Remembering ‘the man of the people’ — Rahim Bux Soomro

The current leadership crisis in Pakistan reminds one of the likes of Rahim Bux Soomro, popularly known as “the man of the people”. January 24, 2023 marks the 18th death anniversary of the great politician, who held several ministerial positions and was the last surviving member of the 1946 Assembly. Born in 1919 in Shikarpur, Rahim Bux was the eldest son of Allah Bux Soomro – Sindh’s first premier in 1938 after it won autonomy from Bombay in 1935. This made Rahim Bux a natural politician having a knack for governance and leadership. This was further enhanced by his interactions with leading politicians of that time, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who would often visit his house. His political career spanned over 60 years during which he served in the cabinets of Abdul Sattar Pirzada, Yusuf Haroon, Ibrahim Rahimtoola, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah and General Rahimuddin Khan. He was elected to the Sindh Assembly seven times and twice to the National Assembly. After his father’s death, Rahim Bux took on the reins of the Soomro tribe and became their ‘Baba Saeen’. All through his life, he remained a people’s person and was very social and empathetic. He was indeed a rare breed of politicians as the doors of his house always remained open for the people. Our generation cannot even imagine to expect such a public-spirited attitude from the current lot of politicians who are only hungry for power and care little about the misery of the people. According to some accounts, Rahim Bux never slept upstairs with the family just in case any needy villager visited him at night. People would start gathering at his house early in the morning who were always eager to have their issues resolved by him and were seen casually chatting and smoking in his room. Rahim Bux never got tired of this, he would even take calls in the shower to plead his people’s cases. The integrity Rahim Bux embodied still feels matchless. While today’s politics is marked with U-turns and propagative narratives, the late Sardar never shied away from taking a principled stance where needed. He contested the 1970 general elections as an independent candidate and was the only one to be elected in the face of the PPP landslide victory. Though he was close friends with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who made him several offers to join the Pakistan People’s Party, he always refused and preferred doing politics his own way – the people’s way. Not only this, he was the first Member of Parliament to resign in protest against Ayub Khan; others followed suit later. Despite being a wealthy dynastic politician, he was a simple man. His children recount his love for expensive clothes and luxury cars but he never used them during his political engagements. In fact, he made regular trips from Karachi to Shikarpur in a sedan, that too without any protocol. He never kept any security at his house so people could walk in as they pleased. He was of the view that he should be accessible to the people at all times, and should never think of themselves as inferior to him. He was not the master, he was the protector. No wonder most people saw him as a beloved father figure who would look after them, and not as an arrogant Sardar who hardly pays any heed to the commoners and their problems. Rahim Bux breathed his last after a prolonged illness in 2005 at the age of 85. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Panj Peer, next to his father Allah Bux’s grave. It was after his death the world got to know about the immense love and admiration everyone had for him, demonstrated by the sea of people who attended his funeral and the countless obituaries and condolence messages he received. Such people, however, never die. The legacy of compassion, concern and thoughtfulness he left still keeps him alive. Rahim Bux was indeed one of the great sons that Sindh’s soil has produced. His integrity, honesty, simplicity and generosity sets him apart from the bunch of today’s political bigwigs. Maybe the so-called leaders of today should take a leaf out of Rahim Bux’s book and do what they are mandated to do. Politicians are not meant to be protocol-savvy and accumulate wealth through corrupt practices, they are meant to be on the ground and serve the people, just like Rahim Bux did. News Desk