KARACHI: Trade unionists gathered at the office of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) here to pay homage to revolutionary leader Comrade Nazeer Abbasi on his 37th death anniversary on Tuesday.

Speaking about the late leader, Mushtaq Ali Shan of the Inqilabi Adarsh Forum recalled how he was thrown into jail for six months, then released on the condition that he would stop his activities. “When he carried on with his work despite the warnings, he was taken into custody by the military in July, 1980 and then killed extrajudicially on Aug 9, 1980 during Gen Ziaul Haq’s regime,” he said.

“Even his body was not handed over to his family and he was quietly buried at the Sakhi Hasan graveyard. Witnesses who saw his body said that he had several torture marks,” he added.

“Nazeer Abbasi is the name of a movement now and not just a leader,” said Zehra Khan, general secretary of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF). “He was just 16 or 17 years old when he first went to jail. When he got married the wedding ceremony was more like a rally. Then his wife, too, joined him in his fight to get the oppressed their due rights. He had the courage to question. But, sadly, people who question the wrongs in society are silenced. Today, we ask for accountability of such atrocities,” she said.

Activists gather to observe comrade’s 37th death anniversary

Nasir Mansoor, deputy secretary of the NTUF, lamented that those who abducted Nazeer Abbasi and put an end to his life were still at it. “We ask them why don’t they have these people tried in court if they think they should be punished for raising their voices against oppression? Whatever happened to Nazeer Abbasi is still happening to many others even after 70 years of Pakistan,” he said.

“The workers are still being suppressed, the minorities are still being sidelined and overlooked, the poor are getting poorer and the rich, richer. Those who were against Pakistan at the time of the Partition of India are champions of the state now and treat the Constitution of this country like waste paper. Meanwhile, those who bled for this land are still bleeding from open wounds,” he said.

“We have had some 17 prime ministers who have either been killed or unceremoniously dethroned,” he added.

“This country can only prosper if the common people are not wronged by the establishment, when the workers are given their rights. But this can happen when we unite. Unity will make us strong and help us stand up together. The workforce here is over 60 million and only one per cent of it is unionised,” he said.

Saqib Domki of the Democratic Students Federation said that Nazeer Abbasi was a role model. “I want to follow his example and plan what I want to do by studying his life,” he said.

Ali Ahmed Panhwar of the Sindh Agriculture General Workers Union said that people like Nazeer Abbasi had left behind examples of how to work and fight for our rights. “The feudal is still oppressing the peasant and it will keep on happening unless we stand up and fight for our rights without any fear as Nazeer Abbasi has taught us,” he said.

Saira Feroz of the HBWWF, Riz Abbasi and Gul Rahman of the NTUF and writer Zaheer Akhtar Bedri also spoke.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2017