KARACHI: The 18th death anniversary of former Sindh Minister Sardar Rahim Bukhsh Soomro is being observed on Tuesday (today). Sardar Rahim Bukhsh Soomro was head of Soomro family, a seasoned politician, and the eldest son of Allah Bukhsh Soomro, the first premier of Sindh.

His political career spanned over six decades. Rahim decided to join politics at a very young age, after his father’s assassination in 1943. Born in 1919, he held ministerial positions in the cabinet of Abdul Sattar Pirzada, Yousaf Haroon, Ibrahim Rahimtoola, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, and former General Rahimuddin Khan.

He was the first Member of Parliament to resign in the movement against Ayub Khan and was the only candidate who won a seat against PPP candidate in 1970 election from Sindh.

He was invited by Muslim League Sindh to join before December 1946 crucial elections to strengthen the party as the previous government was week and unstable.

He became member of 1946 Sindh Assembly, the first Assembly at the creation of Pakistan. He became Minister many times in the 1950s cabinet. He remained in opposition in 1960s.

In 1970s, during landslide victory of Zulfiqar Ali’s PPP, he was the only independent member of Sindh Assembly to elect a seat against PPP. In 1988, his last tenure he served as senior Minister in General Rahimuddin’s Sindh cabinet. He became member of both provincial and National Assembly many times.

He was the head of the Soomro family and community. He was mentor and guide to many members of his family in politics. Rahim died at the age of 85, and was laid to rest in his ancestral Panj Peer graveyard in Shikarpur.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023