HYDERABAD: Taj Joyo, the well-known Sindhi writer who was selected for the presidential Pride of Performance award this year, has declined to receive the award apparently due to the lack of resolution of Sindh’s “core issues” — ranging from enforced disappearances, usurpation of Sindh’s natural and water resources, denial of national language status to Sindhi language etc.

Joyo is aggrieved over recent ‘enforced’ disappearance of his son, Sarang Joyo, and for the last few days he has been joining protests outside the Karachi Press Club by family members of missing persons — allegedly picked in different districts of Sindh over the past several months.

Sarang Joyo, 34, is a research associate at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist), Karachi.

He went missing after leaving his residence in Akhtar Colony, Karachi, at midnight intervening Aug 10 and 11. The Joyo family believes he was picked up by unknown security personnel.

Taj Joyo told Dawn over phone that his son was leading the Sindh Sujagi Forum to highlighting Sindh’s issues like repatriation of Afghan refugees from the province, 2017 census, enforced disappearance, etc.

Cites denial of national language status for Sindhi as one of the main reasons

He said his son had not been produced in any court since he was believed to have been picked up. He confirmed that Senate’s committee on human rights had invited him to present his case before it on Monday. He said he intended to proceed to Islamabad, and added that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also spoken to him about his son’s disappearance.

About his refusal to receive the award, Joyo said that he had already made up his mind not to receive it. He explained that it [his decision] had nothing to do with his son’s disappearance. He said he would not have received the award if his son had not gone missing.

In a statement, he spelt out the reasons for refusing to receive the award. According to him, he had learnt that the president of Pakistan had finalised his name for the conferment of the Pride of Performance Award on the recommendation of his friends in the Sindh culture department. He said he had respect for the department’s recommendation but was unable to receive the award.

He said he took the decision because Sindhi language was not being given the status of national language, settling of ‘outsiders’ in Sindh remained unending under a plan and extremism was being “officially patronised” in Sindh to trample over secular values of the province.

He further stated that he refused to receive the award because freedom of expression was being curbed and youths including Aqib Chandio, Mehfooz Notkani, Insaf Dayo, Shahid Junejo, Gulsher Tagar, Bilawal Chandio, Hafeez Pirzado, Sohail Raza Bhatti, Sabir Chandio, Ayub Kandhro, Murtaza Junejo, Murtaza Solangi, Shafqat Malik, Pathan Zehrani, Naseem Baloch, Shadi Khan Soomro, Dr Fateh Khoso and his son, Sarang Joyo, faced torture somewhere [after being picked up]. So, he said, receiving the award was tantamount to bargain for him in these circumstances. He said that being an ordinary student of [veteran Sindhi nationalist leader late] G.M. Syed and friend of Abdul Wahid Arisar, he refused to receive the award and brought it on record.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2020