KARACHI, July 28: Speakers at a meeting on Friday praised the contributions of former prime minister of Sindh, late Allah Bux Soomro, and said that he was a true nationalist who struggled against the colonial rulers and was eventually assassinated for demanding Sindh’s rights.

They were speaking at a memorial lecture on Shaheed Allah Bux Soomro, organiszed jointly by the Sindh Culture Department of the Sindh Sufi Institute, and the Khan Bahadur Haji Maula Bux Soomro Trust at the Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium.

They said that the late Allah Bux Soomro, who twice became Sindh’s prime minister (as the office of the provincial chief executive was called during pre-partition days) believed and practiced secular politics, owing to which his United Party had become the single largest party in the provincial assembly in elections held in 1930s.

They said that he had twice formed provincial governments, but his nationalist and secular political views were disliked by the then ruling colonial powers, who fanned negative communal feelings and by using the religious card, they tried to create problems for his administration, but he overcame these hardships with his political acumen.

They said that despite being a matriculate from Bombay, he was a visionary and even in those days, he used to stress on conservation of water – a phenomenon advocated by western scientists nowadays.

They said that the late Mr Soomro was a very simple person and used to wear clothes made from handloom fabrics and never accepted invitations to attend politicians’ receptions as he considered attending such functions to be a form of political bribery.

They said that owing to his honesty, hard work and selfless public service within a span of just 20 years of his political life he had risen from the being a member of Sukkur District Board to become the provincial chief executive.

The speakers said that when the vested interest saw that they could not defeat the late

Mr Soomro politically, and with him alive, they could not manipulate the Sindh politics, shortly after he was dismissed from the prime minister’s office, they had him assassinated in 1943.

They said that the late Mr Soomro always kept Sindh’s interests supreme, owing to which he had never joined any political party at the national level as he felt that by joining a national political party he would have compromised the rights of the Sindhi people.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly Illahi Bux Soomro, Comrade Rochiram, Humair Soomro, Umer Soomro, the late politician’s biographer Khadim Soomro also addressed the meeting.