The vicissitudes of life are characterized by its unforeseen ability to make things happen, like it or lump it. Especially when we dare think of something with absolute determination, it tends to happen otherwise at the very moment of its conception.
It was just a couple of days before the heartbreaking demise of Illahi Bukhsh Soomro Sahib, one of Pakistan’s most senior politicians and a former Speaker of the National Assembly, when this scribe chanced upon meeting Zubyr Soomro, the son of Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, at a common friend’s place in Karachi. In the eventful meeting, Zubyr and I lightly touched upon his father, with whom I had been in close contact since my early days in Sukkur back in the 1960s and then later in Karachi in the 70s, 80s and 90s. During the occasional discussion, I casually suggested to him that we must plan a big ‘centennial’ celebration to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Illahi Bukhsh Soomro Sahib.
However, nobody knew that fate had something else in store for him. Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, a man of principles who remained associated with the Pakistan Muslim League till his last breath, succumbed to a protracted illness in Karachi at age 98, just a couple of years short of his 100th birthday.
A Taurus by his date of birth, Soomro was born on May 15, 1926. Hailing from a prominent political family in the Shikarpur-Jacobabad districts, he had everything in him in abundance that truly characterizes a Taurus: loyalty and faithfulness.
He began his political career in 1979, taking over his father’s cabinet position, Maula Bukhsh Soomro. Over the next twenty years, he served in many cabinet positions at the federal level. In his political career, Soomro was elected multiple times to the National Assembly from Sindh. He served as the 16th Speaker of the National Assembly from 1997 to 1999. During his term as Speaker, he was part of the government led by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Prior to that, Soomro held various ministerial positions, including federal minister for industries, housing, defense production, science and technology, and information.
“I started politics with the Muslim League, and I am still in the Muslim League even after retiring from politics. I am still a member of the League, and all my services are for the Muslim League”
In 2017, at the age of 93, he announced his retirement from politics, stating it was time to call it a day. “I started politics with the Muslim League, and I am still in the Muslim League even after retiring from politics. I am still a member of the League, and all my services are for the Muslim League,” he firmly stated and rightly so.
Other than being an exemplary politician, Illahi Bukhsh Soomro was a well-qualified civil engineer by his profession. A graduate of the world’s leading Columbia University, he initially worked as a civil engineer and later served as the director general of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) and headed the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) for an unprecedented four terms. He also served as the Rector at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute and was earlier principal of the NED College. Most importantly, he was part of Pakistan’s team negotiating the Indus Water Treaty with India in Washington, D.C.
As someone known and remembered even by his political opponents for his unblemished political purity and ideological integrity, Illahi Bukhsh Soomro had all the hallmarks of a man of character infused with devotion, uprightness, and probity. Marking the end of a principled life worth living, his demise last month has left behind a legacy that will live on, which even current and future politicians can never ignore. 
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