VETERAN communist leader of Pakistan and a life-long campaigner for the rights of workers, peasants and other downtrodden sections of society, Comrade C R Aslam expired at Lahore, July 10 evening, after prolonged illness. He was 98. To pay him homage and have a last glimpse of this stalwart of the Left movement in Pakistan, thousands of people thronged his Temple Road residence where his body was kept before the burial took place on Wednesday, July 11.
Chaudhari Rehmatullah Aslam was born at Shahkot near Sheikhupura on January 15, 1909. He completed his schooling at Sangla Hill in 1930 and received his LLB degree in 1936. During this period, he was deeply impressed by the writings of Allama Iqbal and was a frequent visitor to his evening gatherings. His circle included passionate young students like Hameed Nizami, Abul Sattar Niazi, Shabbir Hasan and Mian Shafi (Meem Sheen). Here, heated debates on the contemporary issues like fascism and liberation movement at their shared Railway Road abode brought about a change in C R Aslam's outlook and he embraced the communist philosophy and ideology. In 1940, he became a member of the Communist Party of (undivided) India, and his allegiance to the cause of the working people remained unwavered for the rest of his energetic and eventful life. His mentors in communist circles included stalwarts like Ajoy Kumar Ghosh, Sardar Teja Singh and Feroz-ud-Din Mansoor who later became the general secretary of Communist Party of Pakistan after Comrade Sajjad Zaheer was interned in jail in the infamous Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case.
When the party asked him to organise trade union activities, he took up the task with verve despite his own peasant background, and was put behind bars in 1948. In 1951, he was again rounded up along with scores of leftist activists under the blanket ruse of Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case. He married Syeda Aslam in 1953 and his sons, Qais and Sufian, were born while Comrade C R Aslam was detained in the Lahore Central Jail. From 1948 to 1954, C R Aslam tried to bring out at least four weekly papers but the government brutally frustrated each of his attempts. Not the one to be deterred, however, he continued to improvise tactics till 1969 when he successfully launched the weekly Awami Jamhuriat (People’s Democracy) that educated at least two successive generations of political workers.
The Communist Party of Pakistan was banned in 1954 and C R Aslam joined the NAP where he emerged as the leader of its Bhasani faction in West Pakistan. After the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1970, his most outstanding contribution was to organise conferences of the peasantry in all parts of Pakistan and he made incessant efforts to arouse public opinion to the desirability of greater provincial autonomy. In this period, the Bhutto regime banned the weekly Awami Jamhuriat when he wrote a passionate editorial in favour of the demands of Baloch nationalists. Z A Bhutto made several attempts to make him join the People's Party, but he stuck to his guns. But he equally passionately resisted the Zia regime and went to jail along with many comrades. When Three progressive, leftist political parties, namely Pakistan National Party, Awami Jamhoori Party and Pakistan Socialist Party, along with a number of other progressive democratic groups, anti-imperialist intellectuals, trade unionists and enlightened youth, after a series of meetings, discussions and debates have decided in 1999 to merge into a single political party called National Workers Party, Comrade C R Aslam was unable to lead it because of his old age and he opted to be only Chief Pattern and member Central Committee. However, all the leftist groups in the country always regarded him as a part of their legacy.
Comrade C R Aslam was, in his prime years, one of the most mobile politicians in Pakistan. He has authored more than a dozen books.
The National Workers Party Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami National Party, Pakistan Labour Party, Communist Party of Pakistan, Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party, Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party and other Left and right formations in the country have condoled the demise of Comrade C R Aslam. All left parties expressed determination to carry forward his unfinished task.
