Veteran leftist leader Sobho Gianchandani passed away

Nazir Siyal
LARKANA: Veteran leftist leader Sobho Gianchandani passed away on Monday in Larkana at the age of 94. He was taken to Chandka Medical College Hospital on early Monday and rushed for an Electrocardiography (ECG) later, he shifted at his residence.
Gianchandani was an acclaimed a revolutionary leftist leader, writer, intellectual and a philosopher called the ‘Man of Mohenjo Daro’, known for his outspoken views about Sindh and its people, he written nine books, four of which were in Urdu and the rest in Hindi.
Nirmal told that the comrade passed away suddenly while sitting in his chair, after he was served his morning tea and asked his wife to take him outside.
Gianchandani was known for his association with a number of political parties and campaign groups such as the Indian National Congress and Khudai Khidmatgar, which was a non-violent movement turned political party during pre-partition times.
After partition, the leftist leader was pressurized to leave Sindh and to go to India, but he refused and as a consequence was banned from travelling abroad until 1998.
Gianchandani was also the founder of many progressive, democratic and nationalist campaigns in Sindh.
Gianchandani was the first non-Muslim and non-Urdu recipient of the Kamal-e-Fun Award – a top literary award given to writers in the field of literature.
Prominent personalities of Sindh and politicians including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, former president Asif Ali Zardari, writers, intellectuals and poets of Sindh condoled his death and paid tribute to him.
Born on May 3, 1920 in Bindi village near Moen Jo Daro, Gianchandani got his primary and secondary education from Kamber High School and Pilot School in Larkana before he went to India for higher education.
He was one of the pioneers of the Marxist movement in Sindh and went to jail many times. Till his death, he did not give up his Marxist beliefs.
Apart from his political affiliation, Gianchandani was a poet, writer and journalist, he worked with many prominent personalities including, Tagore Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mahatma Gadhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Goband Malhi and Hyder Bux Jatoi. He was famous because of his struggle for the peasant and labour class.