Sindh’s popular amateur historian, Gul Hassan Kalmatti, who documented much of Karachi’s past, died on Wednesday of cancer.

Kalmatti wrote many books in Sindhi, Urdu, and English and was a member of the Indigenous Rights Alliance that fought Malik Riaz over Bahria Town land acquisition in Malir.

He breathed his last at a private hospital in Karachi. He was suffering from liver cancer.

His funeral will be held today (Wednesday) at 11 am in Haji Tahi Goth, Gadap, Malir۔

“Mr Gul Hassan Kalmatti’s work is very precious to us,” said Zahid Farooq, Joint Director of the Urban Resource Centre in Karachi.

“Whatever he has written on the history of Sindh…especially on Karachi’s history before the partition, most of these were in Sindhi, and he translated them into English,” he said. “Kalmatti wrote many things…wrote about tombs, he wrote on the history of Mandirs (Worship place for Hindus) and I read his history on Manghopir Mandir [Bhagnari Shiv Mandir].”

Farooq said that Kalmatti played two roles in his life, one for the students and other was for social activists. He recalled how he stud up against a real stat tycoon when he tried to by lush green and fertile land of Malir, Gadab.

“Kalmatti, his is friend and the team brought the people, who had no voice, under their umbrella,” said Zahid Farood. “They raised their issues and gave them a voice not only in Pakistan but all over the world, but unfortunately today the voice, which always stud up against injustice, the voice which is for the people, pen which has always highlighted the positives is now permanently shut.”

“Not it is a big task for the team how they will continue his mission.”

About Kalmatti

Gul Hassan Kalmatti has eight siblings. He was born on July 5, 1957, in Haji Arzi Baloch Village, Gadap, District Malir, Karachi.

Kalmatti acquired his BA degree from S.M. Arts College Karachi in 1978. In 1983, he earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Karachi. He also held a Master’s degree in Sindhi Literature from the University of Karachi.

Kalmatti documented Karachi from pre-British times and shared his findings often at seminars and conferences.

He wrote a book on Sassui who appears in Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s Shah jo Risalo. Kalmatti and Prof. Rukhman Palari of Karachi university traced Sassui’s journey in search of her beloved Punhoon from Banbhore to Turbat across Sindh as a project for the Sindh Abhyas Academy back in 2014-15. They felt that Sassui probably crossed what was modern day Bahria Town along the way. The book was published by the Shah Abdul Latif Chair at KU.

Kalmati identified Buddhist remains and the location of the Takiyaa (resting place) of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. According to him, both the Buddhist remains and the Takiyya of Shah Sahib are now buried under the construction of Bahria Town.

In an unpublished interview with Mahim Maher in 2015, Kalmatti spoke of this connection briefly:

Shah Latif ka Taqiya is where the Grand Mosque is being built, he said. If you go to Bahria Town’s Phase I, you would have found Jabal-e-Payaro. Shah Latif has mentioned Payaro too because Sassui’s waat is here. This is the route Sassui took tracking the Hoats (tribe) as she went looking for Punhoon.

Then where the grand mosque is being built, if you go right in front of where the board is located, that was Shah Latif ka Taqiya, which they have completely razed.

How do we know this? We hear it from the Jogis when Naani Hinglaj’s mela starts in Balochistan and they would head there. This was the route Mai Sassui took from Bhanbore.

You can find Ghulam Rasool Kalmatti’s most famous book Karachi ke Halaat at the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library in Malir.