Written by: Ch. Faisal Mehmood
Our Sindh has a singular majesty, well recognized and well respected throughout the wide world of Culture and Learning.
This majesty is owed to its singularity in world history, as housing the most ancient human community practicing advanced civic order, as that of the more frequently mentioned Mesopotamia, but living in and around creations from higher civil engineering.
Sindh became the pulpit for the world’s holiest mortals preaching and singing greatness of the Creator Supreme and the values of human dignity, equality, compassion, mutual tolerance, forgiveness and love for all creations– all injunctions of true Islam. Today, it has the world honour of housing the mortal remains of these venerated Sufi Saints, including His Exalted Master Shah Abdul Latif.
All these and more have given Sindh a unique Culture and it is only appropriate that we assign a Day to celebrate it– we, who live, work, earn and spend here; we, who celebrate our religious milestones here and bury our deads here.
This year again the Culture Day was celebrated throughout the province, with rallies and processions of men and women, adorned with Ajrak and Topi, wearing a pride and a merriment rare in these days of terror and poverty.
These were the common features of the reported celebrations everywhere; so also in the capital of Sindh, except for the two events, one at Arts Council and the other one at Chief Minister house.
The question is, are the Ajrak and Topi all that is Sindh Culture? Does its celebration belong only to the streets?
The true cultural celebrations demand that interactive Seminars should have been held in all major towns of Sindh and in other provincial and federal capitals, with scholars and qualified citizens talking about Sindh’s history, culture, Sufism, literature, industry and commerce etc.
This was an occasion to emulate from our studied reports about foreign missions presenting their cultures, here in Karachi, like the Indonesians presenting the production methods of their Batik.
Sindh’s handicrafts, cotton weaving, its ajrak, rillies, tiles, ceramics, furniture, snake charmers, musicians, singers, cusines etcetera could all have been brought over to exhibit live.
There is so much to show of Sindh Culture, if only its managers were endowed with genuine pride in it and had a sense of duty towards their responsibilities.
