Veteran scholar Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo passes away at 102

Prominent writer, literary celebrity and Sindhi nationalist Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo passed away on Thursday in Hyderabad at the age of 102. He had been suffering from breathing complications for the past few days. 

Upon hearing of his demise, a large number of admirers arrived at his residence in Hyderabad’s Kalhoro Colony to pay their respects, while nationalist parties across Sindh announced three days of mourning. Joyo, who was the chairman of the Sindh Democratic Party, will be laid to rest in his native village Abad in Jamshoro. He had written, translated and edited hundreds of books, booklets and brochures and was considered a living legend of Sindhi literature.   

Early education

Joyo was born in 1915 in Abad village, Jamshoro, where he studied in a state-run primary school. He moved to Karachi for further studies and passed his matric exams in 1934 from the Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU), which is now a university. 

In 1938, Joyo passed BA from Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Government Science College, better known as DJ Science College. The college was affiliated with the University of Bombay at that time.  After the completion of his graduation, he went to Bombay to study to become a teacher and later came back to Karachi, where he was appointed at SMIU in 1941.   

Career

In 1947, Joyo published a book titled ‘Save Sindh, Save the Continent’, which angered the authorities and caused a conflict with Pir Ilahi Bux, who was serving as the chief minister of Sindh at the time.

As a result of the publication, Joyo was terminated from his job at SMIU. He went on to serve as a head master in Thatta where he worked for two years at the meagre salary of Rs200 a month.

In 1951, Joyo was appointed secretary of the Sindhi Adabi Board, a government-sponsored institution in Pakistan for the promotion of Sindhi literature, and later served as a chairman of the board as well.

The prolific writer was also involved with the Sindh Textbook Board. He translated and authored hundreds of books, writing about Sindh and Sindhi almost 70 years.  

Literary organisations 

In 1973, he formed Cooperative Society of Sindhi Writers and was elected its president. The society published more than 40 books.

In 1978, he formed Sindh Friends Circle and published around 20 books on various issues about Sindh and literature.

Joyo was also the founding chairman of the Shaikh Ayaz Foundation, which published more than 20 books. He was also a member of Board of Governance of Sindh Language Authority from 2008 to 2014 and vice president of Theosophical Society for the last four decades.           

Condolences pour in

Joyo remained a great thinker, educationist and played a major role in the development of Sindhi language and literature throughout his life, SMIU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said in his condolence message. 

He announced that the varsity will organise a literary reference in Joyo’s honour soon.

Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan, the VC of the University of Karachi expressed sorrow over Joyo’s demise. In their separate condolence messages, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law VC Justice (retd) Qazi Khalid Ali and Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar, said the writer’s death was an irreplaceable loss,