AWP mourns death of two veteran leaders

LAHORE:The Awami Workers Party (AWP) has expressed grief over the death of Ch Fateh Muhammad, a veteran peasant and founding president of the party’s Punjab chapter.

The party also expressed grief over the death of trade union leader Yusuf Baloch earlier during the Eid weekend. Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad left behind five sons, two daughters and thousands of comrades to mourn his death.

In a condolence message, AWP founding President Abid Hassan Manto said: “I have lost a great comrade and a genuine working class revolutionary. For me, physical transition of Fateh Muhammad to the immortal life is like separation of an arm of my body.

But his memories will always remain with us and inspire the younger generation, he said. AWP President Yusuf Masti Khan said Fateh Muhammad was an inspiration for all progressive political activists.

Fateh Muhammad was born in a small village Chaharke near Jalandhar in 1925, migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Toba Tek Singh, a centre of Kissan movement in Punjab.

He joined the Communist Party of Pakistan in 1948 and was elected member of the Central Committee of Pakistan Trade Union Federation in 1950, where Faiz Ahmed Faiz was re-elected as vice-president and Mirza Mohammad Ibrahim as president. A recipient of Faiz Ahmed Faiz Award for his lifelong struggle for the rights of peasants, he got his autobiography titled ‘Jo Hum Pey Guzri’ published in 2016. The late Yusuf Baloch was the chairman of the Pakistan Workers Federation, the biggest confederating body of trade unions in the country.