Role Of Intellectual

Intellectuals in any society can affect the trend of thought which as a subsequence can result in alterations in society itself. To a great extent, people are always affected by any kind of art they like. And intellectuals are those persons who are gifted by God the talent to create this art. A society, no matter how barbaric it has become, can develop and progress as a moral to all if it has intellectuals with true heart and soul.

Intellectuals can play an important role in society because they are artists. People like them more than they like president. People trust them more than they trust politicians and bureaucrats. These intellectuals are poets people admire. They are writers, painters, singers and actors. They may be any type of artist but the important thing is they affect people. And people like to follow and act according to them. These intellectuals, through their creations, shape the thoughts of society and may bring glory or decline (if they are on wrong path).

According to me, intellectuals can help shape our society. They are the ones who observe our society deeply. They take time to ponder over various problems of our society. Later on, they try to represent their observations in form of their creations. They also show us the way to get rid of all the drawbacks of our society. Through their creativity, they can lead society to the welfare of common people and the poor. They should not create only the fancy art but also the one which reflects our society and urge us to think for a change.

We have number of intellectuals in our history. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is one of the biggest poets in Sindh. He is the only poet to be called the leader of Sindh and Sindhi society. He, through his poetry, has affected all in Sindh. One scarcely can find any person in Sindh who does not know about him. He was supporter of Sufism. He explains the various aspects of Sufism by using stories from evergreen Sindhi folklores in his poetry. It is because of his ideas that today Sindh is not affected by religious extremists.

In present, we have Shaikh Ayaz, another Sindhi poet, who had fought against army rule in Pakistan using his pen. He was sent to prison too. But he kept writing even in jail and got his one book published while he was imprisoned. People were so affected by his poetry that they painted his verses on walls. His verses were sung by many singers. It was his and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai's vision to create secular thought in Sindh. Bulhey Shah of Punjab is also an intellectual who supported Sufism. He always preached love and peace. His poetry has deeply affected Punjabi culture.

I think these intellectuals affect the thought of society to a large extent. Another example of this is creation of Pakistan itself. People at that time were not aware and educated enough to recognize their rights. But due to poetry of Allama Iqbal, they got awareness and fought for the cause of Pakistan.

This art is one of those things that give us spirit to resist if something is happening wrong and to urge a good cause. It helps us to become severe for our cause. It is food to our soul. We must recognize it as an essential human creation for any society which can change people and help them to progress. This is our last hope as we have tried many methods to bring peace and progress. If we support our intellectuals they can give us many ideas to reform our society. We have to rethink on this. They have ideas and we have power as a nation. Together, we can take our country to heights we have longed for.

Sojharo Mangi