Muhammad Usman Diplai

Who was Muhammad Usman Diplai?

Muhammad Usman Diplai, popularly known as Diplai, was a figure of Sindhi literature and journalism. He was awarded Pride of Performance for his works by President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf on 23 March 2004.

He was born at Diplo to a middle-class family. As per family traditions, he had to engage himself in business. Due to unfavourable circumstances, however, he could not even complete his education. In early life, he worked with some Landlords, of the area as a clerk, but continued reading newspapers and magazines. He also acquired proficiency in Gujrati, Hindi, Gurmukhi, Urdu and working knowledge in English and Persian languages.

He founded Islamia Press, Quran Press and the Islami Dar-ul- Ishaat, the Adar-i-Insanyat, the Diplai Academy right before the Second World War one after another, at the historic town of Mirpurkhas, and then moved to Hyderabad in 1942 to complete his mission. He was an essayist, journalist, publisher, distributor, and printer of the Sindhi language.