Friends and Comrades
Faiz Award committee of the PADF announced veteran kissan (peasant) leader Ch Fateh Mohammad for Faiz Ahmed Faiz award 2011. Prominent journalist, progressive writer and politician Professor Amin Mughal will present award on Sunday the 18th September 2011 at 2.00pm at in a special event at The Rich Mix, Bethnel Green Road London E1 6LA.
Dr Agha Khalid Saeed founding chairman of the Pakistani Americal Democratic Forum said that:
FAIZ AHMED FAIZ AWARD 2011
Presented in Appreciation To
The legendary Kissan leader Janab Chaudhry Fateh Mohammad in recognition of his lifelong struggle against feudalism, militarism and imperialism.
Your leadership in organizing the March 1970 Toba Tek Singh Kissan Conference will continue to illuminate the conscience of the nation about the dignity of labor. With the passage of time, this conference has only increased in its ability to inspire the younger generations.
To date, this conference remains the apex moment in the history of class struggle in Pakistan.
I attached daily Jang London report:
About Ch. Fateh Mohammad:
Chaudhry Fateh Mohammad was born in a small village "Chaharke" near Jalandhar in 1925. In the wake of Partition in 1947 he migrated to Pakistan and settled in a village in Toba Tek Singh, a key center of Kissan Sabha movement in Punjab.
Ch. Fateh Mohammad joined the Communist Party of Pakistan in 1948 and became member of district committee w He was elected as a member of the Central Committee of Pakistan Trade Union Federation in 1950 congress and Faiz Ahmed Faiz was re-elected voice president of PTUF in that congress. ith the special task of reorganizing the Kissan (peasant) movement. He was elected member provincial committee CPP in 1949 and started the trade union movement in Lyallpur in 1949. He was elected as a member Central Committee of Pakistan Trade Union Federation in 1950 congress. Faiz Ahmed Faiz was reelected voice president and Mirza Mohammad Ibrahim president in that congress. Having been jailed for his political activities during the time of all Pakistani governments bar that of Benazir Bhutto, Ch. Fateh Mohammad had a first arrest warrant issued against him in 1951 prompting him to go underground, during which period he contested elections for a Punjab Assembly seat. His campaign team included Mazhar Ali Khan (father of Tariq Ali) and Prof Safdar Mir and was supported by mass organisations including Pakistan Kissan Committee, Pakistan Trade Union Federation, Democratic Students Federation, Progressive Writers Association, Democratic Women Association. With the outlawing of the Communist Party, upon his release Ch. Fateh Mohammad and his fellow comrades followed the party instructions and joined Mian Iftikhar-Ul-Din to form Azad Pakistan Party. Azad Pakistan party was later merged with National Party and other regional parties and formed National Awami Party (NAP) at Dhaka congress on 25 September 1957, a broad based progressive democratic party.
His second major stint of jail came in the late 50’s during the first martial law regime of General Ayub Khan when he was kept in Lahore Fort, then Lahore jail and Lyallpur jail (before being out under house arrest for another two years three months) during which time he developed a strong bond with fellow prisoner Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Upon being released in 1962 Ch. Fateh Mohammad threw himself into organizing a series of Kissan (peasants’ rights) conferences for the abolition of large feudal land holdings in Pakistan.
This near decade long work by him and his comrades culminated in the massive Kissan conference in March 1970 in Toba Tek Singh. Organised and supported by the major progressive and Left figures of the day and attended by over 300,000 people, this conference, the biggest in its history to date, played a major role in initiating land reform and in the future politics of Pakistan. Convinced in his belief that a united and operational political party of the Left is vital for any social change in the Pakistan in 2010, Ch. Fateh Mohammad was instrumental in helping to bring about the merger of five Left parties/groups into the Workers Party of Pakistan in March 2010.
Representing agricultural economy and peasant movement, Ch. Fateh Mohammad represented Pakistan, particularly left movement in a number of International conferences including Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Federation of Trade Union.
Nationally respected for his political principles, internationalism, boundless energy and infectious optimism in a brighter and egalitarian future, Ch. Fateh Mohammad has remained an inspirational and committed activist for progressive causes and peasants rights through the decades of ravages that progressive movements have suffered in Pakistan.
Best regards
Pervez Fateh
www.faizcentenary.orghttp://uk.faizcentenary.org
Cell: +44 (0)795 854 1672
E-mail:pervezf@yahoo.com
Cell: +44 (0)795 854 1672
E-mail:pervezf@yahoo.com
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