B M Kutty: Driven by Passion

Lahore, 27 August 2019. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) notes with sorrow the loss of veteran trade unionist, political activist and writer Biyyothil Mohyuddin Kutty, who passed away in Karachi on 25 August.

At a reference held in memory of Mr B M Kutty at HRCP’s central secretariat in Lahore, HRCP’s Secretary-General Harris Khalique said that Mr Kutty’s profound interest in different facets of life was matched by his deep interest in humanity and the human condition. As a sharp-eyed chronicler of Pakistan’s politics, he is of course known for having edited In Search of Solutions: An Autobiography of Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo. Mr Khalique also recalled Mr Kutty’s involvement in the World Social Forum held in Pakistan in 2006, adding that, as a veteran activist of the left, Mr Kutty had never sought to cast himself as a political leader – he remained a political worker till his last breath.

HRCP’s Honorary Spokesperson I A Rehman, a long-time comrade of Mr Kutty, recalled his remarkable contribution to people’s understanding of Balochistan – its aspirations and the challenges it faced. Mr Rehman also said that Sixty Years in Self Exile: No Regrets was not just Mr Kutty’s autobiography, but also the story of Pakistan and its social and political frustrations. He remembered Mr Kutty as being driven by passion and the sense that injustice was not something to sit back and accept.

Concluding the reference, Dr Mehdi Hasan, HRCP’s Chairperson, said that it was critical that Pakistan’s youth be made aware of the significance of Mr Kutty’s life and work and the principles by which he lived.

Dr Mehdi Hasan

Chairperson