The 90th death anniversary of Mirza Qaleech Baig was celebrated at Benazir Bhutto Chair & Convention Centre, University of Sindh, Jamshoro which was organized on Wednesday.
Speaking at the ceremony, the speakers paid glowing tributes to the renowned writer the late Shams ul Ulma Mirza Qaleech Baig for his services in the cause of Sindhi language and literature.
They said that Mirza Qaleech Baig was one of the greatest writers of the world but he was not given due recognition at official level even in the Sindh province.
In his presidential address, the vice chancellor Prof. Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat deplored that no road or institution had been named after Mirza Baig in any city or town of the province and added that Sindh University took the initiative back in 2009 and established the Mirza Qaleech Chair which he said had been made more efficient to do with the publication of his books.
Defining the term Shamas ul Ulma as the sun of education and light, he said that Mr. Baig was a great scholar but he was not given his due place in the textbooks.
“In English literature, the famous writer is William Shakespeare who wrote just 77 books on dramas and poetry but Mirza Qaleech Baig wrote more than 457 hundred books in 43 disciplines including chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, plant sciences, Sindhi literature and anthropology to his credit”, said Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat.
He said that one could guess about his personality after seeing the quantity of his written books in over eight languages which included Sindhi, Persian, Arabic, English and other languages.
Mirza Qaleech Baig’s grandson Mirza Aijaz Baig said that his grandfather was the Adam of modern Sindhi literature and he had served the cause of Sindhi language all his life.
He said that the late writer had written 457 books in eight different languages on various 43 subjects unearthing that Mirza Qaleech would know 25 languages of the world.
Eulogizing Shamsul Ulema Mirza Qaleech Baig’s unmatched contribution to Sindhi language and literature as well as towards reforming society, he said it was unfortunate that the people of Iran, England, India and gulf countries did not know about Qaleech even in the era when the world had turned into global village.
“I say swearing in God that not to speak of today’s students who are not familiar with the name of late writer, but our teachers too, might not have studied the books of Mirza Qaleech Baig”, he lamented.
He said that Qaleech’s contribution and services enlightened generations brought about a positive change in society and promoted human values.
The grand grand-daughter Dr. Faiza Mirza said that Persian had been the official language of Sindh in the Talpur era but the language saw a gradual decline during the British rule. However, she said, literary figures, mystics, historians and other scholars of the Persian language could still be found in Sindh.
She said that native Sindhi intellectuals’ works in Persian are also available in abundance.
She fully visualized future requirements of a reformed society and focused on promoting Sindhi language and literature to achieve the goal.
Dr. Anwar Figar Hakro underlined the need for publishing more of his works, reprinting the already published books and making arrangements for the translation of all his works in English, Persian, Arabic and other international languages besides that of Sindhi.
He told that Sindh had historically been a centre of literary activities and frequented by scholars from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and other countries. Firdousi had also made mention of Sindh in his Shahnama, he maintained.
Naseer Mirza said that Mirza Qaleech Baig was bestowed upon the title of Shamsul Ulema and Qaiser-i-Hind, because he was one of the greatest writers, poets and historians of the subcontinent, adding that there were 457 books to his credit while he translated certain rare English and Persian books into the Sindhi language.
“Twenty-two of the books authored by him were on Persian prose and poetry alone”, he said.
SU’s director of Mirza Qaleech Baig chair Dr. Nawab Kaka said that because of his broad vision, exceptional intellectual approach and enormous contribution to Sindhi language and literature, Qaleech Baig was known in this province as the Shakespeare of Sindh.
He said that Qaleech Baig translated Chachnama and enabled future generations to read history of their homeland adding that besides being an intellectual, he was a great social reformer.
Well-known writer Muhammad Ali Manjhi said that more such events on the great scholar’s person and works might be organized from time to time to enable the new generation to fully benefit from the literature.
Among others Naheed Shah and Nafees Ahmed also spoke while Dr. Akhtar Mughal, Dr. Hafiz Abdul Ghani, Dr. Shahabudding Memon, Dr. Tahmina Mufti, Ghulam Rasool Gharaq and many others were in attendance at the ceremony.
In the ceremony, a group of undertrained singers hailing from Sindh Institute of Music & Performing Arts (SIMPA) Jamshoro sang two Sindhi songs “Monkhay kare khuwar wayo, muhinjo dildar wayo” & “Sohni Sajan tasveer disi” and one Urdu ode “Tere ishq ko main sada chahta hon” to pay tribute to the late scholar. The poetry of these songs was written by Mirza Qaleech Baig which enthralled and mesmerized the audience to a great extent.