HYDERABAD, Feb 10: Writers and intellectuals paid rich tribute to renowned international scholar Prof Dr Annemarie Schimmel for her services in the cause of Sindhi literature and culture at a condolence meeting, which was held at the Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, Sindh Museum, on Sunday.

The condolence meeting was jointly organized by the Sindh Ministry of Culture and the Sindhi Adabi Board.

They said that due to her love for mysticism and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, she had disseminated the culture and literature of Sindh throughout the world.

Speaking on the occasion, the vice chancellor, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Dr Abdul Rehman Memon, said that the German scholar had contributed a lot for the promotion of Sindhi language, literature, and culture.

He said the late Prof Schimmel had deep interest in the history of Sindh, and added that the universities of Sindh should establish an Annemarie Schimmel chair in their institutions.

The chairman, Sindhi Adabi Board, Ghulam Rabbani Agro, said that the history of Sindh was divided into two parts: pre-Latif and post-Latif periods.

He said, unfortunately, we ourselves had not been able to do any major work, and added that for the first time Elsa Kazi had translated Shah Jo Risalo into English.

He said Dr Annemarie Schimmel had done a lot of work on Sindh, and added that it was she who had introduced Sindh to Europe.

The former chairman, Sindh Adabi Board, Pir Hussain Shah Rashidi, said that the death of Schimmel was as poignant a tragedy for him as for his uncle, Pir Hissamuddin Shah Rashidi.

He said that the late author had even visited Makli during her visits to Pakistan. He said she fell in love with Sindh and often used to say that Sindh was her soul.

He said she had developed a close relationship with Pir Hissamuddin Rashidi, and added that whenever she came to Sindh, she always visited his grave.

He claimed that in her first will, she had expressed the desire that her mortal remains should be buried in the necropolis of Makli.

Others, who paid tribute to the late author included Hameed Sindhi, Shaukat Hussain Shoro, Hashim Leghari, Mumtaz Bhutto, and Imdad Hussaini.

They adopted several resolutions demanding of the Sindh government to name roads in Karachi and Hyderabad after Dr Annemarie Schimmel, to build a memorial in her honour, and to celebrate the current year as the year of Annemarie Schimmel.

They called upon the government to prevail upon the German government to hand over her books to the Institute of Sindhology for preservation at the Schimmel Corner.

DEMO: Workers of the Tehrik-e-Islami on Monday staged a demonstration to protest against the demolition of a Imam Bargah.