Veteran nationalist leader Rasool Bux Palijo is no more

Veteran left-leaning nationalist leader and Awami Tehrek (AT) founder Rasool Bux Palijo passed away in Karachi on Thursday following a protracted illness. He was 88.

A criminal and constitutional lawyer by profession, author of several books and an intellectual, a Sindhi nationalist and proud socialist, Palijo had played a key role in the campaign against the eradication of the One Unit scheme, in support of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD), for the publication of voters’ lists in Sindhi and in the movement against the controversial Kalabagh Dam.

Palijo had been receiving treatment for cardiac and respiratory issues at a private hospital in Clifton. Since the 1960s, he had been active in the struggle for creating awareness among the Sindhis from the platform of the Sindh Hari Committee and the National Awami Party.

Palijo formed the AT in 1970 and introduced radical agenda of the eradication of feudalism against the Pakistan Peoples Party’s modest agenda of land reforms. He also differed with Sindhi secessionist leader GM Syed on the issue of independence of Sindh and advocated provincial autonomy.

Palijo’s AT offered great sacrifices during the MRD agitation in Sindh and faced brutality of the military operation. He was also imprisoned for over a decade and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 1981.

He was also a founding member of the Awami National Party, founded after a merger of the AT, Pakistan National Party, National Democratic Party and Mazdoor Kisan Party, and served as the party’s central secretary general along with the president, Wali Khan. But after differences with the leadership, he left the ANP and revived the AT.

He successfully mobilised and organised women workers, including peasants, in Sindh. The party’s women arm, Sindhiani Tehreek, and the student wing, Sindhi Shagird Tehreek, played a leading role in all political struggles.

He fought cases of poor workers in courts for free and remained a key leader of various political alliances. He also defended Wali Khan Khair Bux Marri and other Baloch and Pashtun leaders in the infamous Hyderabad Conspiracy Case.

He authored more than 40 books on numerous subjects, 26 of them were in the Sindhi language, on topics of literature to politics, prison dairies, culture and poetry.

The octogenarian leader, despite his illness, continued its political activities. In February 2017, he led a long march in the Islamkot area of Tharparkar against the project of the Gorano dam, water crisis and other issues.

His son Ayaz Latif Palijo became central head of the AT, which was later renamed Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT). However, in October 2016, he announced his QAT and revived the AT, observing that he (his son) was deviating from the core principles of the movement.

Piler condoles death

The executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler), Karamat Ali, and members of the board and staff of the institute expressed their deep sorrow over the demise of Palijo.

In a statement and message to the bereaved family, Ali and others eulogised the services of the late Palijo, who struggled his entire life for the rights of the poor, workers and peasants, and spent a major portion of his life in jail during military regimes for the restoration of democracy.

The late Palijo would be remembered for his supreme quality intellectual satire and he influenced a large number of students and brought them to the mainstream politics, he said.

Bilawal’s condolence

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of senior politician and literary figure Rasool Bux Palijo, PPI adds. In a condolence message, he said that several decades of struggle and sacrifices of the late Palijo for democracy and his contribution to Sindhi literature would always be remembered.

He prayed to Allah the Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and fortitude to the members of bereaved family and his followers to bear this irreparable loss with equanimity.