We lost an iconic son of Larkana on 15 December 2025. His death ended a long era of a nationalist and ideological trajectory of over eight decades. He remained loyal to his political and ideological beliefs to the last breath. I came to know him in 1972 when I joined the Larkana Municipal Corporation. He was in charge of the library and archives of the Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Library was well stocked with books by renowned authors in English, Urdu, and Sindhi languages.
Surprisingly, a large number of English classics adorned the shelves of the library. I read most of the classics during my stay in this city of learning and learned much from them. While sitting in the library, Comrade Gul Gaad radiated knowledge and enlightenment. The following is how I have reminisced about those Larkana days. “I was living and growing with a well-read circle of nationalists and friends in the town. This was bound to motivate me with a desire to strive and stand at par with them in terms of reading and learning. This sense of competition proved to be the stepping stone for my subsequent success in the federal and provincial competitive examinations. It is true that the company you keep makes or breaks you. It would be pertinent to mention a few of the friends who played some role in shaping my life in Larkana. To me, a person who helps set a few souls on the right path of education and learning is worthier than a half-lettered minister or legislator.”
Mr. Gul Muhammad Gaad was an employee of the Municipal Committee and an avid reader. He was somewhat an institution in himself-academic in his manners, conversation, and discussions, and professorial in his appearance and gestures. He had taken a good number of youngsters under his wing and acted as a guide and mentor to them, advising them about their studies, selection of reading material, and student politics. I came into contact with this icon of the literary circle of Larkana.
Among his circle of disciples was Mohammad Punhal Qadri from the small village of Panju Dero, located a few kilometres from Garhi Khuda Bukhsh. Punhal was also a prolific reader. He ardently followed the veteran Sindhi nationalist and leader of the Qaumi Awami Tehrik, Rasool Bukhsh Palejo. It was sometime in 1975 that Rasool Bukhsh Palejo visited Larkana and was invited by them to my house for a private session with a small circle of his admirers. Though it was a very brief session, he left a lasting impression through his knowledge and political intellect, scientifically analysing political parties and movements in the province and the country.
To me, a person who helps set a few souls on the right path of education and learning is worthier than a half-lettered minister or legislator
Gul Muhammad Gaad was a man of a different nature. He was always more worried about his friends and followers than his own kith and kin. He would never mince his words in telling the truth. His candour touched the limits of obscenity. His conversations with frank friends would sometimes be laced with offensive phrases, though directed at none. He was very sincere, truthful, emphatic, kind, and helpful. He knew all the comrades (leftists) of the town, including Moulvi Nazir Jatoi, Comrade Bukhari, Muslim Shamim, Abdul Razak Soomro, and Sobho Gianchandani. The latter was a senior leader of the Pakistan Communist Party. He had followers from every class of people, including Municipal sanitary workers and peons, besides persons of extremely humble backgrounds from his neighbourhood. He gave voice to Municipal employees by founding the first-ever Union of Municipal Employees and forced the Municipal authorities to earmark land for the first-ever housing scheme for low-paid Municipal employees. The scheme was very successful in resolving the acute housing problems of many employees.
He met and encouraged budding writers in Larkana. His likes and dislikes were determined by his affection for Sindh. He adored G. M. Syed for his love for Sindh and Sindhis and the power of his pen and intellect; admired Rasool Bux Palejo for his ideological and political struggle and for carrying forward the message of peasant leader Fazal Rahu; respected the Rashdi brothers (Pir Ali Muhammad and Pir Hisamuddin Rashdi) for their voluminous political literature in the Sindhi language; and highly valued Hyder Bux Jatoi as the true leader of the underprivileged, particularly the landless and voiceless peasants. He knew closely a bevy of nationalist student leaders-a few names that come to my mind include Bashir Khan Qureshi, the Shaikh brothers Aminullah and Inamullah Shaikh, Jagdesh Ahuja, Dodo Maheri, Syed Ghulam Shah, and Jam Saqi. He also knew all the prominent figures of the political, literary, and social constellation that illuminated the horizon of the town, including the Abbassi brothers-Qurban Abbassi and Qamaruddin Abbassi.
He collected a few colleagues and embarked upon the compilation of a compendium on Larkana, covering the chronological evolution of the town in all spheres of life, including its history and its contributions to national and provincial political, economic, educational, literary, social, and cultural institutions that contributed to its fame. The voluminous book Larkana Saah Seebano took years of hard labour, research, persuasion, and persistence to complete. Gul Muhammad had to literally run after people from various backgrounds to obtain articles and write-ups for the book. It is an encyclopaedia on Larkana. For the past two years, his son Abdul Latif Gaad has been endeavouring to get it reprinted by the Sindhi Adabi Board with updated information about the vibrant life of the town. Gul personally persuaded me to contribute a detailed write-up on the Bhuttos for the new edition. I am glad I never disappointed him. He liked the write-up for the new edition.
On 16 December, this iconic son of Larkana embraced the mother earth of his native village, from where he had sprung to render small services to Larkana. I regret that I could not participate in his last journey, being bedridden due to a viral infection.
Goodbye, dear Gul Gaad, until a reunion.
The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books.