Last week, Pakistan lost its veteran labour unionist, Karamat Ali. The values embedded in him revolved around human rights, labour associations, regional peace and social justice.

His assumption was simple: a better world for the working class is possible through active civil society organizations and by consistent attempts to forge alliances with people across borders.

We lost Karamat Ali at the age of 79 on June 20, 2024 in Karachi, a city where he established his flagship project, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER). My association with Karamat Ali goes back to the 1980s when I was a college student and he was already an established activist and labour leader. Be it an event at PILER or gatherings at the PMA; discussions at the Progressive Writers Association (PWA); protests at the Karachi Press Club; literary festivals at the Arts Council of Pakistan; or conferences that the Pak-India Peace Forum organized both in India and Pakistan, Karamat Ali was mostly conspicuous by his active leadership.

He was nearly 20 years older than me but always spoke on equal terms with respect and dignity. We travelled together a couple of times to India where he commanded immense admiration among peace activists and progressive circles. His commitment to regional peace and interfaith harmony was visible in his activities until his last days.

Karamat Ali was a mentor and teacher to many, and there is hardly any democratic or secular person in South Asia who did not come across or did not know him well.

Thanks to Dr Jaffar Ahmed’s oral history project at the Institute of Historical and Social Research (IHSRA) of Sohail University in Karachi, Karamat Ali’s memoirs ‘Raah Guzar to Dekho’ became available to readers in 2020. This 250-page book is an invaluable source of information about Karamat Ali’s life and struggle since the 1960s. The book chronicles the labour movement from the inception of Pakistan to the 21st century. Karamat Ali emerges as an indomitable fighter for........

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