Rasul Bux Palejo

Rasul Bux Palejo was a Pakistani leftist, Marxist leader, scholar and writer. He was a human-rights lawyer and the leader and founder of Awami Tahreek, a progressive and leftist party. He was born on 21 February 1930 in Jungshahi, a small town near Thatta, Sindh. He received his early education at his village and the secondary education at Sindh Madressatul Islam in Karachi. He did his law graduation from Sindh Law College Karachi. He was fluent in Sindhi, Urdu, and English, and later became conversant in Hindi, Arabic, Balochi, Bengali, Siraiki, Punjabi and Persian. He wrote more than 40 books on various subjects, ranging from literature to politics, culture and poetry. He was also a poet and a critic of Sindhi literature. He formed the Awami Tahreek Party in 1970 and was also a founding member of the Sindh Qaumi Ittehad and Sindhi Adabi Sangat. He was involved in various political movements, such as the anti-one unit movement, the movement for restoration of democracy, the movement against Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship, and the movement against Kalabagh Dam and Greater Thal Canal. He was jailed for more than 11 years for his political activities, and was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 1981. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the nation's second highest civilian award, in 2009. He died on 7 June 2018, at the age of 88, in Karachi. He was buried with full political honors in his native town of Jungshahi. He is regarded as a national hero and a legend in Sindh.