HYDERABAD: Spea-kers at the launch of Auraaq-e-zindagi, the autobiography of Pakis-tan Peoples Party veteran leader Maula Bux Chandio, described the author as Fakhr-i-Hyderabad (pride of Hyderabad) and said he could play the role of a bridge between different communities settled in the second largest city of the province.

They showered praise on Chandio at a simple ceremony at local press club on Sunday night by lovingly referring to him by the nicknames of ‘Ustad’ and ‘Bhau’ and said he was the first PPP leader from Hyderabad to have served the party as central information secretary and federal law minister. Jail diary was Chandio’s first book and he had since written half a dozen books including Galiyan yad nagar ki, they said.

Chandio thanked his followers, friends and people of Hyderabad whom he called his ‘beloved’ in his opening remarks and summed up how he had tried to lay bare his life, experiences, political struggle, family life etc.

He said that he had tried to throw light on the menace of sectarianism and ethnic politics and ‘cheating’ in the name of spiritualism. “Every child of Sindh knows what spirituality and spiritualism means,” he said.

Saleem Vohra, a business leader, said that society badly needed people like Chandio to address social inequalities. Chandio could be best described as Fakhr-i-Hyderabad, he added.

Prof Saleem Baig Mirza said Auraq-i-zindagi was a documentary on Hyderabad in simple language. The book was based on true events which the author had portrayed so emotionally and honestly, he said.

PPP Sindh information secretary Ajiz Dhamra said that this gathering was reflective of the harmony between different communities in Hyderabad which had been its hallmark since time immemorial except a brief period when the city witnessed ethnic riots. The book showed Chandio had won the war against ethnicism, he said.

Dhamra said that as party activist he often copied Chandio’s style of public speaking. “The author has written the book in Urdu which shows how people with cross community background love each other’s languages,” he said.

The chief minister’s special assistant Saghir Qureshi spoke more about political issues than the book and said that the author was a jiyala with a long political struggle.

Syed Saghar Hussain Zaidi, a former sessions judge, said that Auraq-i-zindagi was the crux of Chandio’s life, his experiences and politics. He did not leave any topic untouched in the book, he said.

Dr Nasiruddin Shaikh said the author did not miss Babbur (acacia) trees, his ancestral village, Rashidani, in Tando Mohammad Khan district and tyranny of waderas.

He said that Chandio not only dreamt he translated his dream into reality by becoming a true parliamentarian. The book mentioned study circles the political parties used to organise to train their political cadres but sadly this culture had died away over the years, he said.

Prof Ejaz Ahmed also congratulated Chandio and praised him for paying tribute to his mother in the book.

The book launch was organised by Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musanni-feen.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2023