Uttam Sahit Award

Shri A. J. Uttam (Assandas Jethanand Uttamchandani), born on 16 December 1923 at Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan), was a distinguished Sindhi writer, critic, journalist, editor, and cultural activist. He began writing at a young age and participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942, for which he suffered imprisonment. After Partition, he migrated to India in 1948 and completed his M.A. in Bombay in 1949. He resigned from government service to dedicate his life to the promotion of Sindhi language and literature. He played a key role in organizing literary institutions, editing major Sindhi journals, and leading the movement for recognition of Sindhi in the Constitution of India.

Writer, literary critic, journalist, editor, and cultural organizer.

M.A., Bombay University (1949).

1. Founder General Secretary, Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha;
2. General Secretary and Vice President, Sindhi Sahit Mandal, Bombay;
3. Editor / Co-editor of Naeen Duniya, Sindhu Dhara, Sindhu Samachar, and Sindhu Sansar.

Author of about 25 books including short story collections Kashmkash and Hoo Jehan Hi Manu, and several critical and research-based works on Sindhi and Indian literature. Many of his books are prescribed for university courses.

Honoured with Special Shield by the Progressive Writers Association (1986); Gold Medal by Maruee Organization, Delhi (1994); honoured by Shri L. K. Advani in 1999.

Cash Awards: ₹5,000 Indo-Soviet Friendship Award (1970); ₹5,000 Jiya Sindhi Sabha (1974); ₹10,000 Priyadarshini Academy (1991); ₹10,000 Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha (1991); ₹5,000 Ram Buxani Foundation (1991); ₹25,000 Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha (2002). Most awards were donated for Sindhi literary causes.

Maintained a rich private library of Sindhi books and mentored several young writers and researchers.

Some of his short stories have been translated and published in other Indian and foreign languages.

Actively associated with progressive literary movements since 1941; organized writers’ study circles; encouraged new writers through journals and literary institutions.

Visited Russia (World Writers Conference), Japan, Hong Kong, and China.

Documentary and archival material on his life and literary contribution are available through Sindhi cultural organizations.

Editor of Naeen Duniya (monthly); Co-editor of Sindhu Dhara (weekly); Editor of Sindhu Samachar and Sindhu Sansar (dailies).

Recently, well-known writer Rukmini Chainani compiled a book titled Uttam Sindhyat Jo Upasakin (2002), a tribute to the life and literary contribution of Shri A. J. Uttam.

Read more: www.sundriuttam.com