BADIN: A host of politicians, literati and prominent figures of Badin and several other districts eulogised the selfless services rendered by peasants’ leader Mohammed Fazil Rahu at a programme held in Rahuki to commemorate his 33rd death anniversary on Friday.

Senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader and adviser to the chief minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro told the audience that Fazil Rahu was one of only a few leaders who devoted their entire life for the rights of peasants and downtrodden people. He said the great leader laid down his life for the rights of people and democracy.

He never compromised on principles, said Mr Khuhro, adding that he lived and died like a brave man.

Fazil Rahu was axed to death under a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by then ruling clique and its puppets in the mid-1980s when the masses were struggling for the restoration of democracy in the country, he said.

The PPP leader said that Rahu remained on the forefront during the movements against dictatorships of Gen Ayub Khan and Gen Ziaul Haq and never budged even an inch from his stance.

He appreciated Fazil Rahu’s son, Ismail Rahu, for carrying forward his father’s mission from the platform of PPP to fight undemocratic forces.

Describing the present government at the Centre as undemocratic, Mr Khuhro reaffirmed his party’s resolve to launch a decisive movement to rid people of the “selected” PM’s regime.

He claimed that provincial ministers were being maligned by police officers at the behest of those who did not believe in democratic values and norms.

Speaking to the audience, Minister for Agriculture Ismail Rahu said his father kept struggling for the rights of underprivileged and downtrodden people of Sindh and Pakistan. He said the slain leader stood firm against dictators despite all odds. He recalled that Fazil Rahu was in the forefront during the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) during Gen Zia’s rule.

He said his father created awareness of rights in peasants, farmers and other segments of the working classes.

He said it was a matter of great pride for him and his family, as well as thousands of other people that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Fazil Rahu had jointly launched the MRD. “My father never left her while in the worst situation most of her so-called aides had distanced themselves from her.

Mohammad Aslam Rahu, Arbab Lutfullah, Khursheed Junejo, Ghulam Qadir Palijo, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Taj Mohammad Mallah, Tanzila Qambrani, Haji Sain Bux Jamali, Adil Rahu, Prof Abdullah Mallah, Advocate Veerji Kolhi, Pir Noorallah Quraishi, Ali Ahmed Jokhio and many others spoke at the programme.

Prominent figures among the literati who attended the programme were Dr Akash Ansari, Zulfikar Ali Kadri, Syeda Amar Khursheed Shah, Dr Rukhsana Pereet, Gulbadan Javed Mirza, Dr Najma Panhwar, Ali Izhar Soomro and Mohammad Khan Samoon. They presented their prose and poetry on the personality and services of the great hari leader.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2020