KARACHI, April 9: Speakers at a meeting on Sunday urged the masses to follow the teachings of Comrade Jamaluddin Bokhari so that feelings of brotherhood among people of various ethnic groups can be strengthened and Sindh could once again become a land of love and peace that it had always been.

Speaking at the memorial meeting organized for senior communist party leader and political activist Comrade Jamaluddin Bokhari by the Larkana Sangat at the Arts Council, they said that Comrade Bokhari had struggled throughout his life for the rights of the downtrodden and poor people, including workers and farmers.

Abdul Ghafoor Bhurgari, Nooruddin Sarki, Hussain Bux Thebo, Mohammad Bachal Tunio, Munawar Bokhari, Mazhar Jameel, Dr Zafar Iqbal, Muneer Chandio and others spoke at the meeting conducted by Syed Imranullah.

Pointing out the selfless struggle of Comrade Bokhari, who had never asked for any monetary or other favours from any political leader, whom he had known owing to his long political career, they said that if political activists and leaders of today became honest and truly struggled for the rights of the poor, the future of the nation could become very bright.

But unfortunately, a majority of today’s leaders did not subscribe to that kind of selfless service of mankind, they said.

They said Bokhari was born on March 14, 1900 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father was a learned man who gave him the best education. He studied in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Aligarh, and had a good command over Arabic, Persian and English languages.

He always stood up against the oppressive policies of the government, due to which, he had spent over 22 years, at different times, in various prisons of undivided India and later in Pakistan as well.

He had done lots of work in organizing trade unions and had also remained associated with numerous workers’/trade unions and professional bodies including the Seamen’s Union, North Western Railway Union, Mazdoor Kissan Party, Karachi Port Trust Labour Union, Municipal Employees Union, Tram1way Workers Union, Sweepers’ Union Karachi, All India Kissan Sabha, Sindh Hari Committee, Government Employees Union, PWD Workers Union Karachi, Larkana Abadgar Association, Bazm-i-Soofia-i-Sindh, Jameetush Shorai Sindh, Sindh Adabi Conference, Anjuman-i-Mudeeran-i-Jaraid Sindh, Larkana Union of Journalists, Larkana Pres Club, Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto memorial library, Sindh Adabi Society, Rafah-i-Aam Society and Municipal Islah Jamaat, Darul Sanat (Industrial Home), Aligarh Old Boys Association Larkana, Sindh Mohammadan Association, Awami Khitmatgar Jamaat, Halqa-i-Adab, etc.

He also formed the Anjuman-i-Ittehad for cooperation between Muhajirs and locals, and worked a lot to create, spread and strengthen feelings of brotherhood among people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds so that Sindh could once again become the land of love and peace.

He had come to Sindh in 1920 along with Bi Aman and Maulana Shaukat Ali. He then liked the local people so much that he kept on coming back and eventually settled in Larkana.

Comrade Bokhari had a long association with journalism and worked in different capacities. He served as a Larkana correspondent for a news agency for nearly a quarter of a century. Besides, he also worked in and edited Al Waheed, Azadi, Chingari, Workers Weekly, weekly Insaf, New Era, etc.

In 1972, he suffered from TB and had to spend over four years in Quetta sanatorium. After his recovery, he returned to his Larkana home in which he had been living for nearly half a century. Later, in 1984 he died of circulatory failure as a complication of pneumonia.