By: KAMRAN KHAMISO KHOWAJA
SUJAWAL: Speakers paid rich tributes to historian, writer, social analyst, and educationist Abdul Aziz Jaffrani at an event organized under the aegis of the Sindh Culture Department and Aziz Jaffrani Yadgar Committee to mark his 16th death anniversary. People from different walks of life attended the event, which was held in the auditorium of Sarvech Sujawal Public Library.
While addressing the gathering, historian and writer Dr. Muhammad Ali Manjhi said that Aziz Jafrani had made significant contributions to compiling and writing the history of Sindh’s Larr region, besides conducting detailed research on Sindh’s historical sites. He further said that Jafrani had discovered new dimensions of Sindh’s history and established himself as an eminent historian of Sindh.
Obhayo Khan Khushik called him a die-hard fan of Sindh who wanted to educate the people of Sindh through his contributions and literary work. “People like Aziz Jafrani leave behind imprints of their work in history,” Khushik mentioned.
His brother and former bureaucrat Shams Jafrani said that his brother had established a library in Sujawal city in 1963 to educate the local population, and through this initiative, he had successfully bolstered the literacy ratio of Sindh’s Larr region. Talking about his contributions, he further said that Aziz Jafrani had written more than seven books on the history of Sujawal, Jati, and other parts of Sindh’s Larr region.
His fellow historian Rasool Bux Tamimi eulogized the efforts of the late historian for engraving unique facts associated with Sindh’s history through his work. He revealed that the first story written by Jaffrani was published in 1955. His first book, which contained his research about Sujawal, “Sujawal Jee Tareekh” (The History of Sujawal), was published in 1986, followed by “Tareekh Jati Ja Nawan Wark” and “Sujawal Ji Siyasi Samaji Tareekh.”
He also wrote a novel, “Masoom” (Innocent), and a few books about the history of Islam and Islamic culture. However, a book titled “Makalat-E-Aziz,” comprising selected verses of his poetry, was also published by the Sindh Culture Department after his death. Apart from this, he translated Dr. Willies’ book, “The History of Islamic People,” into Sindhi.
Several of his articles about the culture and history of Sindh were published in different Sindhi, Urdu, and English dailies in the country. The President of APCA Sujawal, Khamiso Muhammad Khan, described Aziz Jafrani as a man of extraordinary skills who imparted knowledge throughout his life and was a proponent of a knowledge society.
Zahid Ishaque Somro, Zubair Jafrani, Ashfaque Jafrani, Iqbal Khuwaja, Qamar Zaman Shah, and others addressed the gathering. Towards the end, musicians Nawaz Ali and Zulfiqar Ali played unique Sindhi musical instruments, the Borindo and Surhando, to enthrall the audience.
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