ESSAY: TAJ JOYO AND HIS BOOKS.

It takes a lot of guts to decline a presidential award in Pakistan, and even more unwavering integrity to refuse the money associated with it, especially if you are facing financial hardships and can hardly sustain yourself.

In August 2020, well-known Sindhi-language writer Taj Joyo rejected the President's Pride of Performance award announced for him by the government, and then a few weeks later, Dr Veerta Ali Ujan refused to accept an award for her mother, the late Fahmida Riaz.

Both cited similar reasons for their refusal: violations of human rights in the country, abductions and enforced disappearances of activists and civil society workers, and curbs on freedom of expression. Some armed sleuths had abducted Joyo's son, Sarang, just three days before the Government of Pakistan announced the award. They released Sarang after a few days, but he faced removal from his job as a research associate at a private university in Karachi.

Many readers of English and Urdu don't know much about Taj Joyo and his writings, hence this brief introduction to his life and work. It is a discussion of only those books that I have in my personal collection, so it does not claim to be a comprehensive overview of all his work. I can classify 18 of Joyo's books that I have in various categories, such as criticism, compilations and translations.

First, we have his compilations of articles and essays on prominent artists, intellectuals, poets and politicians of Sindh. They range from Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Bhagat Kanwar Ram and Hameed Sindhi to Sirajul Haq Memon, Ibrahim Joyo, Rashid Morai and Khaki Joyo. Taj Joyo has done a tremendous service to Sindhi literature by compiling these books.

Then we have Joyo's works of criticism on Sindhi poets from Bhitai to Shaikh Ayaz. His books on Bhitai, such as Shah Latif Ja Fikri Sarchashma [Intellectual Sources of Shah Latif] published in 2013, is a work of research that must be appreciated. It is a good addition to the work that has already been done on Bhitai by writers such as Agha Saleem, Usman Ali Ansari and many others.

With books on criticism, compilations, translations and even stories, Taj Joyo is a cultural icon more should know about outside Sindh

Joyo has also compiled the papers that various researchers and writers presented on the occasion of Bhitai's 260th Urs, or death anniversary. The Bhit Shah Cultural Centre in Hyderabad published this book in 2005. Titled Husaini Ji Haak [A Study of Sur Husaini], all...

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