Paat

Paat is a small town in the Dadu District, Sindh, Pakistan.

Introduction

Paat is a small town in the Dadu district of Pakistan's southern province of Sindh. Pat Sharif is situated in the Kohistan and Kachho area in the western part of Dadu District. The Kachho area consists of 154 Dehs with the population of 250,339. The climate in Dadu Taluka in general is very extreme and same is the case with Pat Sharif. Agricultural activity is at a minimum due to scarcity of water because of the rising of the land in the direction of the hills restricting the scope of canal irrigation. The people of Kohistan and Kachho are dependent on rainwater, which recharges their ponds and wells. The people of this area are deprived of access to potable/safe drinking water, which is one of the basic human needs. The farming of livestock is rife in Dadu specifically in Kachho. Most of Kachho area in Sindh is inaccessible due to absence of road infrastructure. It is connected with the mainline railway and the station is named Piaro Goth.

Though small by all standards, the place was considered as a center of knowledge with an almost universal literacy rate. It has a rich historical background. As far as historical significance is considered Pat is overshadowed by Sehwan, one of the oldest cities dating from the Indus Valley Civilization. When Shershah defeated the Moghal Emperor Humayun, the latter came running to Sindh. He ran from pillar to post. At this stage Humayun, 33, fell in love with Hamida Banu, 14, an Arghun Sindhi girl, and married her in 1541 in village Paat, Sindh. Even in those days Paat was well known as the excellence of education. The Government Boys Qazi Ahmedi Model School, Pat Sharif village was established in 1915.

Coming to the west bank of the Indus, a mound known as Lohumjo Daro near Piaro Goth Railway Station came to attention in 1925. This mound has been further examined by Mr. Majumdar, who recovered from it several objects typical of Indus culture along with some others on pottery to which he assigns a period later to Mohen Jo Daro; still pre-historic relics. It is believed that the conditions that existed in Baluchistan and Sind five thousand years ago must have been much more favourable for human habitation than what exists now.

Unfortunately, most of the original residents belonging to the Kazi, Ansari, Junejo, Channa, and Siddiqui families have settled down either in Karachi or abroad with the result that it is not even safe to visit after sunset. Poor economic conditions and low living standards create additional problems in this area such as law and order, which continue to exacerbate the plight of the locals in this area. [http://www.dadu.sdnpk.org/]

Prominent Personalities

The collection of prominent personalities produced by the village Paat sounds like a Who's Who of Pakistan. The Qazi family originated with the confernment of a title on Mr Imam Ali Ansari, whom the British appointed as District Magistrate Hyderabad with absolute powers, and one of whose sons was the Sindh University founder and great Muslim sage and philosopher Allama I. I. Kazi. Other prominent personalities include a legal luminary of the British era Khan Bahadur Yar Mohammad Junejo, a Superintendent of Police in British India Mr Ali Muhammad Kazi, the first Director of Public Instruction in Sindh Khan Bahadur G.N. Kazi, prominent physician Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi who was the first Medical Superintendent of Civil Hospital Karachi and later Director Health Services, his brother Ghulam Mustafa S Kazi served as Collector and Secretary of various Sindh government departments, Mr Kazi Fazal Muhammad Ansari served as Registrar High Court of Sindh during the early twentieth century, leading civil servants like Mr A G N Kazi of the Indian Civil Service who was Economic Adviser to the President, Governor State Bank and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Mr Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi a Federal Secretary who retired as Chairman Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation, Mr A R Kazi Joint Secretary Ministry of Law in the early days of Pakistan, Mr Mumtaz Ali Kazi a senior member of the Sindh Public Service Commission, his son Dr Mutawakkil Kazi who is a former Chief Secretary of Sindh, and has also remained Federal Secretary for Planning and Development, Industries and Production, and Cabinet Secretary,was until recently Member Federal Public Service Commission. Dr Kazi's academic life earned him a name in the USA. He is a renowned Economist with a Ph. D. in Economics from Boston University, and a Master's Degree from Williams College in Massachusetts. Other sons of Mumtaz Ali Kazi include, Tarik Kazi, a Food Technologist in U.K. with a number of patents to his credit, Dr. K.S. Kazi a Specialist Surgeon in USA, Nasser Kazi, a banker in U.K. and Prof Mansoor AF Kazi Ph. D., a visiting Professor of Special Education in NYSU , at Buffalo New York. Also winning laurels for Paat are Mr Ghiasuddin Junejo a former senior member of the Board of Revenue Sindh, Masroor Junejo who is the Consul General of Pakistan in Manchester, Feroze Alam Junejo is presently working as Commercial Counsellor in Pakistan Embassy, Germany. Jamshed Kazi Senior Superintendent of Police currently deployed overseas by the UN Department of Safety and Security. Pervez Junejo is currently the Additional Secretary Higher Education,Govt of Sindh.

The town has also produced eminent judges of the Supreme Court and High Court including Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi, Justice Z A Channa, Justice B G N Kazi, Justice Mukhtar Ahmed Junejo, Justice Imam Ali Kazi, Justice Mamoon Kazi, and Justice Akhtar Ali G Kazi who has also remained as Chief Minister of Sindh. Another luminary is Mohammed Hayat Junejo who was Pakistan's ambassador to Thailand in the sixties and also served as a judge of the Sindh High Court for a short while. All these have been men of exceptional moral and intellectual integrity, who have upheld their high values in very difficult times. Paat Shareef also produced another educationist par excellence Professor Shafi Mohammad Siddiqui, founder of many schools in the Province of Sindh and having a big role in expanding literacy in the females of Sindh in 1940s and 1950s. His son Justice Professor Qazi Abdul Waheed Siddiqui remained judge of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan and contemporarily teaching law in the Dadabhoy University as professor emeritus as well as in the Sindh Judicial Academy, Karachi. Justice Professor Qazi Abdul Waheed Siddiqui's son Qazi Abdul Hameed Siddiqui is a prominent lawyer in Karachi.

The village/town has produced renowned members of the medical profession such as psychiatrist Prof Hyder Ali G Kazi, anesthetist Prof Haleem Kazi, Dr Sohail Ansari chest physician, radiologist Prof Muneer Junejo and Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi of the World Health Organization. In the banking sector, the late Mr Imdad Junejo, Safdar Kazi, Naveed Qazi, Tasleem Kazi, Shahzad Kazi, Rafiuddin Junejo, Shamim Junejo in Canada and Nadim Junejo In California USA have proved their mettle while Engineer Shuja Junejo is currently a prominent Secretary of the Sindh government, Wajid Junejo Plant Manager of Engro Chemicals Pakistan, the largest Chemical Fertilizer Company in Pakistan. The prominent educationists were the late Mr Abdul Ghafoor Ansari who was also a founder of Sindhi Adabi Sangat and Prof Akram Ansari who was later Director of Education. Other promenent persnalities include Abdul Ghani Ansari and Javaid Junejo as politicians.

The women of this village have not lagged behind; three of them Drs Sanjida Maqbool, Nilofer Qureshi and Shahnaz Kazi have secured their doctorates from the UK and USA, while Dr Afroze Kazi retired as Director General Ministry of Population Welfare. Dr Shamshad Junejo was the first Sindhi Muslim lady doctor.

In the younger generation Dr Atiyah Yahya secured her doctorate from the University of Alberta in biomedical engineering, Sonya Kazi topped in the world in the computer course in 2005 in her 'A' levels. Another aspiring female of this generation, Tasbih Qazi, achieved 11 A's in her O'Level Examinations (2006-2007). Her younger sister, Areeba Qazi, currently studying in 'O' levels has won various laurels, both, in studies, as well as extra curricular activities. She has also been a recipient of the 'Zainab Memorial Gold Medal' for being the best all-round student at the junior section of Karachi Grammar School. Young Shehroze Junejo is a student of IB and Deputy Head Prefect of discipline at International School, Frankfurt, Germany.He is the first Asian ever to have this post. His brother Hyder Junejo has 5 "A" from the same school.Another emerging star from the younger generation is Raahim Kazi. He reached the 99th percentile in his elementary school and was awarded a certificate by the president of the United States. His younger brother Sikandar is 2 belts away from his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a budding musician. Aasiya Kazi graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts in June 2007. Rashid Ansari, passed NCEES Exam and currently working as Project Manager in Weatherford & Associates Structural Engineers in Montgomery Alabama USA. Ravez Ahmed Junejo,an ACCA student, is a published poet and short-story writer as well as Pakistan's first I-reporter for CNN International. [http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBF_enPK237PK237&q=Ravez+Junejo] One of his emails regarding an honour killing incident in Texas, US was featured by the famous talk show host Bill O'Reilly in his highly-rated show "The O'Reilly Factor" [http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=1977]

Conclusion

It is hoped that the town achieves the recognition it deserves. Currently there is very little evidence in the town of its rich heritage and it might be prudent to establish a center to commemorate the great personalities of Pakistan produced by this small town.

ee Also

* Allama I. I. Kazi
* Elsa Kazi
* A G N Kazi
* Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi
* Rashid Ansari
* Dadu
* Sindh
* Pakistan

References

External links