KARACHI, Dec 3: Veteran left-wing intellectual Dr Mir Rahman Ali Hashmi, a founding member of the Democratic Students’ Federation, died of lung cancer on Wednesday morning. He was 74.

Dr Hashmi leaves a widow and two sons. He will be buried in the Sakhi Hasan graveyard after Zuhar prayers on Thursday. Namaz- i-Janaza will be offered at Masjid-i-Abu Bakr, Phase II, Defence. Soyem will be held on Friday after Zuhar prayers for men at Masjid-i-Abu Bakr and for women at 2-B, South Seaview Avenue, Phase II, Defence.

Dr Hashmi was born in Hyderabad Deccan in India in 1929. He migrated to Pakistan in 1948 following the partition of the subcontinent. In the same year, he obtained admission to the Dow Medical College and, before long, became involved in political activities.

In 1950, he, with the help of other like-minded students, founded the Democratic Students’ Federation. The 29th room of the Mitharam Hostel, which was his place of residence during his student days, became the DSF headquarters. The DSF was banned by the government in 1954.

Mr Hashmi became the first president of the DMC Students’ Union in 1954. Even after graduating from the DMC, he continued to take part in socialist politics. He also became involved in the Pakistan Medical Association. At a PMA conference in Dhaka in the late 1960s, he was elected secretary-general. He held that post for more than 15 years. He also worked as the executive director of the Medical gazette of the PMA for several years.

Dr Hashmi worked for a number of years at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he set up the city’s first blood bank in 1959. He was a founding member of the board of governors of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation. He was also on the board of governors of the Kidney Centre. In 1973, he helped the government establish the Sindh Medical College.

The government dismissed Dr Hashmi from the JPMC for political reasons. He filed a complaint with the services tribunal, which eventually reinstated him. After his retirement from the JPMC, he set up a pathological laboratory. However, he worked for the socialist cause till his last breath.