Shaheed Fazil Rahoo (; 1934 – 17 January 1987) was a Pakistani political leader and one of the most famous peasant leaders in
Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. He was born in 1934 at Rahuki village,
Badin
Badin ( Sindhi and ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 105th largest city in Pakistan.
Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar.
Badin Dist ...
district of Sindh, which became part of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
in 1947. He struggled for peasant rights throughout his life and remained imprisoned for several years and was
assassinated
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
on 17 January 1987.
Early life
Fazil Rahu was born in 1934 at Rahuki, a village in
Badin
Badin ( Sindhi and ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 105th largest city in Pakistan.
Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar.
Badin Dist ...
district of Sindh, present-day
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
Entry to politics
Rahu won B.D. Elections in 1962 and later in 1965 to become the chairman of Union Council Taraai. He initiated the "Publish Voter Lists in Sindhi" movement in 1969. The foundation of Sindhi Awaami Tehreek was laid and Fazil Rahu was elected President of
Awami Tahreek after
Hafeez Qureshi in a Sindhi Qaumi Convention at Hyderabad in 1970. Fazil Rahu in a joint effort with his fellow members, organized a
Sindhi language
Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...
Convention in Jaamia Arabia High School,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
in 1971.
He staged a massive "Haari Conference" where thousands of people gathered at his native village of Rahuki in October 1979. He and his son Muhammad Siddique Rahu were jailed for holding a peaceful political conference at Rahuki in October 1979. He supported and fought the case of Sindhi people during the Sindhi-Muhaajir riots in 1983. He addressed a huge gathering under the platform of M.R.D at Badin, in 1983. Rahu was given poisonous capsules in
Landhi Jail through a prisoner, and in the meanwhile that prisoner was secretly moved from Landhi Jail to somewhere else in order to conceal the real culprits behind that ulterior motive. In the same night, Fazil Rahu was shifted to
Sukkur
Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...
Jail in the state of
unconsciousness
Unconsciousness is a state in which a living individual exhibits a complete, or near-complete, inability to maintain an awareness of self and environment or to respond to any human or environmental stimulus. Unconsciousness may occur as the r ...
instead of rescuing him to any
hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
. Mobilized the people on all levels starting from his own home where his whole family was actively involved in political scenario. The women participated through the platform of "
Sindhiani Tahreek", youth was involved through "
Sindhi Shagird Tahreek" and the children also were an active part of "
Sujaag Baar Tahreek". Fazil Rahu led by example. He himself, his wife, son, two daughters and many family members had to face voluntary and forced, political imprisonment at numerous occasion throughout his political life.
Honors and awards
*General Secretary, Sindhi Awaami Tehreek (now Qomi Awaami Tehreek)
*Senior Vice President, ANP (
Awami National Party
The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...
)
*President, Sindhi Haari Tehreek
*Joint Secretary, M.R.D Movement (Sindh) in 1982
*Front Line Leader, Remove Censorship Movement (Journalists Movement)
Movements
*Anti-One Unit Movement (March, 1968)
*Movement of Publishing Voter Lists in Sindh (1969)
*Sindhi Awaami Tehreek (1970)
*Stop Auction Movement (Neelam Band Karyo Tehreek, March, 1970)
*Stop Oppression Movement (Zulam Band Karyo Tehreek, 1970)
*Sindhi Haari Committee (1974 at Hyderabad)
*M.R.D. Movement
*Jail Bharyo Tehreek
*Remove Censorship Movement ("Shaafi Tehreek" Journalists Movement in Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship)
Imprisonments
Fazil Rahu was imprisoned at various periods in his life.
Among the prisons he had to face were Naara Jail Hyderabad, Mach Jail
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...
, Landhi Jail
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
,
Kot Lakhpat Jail,
Central Jail Karachi, Central Jail
Sukkur
Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...
, Central Jail Hyderabad,
Khairpur, District Jail
Badin
Badin ( Sindhi and ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 105th largest city in Pakistan.
Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar.
Badin Dist ...
etc.
Assassination
Fazil Rahu was martyred in a premeditated
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
by an
axe
An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
attack on the back of his head in
Golarchi (Now
Shaheed Fazil Rahu
Shaheed Fazil Rahu (also known as Golarchi) is a city in district Badin. The old name of Golarchi was Tando Akram. It then changed to Shaheed Fazil Rahu after the murder of the peasant leader Fazil Rahu. Golarchi is famous for petroleum and natu ...
) on 17 January 1987 at 02.00 p.m.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahu, Fazil
1935 births
1987 deaths
Articles with hCards
Sindhi people
Asian politicians assassinated in the 1980s
Pakistani politicians assassinated in the 20th century
Politicians assassinated in 1987