=> Sindh-born scholar Dr Motilal Jotwani, 72, passed
Sindh-born scholar Dr Motilal Jotwani, 72, passed away on Tuesday morning in Poona, India, said a report.
Born in Sukkur (Sindh) in 1936, Jotwani wrote about 40 books in Sindhi, English and Hindi languages. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard University at one point. Some of his most notable books in English include Sindh through Centuries, Gandhi on Sindh and Sindhis and Dictionary of Sindhi Literature. The main subjects of his writings were Sindhi classical poetry, working women and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Jotwani had also contributed to fiction. He also received the Padma Shree Award, the highest literary award in India from the former president of India, Abdul Kalam and the Shah Latif Award from the Government of Sindh in 2006.
Jotwani left Sindh for India in 1947 when he was 11 years old along with his family and settled in Delhi. He emerged as one of the stalwarts of Sindhi, English and Hindi languages. Jotwani has assumed the distinction of being the first scholar, who wrote on Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Hindi.
He did a lot of research work on the poetry of Bhitai, including his PhD titled ‘Shah Latif: his life and work’.
His first visit to Sindh after Partition was in 2006 on the invitation of the Culture and Tourism Department, Government of Sindh.
Rakhial Morai, a prominent Sindhi poet, said that with the demise of Motilal Jotwani, Sindhi, English and Hindi languages have been deprived of a great scholar in the subcontinent. Morai further said the most noteworthy aspect of his writings was his research work on Bhitai. Jotwani received a message by the prominent writer and former journalist Luxman Komal from India. Sindhi writers Anwer Abro, Chander Keswani, Imdad Solangi, Dr Suleman Solangi and Suhbat Baloch also expressed grief and sorrow over Jotwani’s demise.
Source: The News
Date:1/30/2008
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