KARACHI, Jan 18: A leading historian and scholar, Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, has urged people to undertake research in all aspects of Sindh’s history, culture, language, etc so that Sindh, its people and culture could progress further.

Speaking at a function “Open House,” organized by the Sindh Culture Department in Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, on Saturday he deplored that the standard of education had fallen in Sindh since the 1970s due to political interference.

Born at a small village in Sanghar District, the octogenarian scholar gave the credit for his education up to matric to his uncle. Later, he went on to study at Junagarh, Aligarh and then to the United States on his own.

He stressed that Sindhis should study Urdu and Urdu-speaking people Sindhi, as it was important for national integration because people should understand and read and write one another’s languages, literatures, histories, etc.

Emphasizing the importance of English language, Dr Baloch stressed, at the same time, that primary education should be provided in mother language, or if that was not possible, then in the language that a child heard and used following the practice in his neighbourhood.

He quoted an 1882 University Commission’s report which said people who received primary education in their mother language were more successful than those who studied in English language.

He also did not agree with a questioner that the Arabic script of Sindhi be replaced with the Roman script following the Turkish example. He said the Roman script could be adopted to teach the language to foreigners, or to meet communication needs, but Sindhi’s Arabic script should be retained. He said Sindhi was the first language in the subcontinent to adopt the Arabic script.

Replying to a question from Dr Hamida Khuhro, Dr Baloch said though there were some problems, the future of Sindhi language and culture was very bright. It was encouraging that the new generation was visiting libraries.

Answering a question from an archeologist, Kalim Lashari, about the site of Moeen-jo-Daro excavations, he said a few good things had happened as an embankment had been built along the Indus River, which was eroding the protected area. Now the Indus Valley Civilization ruins had been saved. He said many tubewells had also been installed around the ruins to bring down the watertable and eventually the watertable that had come up to nearly 18 feet below surface went down to around 29 feet.

He said he and local experts wanted that more excavations should be carried out on the reclaimed land, but international experts, some of whom represented the donor agencies, objected to the proposal, so the project for more excavations could not materialize.

Answering a question from Dr Ghulam Ali Allana on the history of Sindhi language and whether its roots could be traced to Sanskrit, Dr Baloch said he was of the view that Sindhi’s roots could be traced back to the language which was spoken in the area during the Indus Valley Civilization. He said Sindhi’s roots did not lie not in Sanskrit. He, however, agreed that more research was needed towards this end.

Replying to a question from Dr Sahib Khan Channa about the status and importance of the Indus Valley Civilization among other civilizations, Dr Baloch said the Indus Valley Civilization was one of the most important civilizations, particularly among the river-valley civilizations like those of the Nile, Euphrates-Tigris, etc. He said it was unfortunate that very little had been written on the Indus Valley, still more unfortunate was the fact that outsiders had written more than the locals had written on the Indus Valley Civilization.

Responding to a question from Inayat Baloch about Sindhi music, he said Sindhi music was not a part of Hindi or Indian music because it had its own individuality. He added that the history of Sindhi music was very old and possessed continuity. He said that Shah’s (Latif) Raags were being sung continuously for nearly three hundred years; it was unmatched because no genre of music had had such a continuity in the whole world.

Answering a question about the extinction of many musical instruments, he said many instruments had become extinct, and many others, including Nurr, were on the verge of extinction. He added that, of course, money was important, but what was more important that society should patronize and give due respect and honour to artisans, musicians and singers as these could act as incentives and keep attracting new generations. He also emphasized the need for providing education and training in traditional music and other traditional arts.