HYDERABAD, May 28: Renowned story writer, TV playwright and columnist Amar Jaleel has said that innumerable excesses have been committed against Sindh but ‘we have never tried to resist these excesses and always looked to others to come to our rescue.’

He said that it was often said that unity was a blessing and one could struggle for rights through unity, but ‘all our alliances have failed. We must do homework in this regard.’

He was speaking at a ceremony at the Hyderabad Press Club on Sunday night, where he was awarded life membership of the club. A large number of people -- including writers, politicians and academicians -- attended the ceremony.

"You are waiting for the emergence of a Messiah to rescue you but no Messiah will come and you yourselves will have to resolve your problems,” he told the Sindh people through the audience.

Mr Jalil said that the Lahore authorities had taken a decision to demolish a historical market. But, when the intellectuals, professors, students and artistes staged a protest sit-in, the authorities were not only forced to take back the decision but also undertook to renovate the market.

On the contrary, he deplored, in Sindh builder mafia was after historical buildings but they had made no efforts to resist their greedy designs. Giving an example, he said that a historical building was demolished in Karachi and a shopping centre was raised on its place but they failed to protect the national heritage.

"This is the difference between us and others," Mr jaleel said. “It should be understood by us that we ourselves have to protect our rights.

The writer said that as a sportsman, he could say that a team which lost on home ground should not blame the umpire. He said: “There is definitely something wrong with us because we have not been able to win on our home ground.” He added that it was up to social scientists to research on why they were stepping back instead of marching forward.

He said that when he was awarded life membership by the Karachi Press Club, it came as a pleasant surprise to him. He said that one could obtain membership of recreational clubs by spending money but to be a member of a press club, one had to have not only a pen but also a hand which was capable of writing.

In a lighter vein, he said that after hearing the speeches of friends and witnessing elaborate arrangements for today’s ceremony, he thought for a moment as if he were dead because such honours were seldom showered on living persons.

Referring to the hospitals, schools, hostels and other buildings constructed by those who had left for India after 1947, he regretted that they had not even been able to maintain the assets.

Earlier, writers Hameed Sindhi, Shoukat Hussain Shoro, Manzar Hayat Qazi, Inayat Baloch, Zaib Sindhi, Seher Imdad, PPP leaders Moula Bux Chandio and Jam Saqi, Hyderabad District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput and Sindh University vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui paid tribute to Mr Jalil. He was presented with Ajraks, Sindhi caps and a Thari shawl.