LAHORE: Mohammed Yousaf Baloch, one of the few trade union leaders who started and ended their careers in pro-workers politics of the Left, breathed his last on the Eid day – May 24. He was 82 and has left behind three daughters, three sons, a wife and thousands of workers to mourn his death.

Baloch suffered a paralysis attack on last Thursday, which extremely weakened his body, reduced him to bed and claimed his life on Sunday. Starting his career in 1970s as a union worker and later as leader from Railways Workers Union – one of the most effective unions of the Left at that time – he stuck to his cause for the next 50 years.

According to his long-time friend and Awami Workers Party leader Farooq Tariq, “Baloch was one of the rare men who stood his ground all his life. Many of his friends found more lucrative refugee in political parties, which claimed ideological affinity, and moved on to national politics. But Baloch always believed in independent voice of the working class and struggled for it. Even after his retirement from the railways service, his enthusiasm and commitment only redoubled.”

Being one of the most effective workers voice from the Railways Workers Union platform, Baloch was arrested four times during Ziaul Haq’s martial law.

After his retirement, he established a Trade Unions Resource Center at Lahore and then joined Labour Party Pakistan when it was formed in the mid-90s and contested for the provincial assembly seat in 1997. His struggle continued even after the turn of the century when ex DG-ISI General Javed Ashraf was appointed minister for railways during the Pervez Musharraf dictatorship.

Of late, he was elected Chairman of All Pakistan Workers Confederation (APWC) – a conglomeration of all trade unions in the country – with legendary labour leader Khurshid Ahmad as his general secretary and held the post till his death.

Khurshid remembers him as a “man of commitment and character.” Only few can boast about such a struggle as did Baloch.

“My comradeship with him spans 55 years. He always believed in struggle of the workers, by the workers and for the workers and life stood witness to this principle. Trained by legendary characters Bashir Bakhtiar and Mirza

Ibrahim, he turned out to be true disciple of both and earned respect of workers. Even when the whole world (ideologically speaking) turned against workers after the collapse of the Soviet Union, people like Yousaf kept the struggle alive.”

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2020