popular lyrics as well which had been sung by many singers.

Sarmad Chandio said Khoso’s contribution in literature was praiseworthy.

He had contributed a book of poetry to Sindhi literature while his second book was under printing. He said: “I have read the manuscript of the book and written a foreword to it.”

The poet’s message was very clear and his poetry followed techniques and rules of good poetry.

Fayaz Latif, who has compiled Osho’s works in the Sindhi language, said Khoso besides being a good poet and writer was also a good officer who served honestly. He said that due appreciation always encouraged one to deliver positively in society.

Prof Jam Jamali, who has translations of Sindhi poetry of some poets in the English language to his credit, said many revenue officers had been good writers in the past.

They had written much about the land and people. In Sindhi literature, example of Mirza Qaleech Baig was very prominent who, being a revenue officer, served at many places in Sindh and kept writing books side by side his official assignments, he said.

Poet Mumtaz Bukhari said Khoso could compose poetry in five languages: Sindhi, Urdu, Seraiki, Arabic and Persian.

Earlier, Shah Abdul Latif Foundation Sukkur and Larkana Divisions president Ashraf Zaman Pirchandami welcomed the guests. He said the Shah Abdul Latif Foundation was working to propagate the message of Bhitai.

Sindhi singers Sajjan Sindhi and Altaf Samo performed at the end of the event.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2016