KARACHI, Nov 10: Speakers shared their fond memories of noted political figure the late Fauzia Wahab at an event organised to pay tribute to her and to launch a book on her titled ‘Muskurahat Zinda Rehti Hai’ at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

The book has been compiled by journalist Mujahid Barelvi.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro went down the memory lane and reminisced about the time when Ms Wahab joined the struggle for the restoration of democracy and went into every nook and cranny of the country.

He said that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto gave Ms Wahab the opportunity to broaden her political horizon and the latter like a competent political worker worked hard to prove her right.

Her son, Ali Wahab, said that 20 years ago when his father passed away, the entire family underwent a period of darkness.

However, his mother came to the rescue and turned that moment of darkness into a bright period, for which the entire family was thankful to her.

PPP’s Nafisa Shah lauded Mr Barelvi’s efforts in compiling the book in a brief period. She said the idea for the book came about a few months back and the energy with which the project was completed reflected the energy that Ms Wahab exuded.

MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi said he had known Ms Wahab for the past 10 years and as they both belonged to the same city they came close to each other. He told the gathering, which had turned out in a big number, that the late politician would treat him like a brother.

He commented that the PPP was a big party and Ms Wahab represented the party’s Karachi colour.

PPP’s Chaudhry Manzoor remarked that Ms Wahab was such an amiable person that she would earn everybody’s respect in the very first meeting.

In 2003, he said, a Pakistani delegation went to India and both the late politician and he were part of it. Ms Wahab expressed two wishes; firstly that she would like to meet Sonia Gandhi and secondly that she wanted to visit Saharanpur, her maternal ancestral town. She managed to achieve both goals.

Former ambassador Zafar Hilaly said Ms Wahab was his dear friend. He said that in the subcontinent, prosperity was witnessed whenever women had been at the helm of affairs. He said Ms Wahab’s smile and friendship would always be remembered.

Babar Ghori, Rubina Qaemkhani, Mohammad Husain Mehnati and Tahir Hasan Khan also spoke.

The chief guest, Senate chairman Nayyar Bokhari, also paid tribute to Ms Wahab, according to APP.

He said: “My late colleague and myself are examples of the PPP culture where on the basis of our long association with the party and service to the public cause we were given important party positions.”