KARACHI: Tribute was paid to the late comrade Sobho Gianchandani at a reference held on Tuesday.

The reference was held at the Jinnah Medical and Dental College by the Society for Secular Pakis tan.

Introducing a panel of speakers, associate professor and head of social sciences at SZABIST Dr Riaz Ahmed Sheikh said the late comrade was known for being part of the peasant movement and later the progressive movement in Sindh.

Before beginning the programme, a moment of silence was observed to mark the day as children and teachers were attacked by the Taliban at a school in Peshawar.

The first person asked to speak about comrade Sobho was renowned theatre and television artist Khaled Ahmed.

Speaking about his last meeting with comrade Sobho, which was a month back, regarding a documentary he was making about the migration of Hindus from the province, he said: `I noticed, understandably, that there was discontinuation in his thoughts and his speech. But he made a relevant point by the end of the discussion, which I have decided to keep as an ending to our documentary. When asked about the migration of Hindus from the province, he retorted: `What kind of a Pakistan is this,where aSobho Gianchandani can`t freely step out of his home?` During the course of the event, mention was made many times of comrade Sobho`s mentor and first Nobel laureate from India Rabindranath Tagore, and their association in Shantiniketan in West Bengal in 1939.

Writer and literary critic SyedMazhar Jamil spoke about comrade Sobho`s life from 1942 onwards as a Marxist communist who wanted to work for the oppressed.

`From 1942 and during his lifetime, he was incarcerated and kept under house arrest seven times during the course of his struggle for the poor and oppressed of the province. I must also add that he was hugely impressed with the work and life of Tagore but was not his follower,` he added.

Before leaving the podium, Mr Jamil added that the culture department in Sindh recently agreed to publish and reprint all ofcomrade Sobho`s work. `He might not be here with us, but his work is enough to last us a lifetime of memories and inspiration.

The speakers after him focused on discussing his life as a student leader and his forays into activism and lef tist movements.

Columnist Javed Qazi read out his column for the audience.

Among other things he mentioned how he missed spending more time with the late comrade. `For a lot of people speaking about comrade Sobho might be reminiscent of what Sindh used to be, but for me, it is lil(e speaking about home and a family member,` he began.While reading out his column, he mentioned that when entire Larkana was in the grip of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, comrade Sobho did not sway with the changing times, rather became more steadfast in his beliefs as someone working for the poor and poor first.

Communist leader and writer Muslim Shamim was next in line to pay tribute to one of the `four dervishes of Sindh`.

The reference was taken from his recent book, where Shamim wrote about the four dervishes of Larkana Jamaluddin Bulchari, Haider Bux Jatoi, Maulvi Nazir Jatoi and Sobho Gianchandani.`At the launch of the book, I referred to him as the zinda darvesh of Sindh. He was well versed in Sindhi, Urdu and English literature. Communist and leftist leaders met him, despite having factions and conflicts within their own circles. He was not a confused Marxist or got dogmatic over the years. He remained the truer version of himself till the day he died, he added.

Mr Shamim added that he referred to Larkana as his gyan bhoomi, adding that whatever he knew today was due to the generosity of comrade Sobho.

Poet and writer Fahmida Riaz called him a `three-headed monster, which he actually called himself during an interview. He said he`s more dangerous to the state, as he is a Sindhi, a communist and a Hindu, thus a three-headed monster`.

Speaking about his early life, she said that comrade Sobho chose to stay back during partition, when he could have migrated.

He could have been anything he wanted to be, but he chose to be a Marxist and worl( for the right of the poor.

Renowned historian Mubarak Ali was taken online from Lahore to speak about comrade Sobho Gianchandani. He was the first recipient of the Sobho Gianchandani Award in May this year. Speaking about comrade Sobho, he said that soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, many leftists dispersed or went underground, but Sobho fought on and remained steadfast.

`If we can do one thing for him, let`s get together, as this is what we, as a country, need the most. Leftists need to regroup. They need to forget their conflicts and invest their energies in bringing about change in the society,` he added.