Ammar Rashid Profile picture
Jul 3, 2021 23 tweets 17 min read Read on X
Who is Seengar Noonari? A thread on the life and work of the abducted socialist organizer from @AWPSindh and why more people must speak out for him. Request people to share widely. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
Seengar is a grassroots activist from Nasirabad who is currently Labor Secretary of AWP Sindh. He comes from a rural working class background, the son of a peasant farmer from Kamber-Shahdadkot. While he grew up w/ few opportunities, he was born into a socially & politically -->
..conscious family, from a politically charged region that had produced revolutionary giants like Hyder Bux Jatoi, leading to him becoming imbued with a strong sense of justice and civic responsibility from the start of his life. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
Seengar was the first in his family to get a proper education, graduating with a BA from Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur. He became involved in social work from his school days, joining a local welfare organization that worked to promote girls education in poor families.
After he graduated, instead of moving away to the city, he decided to stay back & work for the people of his hometown, making ends meet through a job as a pharmaceutical salesman while he continued pursuing his passion for education & social work. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
He started coaching local students as a volunteer. He relentlessly advocated for new govt schools, particularly for girls, in his extremely educationally underserved region, leading to many new schools being started & facilities being restored in several schools of the district.
Seengar also became an active member of Shehri Ittehad Nasirabad, a citizens group that worked to maintain social & religious harmony, engage in community self-help & advocate with govt on the city's needs. He was elected President thrice, reflecting the community's trust in him.
Seengar was initially inclined twd Sindhi nationalism, as is often the norm among politically aware Sindhi youth. Over time however, he grew disillusioned w/ what he saw as factionalism & rigidity & moved to the Left. He joined Labour Party in 2009, which merged to form AWP later
Seengar’s lifelong training in social & political activism gave him just the skills required for Left politics. He started organizing rice mill workers most of them precarious workers, helping them form a union and fight for fair wages & social security. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
As a result of his efforts, workers managed to achieve wage increases, improve work conditions & strengthen job protections. In Seengar, workers found someone competent & committed they could take all their problems to. This is why they're out for him now. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
Seengar’s efforts for his community resulted in him being asked to run for LG election in 2016. He easily defeated his landlord opponent despite few resources. His tenure as a councillor was spent among the people, fixing municipal issues & fighting for improved public services.
Gender equality has always been at the core of Seengar’s politics, a value instilled into him through major the role played by his strong mother in his life. He worked for years to build avenues for women’s education & social & political empowerment. And it shows.
Unlike many, Seengar applies his convictions to his life. He encouraged & convinced his own wife & sisters to join Left politics, taking on more care work. His wife Fozia became a founding member of @wdf_pk the first socialist feminist organization in Sindh & later in Pakistan.
His efforts to spread education & raise consciousness are among his most remarkable achievements. He helped start & rehabilitate schools & libraries, convinced hundreds to enroll their daughters, provided free coaching services, & organized dozens of study circles for youth.
He started AWP Nasirabad’s annual Haider Bux Jatoi socialist political school, which has become an institution in his hometown, attracting 1000s of students, workers, women & activists every year from across Sindh & beyond to discuss everything from the economy to art & culture.
I have attended the political school hosted by Seengar & AWP Nasirabad & it is one of the most intellectually stimulating, engaging & grounded conferences I have ever witnessed in this country or others. Wrote about it earlier this year here: facebook.com/ammar.rashid1/…
Seengar is also a man with a deep appreciation for art & culture, growing up in a community steeped in the literary traditions of Shah Abdul Latif, GM Syed & Ibrahim Joyo. He promotes & participates in political street theatre, where his wife & family also sing & perform.
He organizes Macch katcheris with local Sufi & folk artists and tries to integrate their art into his political practice, managing to infuse spaces for theoretical debate & protest with the grounded wisdom & intensity of Sindhi folk poetry & music. #ReleaseSeengarNoorani
There is so much more that could be written on Seengar that could fill pages. Of his work to organize sanitary workers against non-payment of wages & terrible conditions. Of his efforts to address workers individual complaints & experiences of injustice on an almost daily basis..
..of his relief work in times of disaster or economic crisis. Of his passion for the well-being of children, evident in how much they love him. Of his always cheery demeanor & infectious smile. There's a reason so many are marching to demand his release. #ReleaseSeengarNoonari
Seengar is simply an outstanding human being. It is not just that he is innocent – he is one of the best amongst us. It is people like him, who dedicate their lives to service to others, who stand for something & create unity across social divides, that hold this society together
Seengar is missing bc he mobilized hundreds against BTK’s land grabs & was mobilizing for AWP’s Day of Action when he was abducted. He has never hurt a fly in life & is a living example of nonviolent praxis. But his lifelong efforts to organize workers are now a threat to elites.
#ReleaseSeengarNoonari. Stop silencing those who care about the people & are willing to dedicate their lives to their service. End the crime of abducting political workers for having a desire for change. Stop silencing the few trying to make others conscious. Let people breathe.

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More from @AmmarRashidT

Jul 2, 2021
Visited France colony with @alia_amirali at the invitation of residents to inspect an awful act of classist vandalism where a nearby homeowner w/ help of CDA has partly demolished an entry/exit pathway of the abadi used for daily work & school commute, water collection & funerals
The homeowner, a retired bureaucrat, had along with other neighbors filed a complaint with CDA's enforcement directorate about abadi residents' use of the path because it 'caused traffic'. Soon after, CDA complied, destroying the entry to the path & making it unsafe for use.
Incidentally, the homeowner had already started encroaching on the abadi's pathway years ago when he started building his house. Over time, he encroached over 2 kanals of public land beyond his own plot, making the abadi entrance narrower. Now he's almost destroyed it altogether.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 17, 2020
Have been going through the available covid-19 data from Pakistan & talking to people in MoH/WHO. It does appear that there are now substantive reasons to believe that the drop in cases isn't just about reduced testing and there's some basis for cautious optimism.
First, on the testing itself: the initial drop in cases after mid-June was mirrored by the reduction in tests. However, after June 29th, testing levels plateaued at around 22,500/day while new cases continued to fall.
Secondly, the positivity rate (the proportion of covid-19 tests that are positive) has almost halved in a month, from averaging 22% in the first half of June to about 11-12% on average now. If tests were reducing amid a worsening pandemic, the positivity rate would be going up.
Read 12 tweets
Jun 1, 2020
Imran Khan, Asad Umar & Insafians keep making a fundamental mistake about the entire purpose of lockdowns and social distancing, which is clearly sabotaging Pakistan's entire covid-19 response. This urgently needs to be rectified. A thread.
IK keeps repeating this talking point - like in this video - that the purpose of lockdowns is to buy time until a vaccine is developed, which will be far too long to afford. This is absolutely not the case.

Lockdowns are a measure to enforce social distancing, which is a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) to contain infectious disease. The epidemiological purpose of social distancing has nothing to do with vaccines - it is to reduce the Reproduction number (R0) to around 1.
Read 20 tweets
Apr 5, 2020
Have been thinking a lot about the kind of behavior change communication strategy the government needs to employ to contain the spread of #CoronavirusinPakistan so here are some ideas for what it needs to focus on. Thread.
For those who don't know, behavior change communication (BCC) is a term used in development & public health for a process of intervention with individuals & communities to promote positive & avoid harmful behaviors that are injurious to individual or public health/well-being.
Broadly, in any behavior change strategy, you need to give people both an appropriate understanding of the risks involved (people will only take sufficiently precautionary action if they know how they are vulnerable) as well as actionable knowledge of the viable solutions.
Read 19 tweets
Feb 5, 2020
A note of gratitude and reflection on our time in Adiala Jail. A thread.
It has been an emotionally overwhelming week on both a personal and political level. We were without any contact with the outside world there but can now tell so many of you have put your sweat, tears and creativity into securing our freedom.
It is hard to express sufficient gratitude for the support & solidarity of our families, friends & allies, from my incredible partner-in-life @jaquelintzin, to the brilliant legal team that argued our case, to my relentless AWP comrades, the leftist, progressive & nationalist..
Read 32 tweets
Nov 30, 2018
Pakistani students will be marching for their rights in over a dozen cities in Pakistan today. Here is why they are right to be angry & why it is essential that the whole country listens to their demands. Thread. #StudentsSolidarityMarch
Let’s start w/ some honesty: Pakistani students have it pretty bad. Pakistan boasts one of the worst education systems in the world, a rot that runs all the way from primary to higher education levels, with no meaningful reform attempts by any government. #StudentsSolidarityMarch
Our dubious education records include the world’s 2nd highest number of out-of-school children (22.8m), one of the highest school dropout rates (50% of all primary school students), & one of the lowest female literacy rates (48%) in the world.
Read 27 tweets

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