Gul Mohammad Gaad was an institution in his person – academic in his manners, conversation and discussions, and professorial in his appearance and gestures
Ambassador M. Alam Brohi
We lost an iconic son of Larkana on 15 December 2025. His death ended a long era of a nationalist and ideological trajectory of over eight decades. He remained loyal to his political and ideological beliefs to the last breathe. I came to know him in 1972 when I joined the Larkana Municipal Corporation. He was in charge of the library and archives of the Municipal Corporation. The Municipal library was well stocked with books of known authors of English, Urdu and Sindhi languages.
Surprisingly, a large number of English classics adorned the shelves of the library. I read most of the classics during my stay in this city of learning and learned. While sitting in the library, Comrade Gul Gaad radiated knowledge and enlightenment. The following is how I have reminisced about those Larkana days.
“I was living and growing with a well-read circle of nationalists and friends in the town. This was bound to motivate me with a desire to strive and stand at par with them in terms of reading and learning. This sense of competition proved the stepping stone for my subsequent success in the federal and provincial competitive examinations. It is true, the company you keep makes or breaks you. It would be pertinent to mention a few of the friends who played some role in shaping my life in Larkana. To me, a person who helps set a few souls on the right path of education and learning is worthier than a half lettered Minister or legislator.
Gul Mohammad Gaad was an employee of the Municipal Committee and an avid reader. He was somewhat an institution in his person – academic in his manners, conversation and discussions, and professorial in his appearance and gestures. He had taken a good number of youngsters under his wings and acted as a kind of guide and mentor to them advising them about their studies, selection of reading material, and student politics. I came into contact with this icon of the literary circle of Larkana.
Among his circle of disciples was Mohammad Punhal Qadri from the small village of Panju Dero, located a few kilometers from Garhi Khuda Bukhsh. Punhal was also a prolific reader. He ardently followed the veteran Sindhi nationalist and leader of the Qaumi Awami Tehrik, Rasool Bukhsh Palejo. It was somewhere in 1975 that Rasool Bukhsh Palejo visited Larkana and was invited by them to my house for a private session with a small circle of his admirers. Though it was a very brief session, he left a lasting impression of his knowledge and political intellect, scientifically analyzing political parties and movements in the province and the country”
My friendship with Gul Mohammad Gaad flourished throughout all these decades with the same spirit of camaraderie, affection, and ideological affinity. With the passage of time, our circle of friendship shrunk to four only – Gul Gaad, Punhal Qadri, Dr. Mir Muhammad Shaikh and this author. I considered him my political and ideological guide, and always sought his guidance. He was genuinely proud of my development into a knowledge seeker with a relentless hard work for a good profession. In a way, he monitored my progression in my career. He was so happy to see my first book “A Voice in the Wilderness: Reflections and Memoirs” which was published in 2017. I gifted him many copies. All his friends who, like me, had picked up his habit of reading took these copies from him. His own collection of books was also vulnerable to the uninvited intrusion of his friends and visitors.
Gul Muhammad Gaad was a man of different nature. He was always worried more for his friends than his own family. He would never mince his words in telling the truth. His candor touched the limits of obscenity. His conversation with frank friends would always be laced with unprintable phrases though directed to none. He was very sincere, truthful, emphatic, kind and helpful. He knew all the comrades (leftists) of the town including Moulvi Nazir Jatoi, Comrade Bukhari, Muslim Shamim, Abdul Razak Soomro, and Sobho Gianchandani. The latter was a senior leader of the Pakistan Communist Party. He had followers from every class of people including the Municipal sanitary workers and peons and persons of extremely humble background from his neighborhood. He gave voice to the Municipal employees by founding the first ever Union of the Municipal Employees and convinced the Municipal authorities to earmark land for the first ever housing scheme for the low-paid Municipal employees. The scheme was very successful resolving the acute housing problem of many employees.
He was a restless soul always looking for books and knowledge. He met and encouraged budding writers in Larkana. His likes and dislikes were guided by his affection for Sindh. He adored G.M. Syed for his love for Sindh and Sindhis, and the power of his pen and intellect; admired Rasool Bux Palejo for his literary and political struggle and carrying forward the message of Peasant leader Fazal Rahu; respected Rashdi brothers for their legacy of a vast political literature in Sindhi language, he highly valued Hyder Bux Jatoi as the true leader of the underprivileged particularly the landless and voiceless peasants. He knew closely a bevy of nationalist student leaders – a few names that come to my mind include Bashir Khan
Qureshi, the Shaikh brothers -Aminullah and Inamullah Shaikh, Jagdesh Ahuja, Dodo Maheri, Syed Ghulam Shah, Jam Saqi. He also knew all the known stars of the political, literary and social constellation that illuminated the horizon of his town including the Abbassi brothers – Qurban Abbassi and Qamaruddin Abbassi.
He collected a few colleagues and embarked upon the compilation of a compendium on Larkana covering chronologically and in an encyclopedic way all the spheres of life of the town including its history, and contributions to the evolution of national and provincial political, economic, educational, literary, social and cultural institutions that contributed to its world fame. The voluminous book “Larkana Saah Seebano” took years of hard labour, search, persuasion and pursuance to complete. Gul Muhammad had to literally run after people from various backgrounds to obtain articles and write ups for the book. For the past two years, his son Abdul Latif Gaad has been endeavoring to get it reprinted by the ‘Sindhi Adabi Board’ with updated information about the vibrant life of the town. Gul personally persuaded me to contribute a detailed write up on Bhuttos for the new edition. I am glad I never disappointed him. He liked the write up for the new edition.
On 16 December, this iconic son of Larkana embraced the mother earth of his native village from where he had sprung to render small services to Larkana. I have the regret that I could not participate in his last journey being bed ridden due viral infection.
Goodbye, dear Gul Gaad until a reunion.
Read: Endless Grief: Silent Tears Fall
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The author is a former member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and has served as Ambassador for seven years.
