RAWALPINDI: Speakers at a reference on Friday urged people to stand up for the rights of the oppressed in society.

The reference was held for Comrade Manzoorul Hussain, a veteran leftist and labour organiser, who passed away recently.

The speakers said progressive forces must build a viable and popular politics on the basis of the best traditions of 20th century`s left and adapt to the demands of the digital age.

More than 65 per cent of Pakistan`s population is below the age of 25 and they s hould become the backbone of a mass movement against the authoritarian, anti-people and pro-imperialist political system in Pakistan and the world at large, they added.

The youth, women, oppressed nationalities, religious minorities and working people must transcend the divisions created within them by the establishment to ensure dignity, equality and freedom for all.

Organised by the Awami Workers Party (AWP), the reference was attended by former friends and colleagues of the deceased from trade unions, media, social organisations and political parties.

The participants recalled Mr Hussain`s dedication and commitment to progressive politics and vowed to take it forward.

The speakers included the deceased`s brother, fellow trade unionist and AWP leader Mohammad Zahoor, AWP`s Masudul Hasan and Ammar Rashid, academic and member of Haqoogi-Khalg Movement (HKM) Dr Ammar Ali Jan, journalist and member of HKM Aima Khosa and Progressive Students Fe deration (PrSF) member Abdul Hameed Bukhari.

Mr Zahoor recalled the manner in which his brother was politically radicalised during the dictatorship of Ayub Khan like so many others when the left politics was the most important component of the popular anti-dictatorship movement.

`Manzoor never abandoned or even questioned the basic principles that had been inculcated in him that resisting inequality and injustice is fundamental to any vision of a fair world and the only one worth fighting for.

Mr Zahoor also stressed involvement of the worl(ing class and youth in progressive politics. He said a new generation of youth had similarly been politicised during the antiMusharraf movement and it was this generation that must now spearhead a new revolutionary politics.

Dr Jan said: `We are fast losing giants of an entire generation. Other than Asma Jahangir and Manzoor Sahib, we have also lost Fanoos Gujjar, Fehmida Riaz and Nigar Ahmad.

These people, he said, embodied the idealism of a bygone era when the possibility of a different world was still on the horizon. They lived their lives as champions indifferent to the suffocating logic of the world and were always ready to transform the anxiety of uncertainty into hope for a better tomorrow.

`These were the real heroes of our land and we will be a much more optimistic society if the younger generation chooses to connect with the glorious legacy left behind by these exemplary individuals,` he said.