HYDERABAD, July 4: The ashes of Sindh-born Indian writer, Hari Motwani, were scattered in the River Indus near Kotri by a group of Sindhi intellectuals and writers on Wednesday evening.

The ashes, which had been kept as “Amanat” in Mumbay, were brought by Tajal Bewas, Shaukat Shoro and Rakhiyal Morai as the writer had expressed the wish in the will that his ashes should be scattered into the river.

The writers led by Ibrahim Joyo gathered at Mahadev Shiv Raj temple on the right bank of the river to carry out the last rites as per the will of the late writer in the evening.

Taj Joyo, secretary of Sindhi Adabi Sangat, informed the gathering that the late writer had expressed in his will that his ashes should be disposed of into the River Ganges in Hardwar in Mumbay and the River Indus.

Late Motwani was born in Sindh. In his teens he had gone to India to meet his relatives in Hardwar when the great divide took place making it impossible for him to come back to his native place despite his best efforts.

He, however, kept visiting the birthplace between 1986 and 2005 on several occasions. He had started brought out a Sindhi magazine, Koonj and had some Sindhi books to his name. All throughout his life he tried to maintain cordial relations between the writers of Sindh and India.

He was planning to visit Sindh in April 2006 but a sudden cardiac arrest stopped him from undertaking the journey. He was to undergo bypass surgery on May 15 but died on May 7 last year.

The last rites of late writer were performed by Daya Ram and the ceremony was presided over by Ibrahim Joyo.

Sindhi writers and intellectuals, Ibrahim Joyo, Hameed Sindhi, Tajal Bewas, Taj Joyo, Wali Ram Walab and Ali Baba paid rich tributes to late Motwani and said that he had set a shining example for patriotism.

They said that he tried to become a bridge between Sindh and India and worked hard to become a great writer. He desired to die in Sindh that was why he had given his testament for scattering ashes into the River Indus.

Later, the writers and intellectual boarded five boats and scattered the ashes into the river along with rose petals to the recitation of Shah Latif’s poetry and songs.