Son of the soil: 7th death anniversary for Rahim Bux Soomro today
The Shikarpur scion worked in politics for 60 years.
KARACHI:
Today, January 24, is the seventh death anniversary of one of the great sons that Sindh’s soil has produced - Rahim Bux Soomro.
Rahim Bux was born into the Shikarpur family of Allah Bux Soomro, who became Sindh’s first premier in 1938 after it won autonomy in 1935. It was still a part the Bombay Presidency before partition.
Because of his father’s standing, Rahim Bux was able to polish his skills of governance in the company of leading personalities such as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who visited the house among other interactions.
As Rahim Bux was raised in an agricultural and political family, it was a natural progression for him to take on his father’s mantle when he died. He made politics his first profession and was commonly known as ‘mama’ or ‘uncle’ among his peers. However, for his tribe and family he was the protector ‘Baba Saeen’.
After his father’s death, Rahim Bux also became the chief of the Soomra tribe as well and remained a very social and supportive leader for them till his death on January 24, 2005. In his 60 years of politics, Rahim Bux held ministerial positions in the cabinets of Abdul Sattar Pirzada, Yousuf Haroon, Ibrahim Rahimtoola, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah and General Rahimuddin Khan. He was elected a member of the Sindh Assembly seven times and twice as a member of the National Assembly. Rahim Bux Soomro’s decision to resign on the basis of his principles also gained him popularity.
Rahim Bux Soomro also became a close ally of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “After his wedding, Bhutto was my father’s guest for two weeks and stayed at his room in Hotel Palace,” reminisced Rahim’s son, Hamir Soomro.
Mohammadmian Soomro, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Aftab Shaban Mirani are some prominent political personalities who emerged from the same family.
“I have never met such a humble and nice person in my life,” said politician Abida Hussain while talking to The Express Tribune. “He was a man of the common people and a real leader.”
Indeed, Rahim Bux had always asked her to be a political worker rather than a leader. According to her, he was also generous, giving people his time, money and happiness. “But politicians in the present era just give people nothing but fake promises,” she remarked.
“Despite being the son of a former premier and belonging to a rich prominent family, he was not proud of anything. He had power and money but his political career was matchless.”
For his part, MPA Dr Sikandar Mandhro recalled spending an entire month with Rahim Bux in Badin. “He was very loving and honest person. Though he was from Shikarpur, he loved the people of Badin and earned the same respect and honour from the people who he met during his stay.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2012.
Today, January 24, is the seventh death anniversary of one of the great sons that Sindh’s soil has produced - Rahim Bux Soomro.
Rahim Bux was born into the Shikarpur family of Allah Bux Soomro, who became Sindh’s first premier in 1938 after it won autonomy in 1935. It was still a part the Bombay Presidency before partition.
Because of his father’s standing, Rahim Bux was able to polish his skills of governance in the company of leading personalities such as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who visited the house among other interactions.
As Rahim Bux was raised in an agricultural and political family, it was a natural progression for him to take on his father’s mantle when he died. He made politics his first profession and was commonly known as ‘mama’ or ‘uncle’ among his peers. However, for his tribe and family he was the protector ‘Baba Saeen’.
After his father’s death, Rahim Bux also became the chief of the Soomra tribe as well and remained a very social and supportive leader for them till his death on January 24, 2005. In his 60 years of politics, Rahim Bux held ministerial positions in the cabinets of Abdul Sattar Pirzada, Yousuf Haroon, Ibrahim Rahimtoola, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah and General Rahimuddin Khan. He was elected a member of the Sindh Assembly seven times and twice as a member of the National Assembly. Rahim Bux Soomro’s decision to resign on the basis of his principles also gained him popularity.
Rahim Bux Soomro also became a close ally of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “After his wedding, Bhutto was my father’s guest for two weeks and stayed at his room in Hotel Palace,” reminisced Rahim’s son, Hamir Soomro.
Mohammadmian Soomro, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Aftab Shaban Mirani are some prominent political personalities who emerged from the same family.
“I have never met such a humble and nice person in my life,” said politician Abida Hussain while talking to The Express Tribune. “He was a man of the common people and a real leader.”
Indeed, Rahim Bux had always asked her to be a political worker rather than a leader. According to her, he was also generous, giving people his time, money and happiness. “But politicians in the present era just give people nothing but fake promises,” she remarked.
“Despite being the son of a former premier and belonging to a rich prominent family, he was not proud of anything. He had power and money but his political career was matchless.”
For his part, MPA Dr Sikandar Mandhro recalled spending an entire month with Rahim Bux in Badin. “He was very loving and honest person. Though he was from Shikarpur, he loved the people of Badin and earned the same respect and honour from the people who he met during his stay.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2012.