HYDERABAD: Noted educationist and short-story writer Abdul Hameed Sindhi died of cardiac arrest here on Thursday night. He was 80. He was laid to rest in his ancestral Mian Dur Sultan graveyard located in his native district of Naushahro Feroze.

He was living in Qasimabad, where he felt cardiac pain and could not survive.

Abdul Hameed Sindhi was a recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz conferred on him on March 23, 1990. He also received the presidential award on Aug 28, 1993.

Writers, poets and intellectuals rushed to his residence upon receiving news of his death and remained with the bereaved family members till the body was shifted to Naushahro Feroze in an ambulance.

They included Naseer Mirza, Taj Joyo, Qazi Khadim, Ali Akbar Hingorjo, Radio Pakistan Hyderabad station director Inayat Baloch, Mehmood Mughal, Qazi Manzar Hayat, Mansoor Qadir Junejo, Idrees Jatoi and Saleem Channa.

Noted broadcaster Naseer Mirza recalled that Sindhi was jailed during the movement against One Unit in Sindh probably in 1962. He said that the late Sindhi was adviser of a magazine, Nayi Zindagi which was edited by Maulana Abdul Wahid Sindhi and Shamsheerul Hyderi. Poet Shaikh Ayaz had contributed to this magazine at that time.

“Amar Jalil, Agha Saleem Naseem Kharal and Mahtab Mehboob are Hameed Sindhi’s contemporaries,” said Mirza, who two months back completed anthology of Hameed’s works in a book titled Assan jo qalma hik alam under Sindhi Adabi Board’s project. The book contains the late writer’s short stories, photographs and other information.

Abdul Hameed Sindhi was born on Oct 12, 1939 in Naushahro Feroze where he got his primary to secondary level education. After his graduation, he did his MPhil in agriculture economics and then did his LLB. He also served in different cooperative commercial banks from 1961 to 1966 as manager. He remained a practising lawyer between 1966 and 1970 and then served Sindh University as its controller of examinations, registrar and additional director (Sindhology).

For a brief period he also worked as director of colleges and principal of the Public School Hyderabad while continuing his literary and academic activities.

The late Sindhi established the forum Bazm-i-Rooh Rehan to hold different literary gatherings regularly. He remained editor of Marruee and Latif Digest and publisher of literary magazine Rooh Rehan.

He was also appointed the vice chancellor of the Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) and Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, till mid ’90s. He worked as director of the Bureau of Curriculum in 1996 and remained chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board (STB) during 1997-98 and in the same period, he was appointed the Sindhi Language Authority (SLA) chairman.

Abdul Hameed Sindhi also served a member of Sindh University’s senate, Bhitshah Culture Centre, and Sindhi Adabi Board besides working in the Board of Intermediate Education (BISE) Hyderabad and Sukkur. He served as chairman of the Sachal Academy Khairpur as well.

He was recipient of various awards. He was conferred an award by Pakistan Academy of Letters for his stories titled Veerioon. Pakistan Writers Guild and Sindhology Jamshoro had presented him awards in 1981. Bhitshah Culture Centre conferred him the Shah Latif Award and National Book Foundation also presented him an award in 1995.

His 11 published books are Seemi, Udas wadiyoon, Veerioon, Rana ji Rajput, Jaag bi tuhinje ji saan, Soni zanjeer, Sookhi dharti (Urdu), Aare acheen shaal, Mehran joon choond kahanioon, Dard wandi jo des and Kan kan rait.

The late Sindhi read research papers on different surs of Bhitai in literary conferences held during Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s urs.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2020