Muhammad Usman Diplai ( ur, محمد عثمان ڈیپلائی), popularly known as Diplai (13 June 1908 – 8 February 1981), was a figure of
Sindhi literature
Sindhi literature ( sd, سنڌي ادب), is the composition of oral and written scripts and texts in the Sindhi language in the form of prose: (romantic tales, and epic stores) and poetry: (Ghazal, Wai and Nazm). The Sindhi language of the provinc ...
and journalism.
He was awarded the
Pride of Performance
The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...
for literature by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
on 23 March 2004.
Early life and literary career
Muhammad Usman Diplai was born at
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD wit ...
, (
Tharparkar District
Tharparkar ( Dhatki/ sd, ٿرپارڪر, ur, ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar district.
The district is the largest in S ...
) to Mohammad Ali Diplai, in a middle-class family. As per family traditions, he had to engage himself in business. Due to unfavourable circumstances, however, he could not complete his formal education. In early life, he worked with some landlords (''
zamindar
A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
s'') of the area as a clerk, but continued reading newspapers and magazines. He also acquired proficiency in Gujarati,
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
,
Gurmukhi
Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonl ...
languages and a working knowledge in English and Persian. His works included a translation of the Quran in the Sindhi language.Diplai: a man of indomitable spirit Dawn (newspaper), Published 18 February 2010, Retrieved 14 September 2021
He founded Islamia Press, Quran Press and the Islami Dar-ul-Ishaat, the Adar-i-Insanyat, and the Diplai Academy one after another shortly before the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, at the historic town of Mirpurkhas, and then moved to Hyderabad in 1942 where he founded the monthly magazine ''Ibrat'', which he sold in 1946, it then changed to publishing weekly and eventually daily. He was an essayist, journalist, publisher, distributor, and printer of the Sindhi language.
In 1923, he came across an issue of the Urdu weekly ''
Munadi
Munadi (born 25 January 1989) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Liga 1 club Persikabo 1973
Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Kabupaten Bogor 1973, commonly known as Persikabo 1973, is an Indonesian ...
'', published in Delhi by Khwaja Hassan Nizami) which carried an article about the conquest of Sindh by the young warrior Muhammad Bin Qasim. Diplai wrote a letter in Urdu to the editor pinpointing certain historical inaccuracies in the write-up. Hassan Nizami was so much impressed by the letter that he published it as an article. It proved a source of inspiration to Diplai and he started contributing to ''Munadi'' and ''Deen-o-Duniya'' (Urdu) journals regularly. Later, his Sindhi stories appeared in Sindhi monthlies such as ''Taraqqi (magazine)'' and ''Ilmi Dunya''.
Awards and recognition
Pride of Performance
The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...
Award (posthumously awarded) by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Investiture ceremony today Dawn (newspaper), Published 23 March 2004, Retrieved 12 September 2021
Death and legacy
Muhammad Usman Diplai died on 8 February 1981 at age 72.
On the 31st death anniversary of Muhammad Usman Diplai in 2012, many eminent scholars, writers and intellectuals paid tributes to him at an event held at Sindhi Language Authority auditorium including Rasool Bux Palijo who said that Diplai struggled for the promotion of education when Sindh was in the stranglehold of feudal lords and pirs. He added that Diplai had shown the way to modern education when Sindh was in desperate need for it.Usman Diplai's contribution to Sindhi literature highlighted Dawn (newspaper), Published 8 February 2012, Retrieved 12 September 2021
Another scholar
Fahmida Hussain
Dr Fahmida Hussain (maiden name Fahmida Memon) ( sd, ڊاڪٽر فهميده حسين ميمڻ) was born in a literary family on July 5, 1948, in Tando Jam in district Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan. Her father Mohammad Yakoon "Niaz" was also a sc ...
noted that Diplai was among the few persons in the 20th century to bring about meaningful reforms in the field of education.
Bibliography
*Qazi, Surriya Nasim, ''Muhammad Usman Diplai-His Personality and Impact of His Writings on the Social, Political and Literary Conditions of Sindh'' (2002,
University of Sindh
The University of Sindh ( ur, ; sd, سنڌ يونيورسٽي; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certif ...