KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday launched a book titled Story of Indus Civilisation at a programme organised by the Sindh Archives department.

The book was also published by the archives department. The chief minister also visited various galleries of the department and took interest in the old revenue record, handwritten copies of the Holy Quran and other material.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the CM said the book was a literary continuation that encapsulated the culture and heritage of the province and was aimed at preserving and promoting the diverse culture, heritage, history, and traditions that make Sindh the bastion of a plural society.

Mr Shah said the publishing of the book was an attempt to fill the scholarly void of what was the cradle of civilisation.

“It aims at contributing to a more intelligent and meaningful discussion on the origins of the modern man who started setting up communities and flourished along the enriched River Indus,” he said and added that the book looked to excavate through thousands of years of preserved history to bring us closer to the riddle of understanding their raison d’etre.

The CM said the Sindh Archives is a treasure of literature.

“I visited the Archives some 20 years ago and had spent half of the day reading old and rare books,” he said and added he would again visit that and would spend his whole day to take benefit from the rare literature.

Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah, speaking on the occasion, said the civilisation of Indus started right from the area it emanated from and covered various countries on the way, and terminated into the Arabian Sea.

“The language of the entire civilisation has assimilation which could be traced through research,” he said.

The minister said Karachi was the modern city of the Indus Civilisation, but even then, it was 300 years old.

He added that the Indus Civilisation was more than 7,000 years old.

He added it was deplorable that the other provinces have not organised such literary sessions on Harappa, Taxila, and such other civilisations.

CM’s Special Assistant Tariq Hassan also spoke on the book and thanked the chief minister for his participation.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023