KARACHI, May 6: One of the country’s most revered leftist thinkers and scholars, Sobho Giyanchandani, popularly referred to with the honorific of ‘comrade,’ has said that despite having waged a decades-long battle to achieve his ideals, he would not tire and would continue the struggle.

Comrade Sobho was speaking as the chief guest at an evening held on Saturday in his honour at the City Officers Club at Kashmir Road, arranged by the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), Karachi.

“I am 88 years old now and still committed to the cause, for which I have been struggling for 60 years,” said Comrade Sobho, a graduate of the legendary Shantiniketan School, founded by Noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in Kolkata.

Nicknamed ‘the man from Moenjodaro’ by the late Tagore, Mr Giyanchandani said it gave him immense satisfaction to see that a large number of people still knew him and came to listen to him.

“It is heartening for me to see the younger generation is there to lead from where we had left,” said the respected scholar, who is generally credited by his admirers for preparing generations of writers, scholars, ideologues and trade unionists.

Speakers paid rich tributes to him and said that he never compromised on principles and suffered a lot for his struggle that started since he was admitted into Tagore’s institution in the late 1930s.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Sindh, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, presided over the meeting and Muslim Shamim read out a citation.

Taj Baloch, Mohammad Ali Pathan and Dr Zulfiqar Siyal spoke about Mr Giyanchandani’s achievements, while Sirajul Munir Tasneem, Saleha Kausar and Tishna Barelvi recited poetry in his honour.

During the programme, a book titled Sobho Giyanchandani – Funn Aur Shakhsiyat, authored by noted Urdu literature scholar Syed Mazhar Jameel, was also launched.

In the book, the author has tried to compile all the events that Comrade Sobho came across in his life, along with his contributions to literature and political movements.

The e-edition of the same book was also formally launched.

The meeting was told that the e-book was freely available in the Pakistan Academy of Letters’ portion in the literary website, Kitabeen.com.

In his welcome address, Mr Pathan said that personalities like Comrade Sobho were rare in history, who created a huge impact in society during their lifetimes and beyond.

Earlier, a cake was cut to celebrate the elderly scholar’s 88th birth anniversary.