KARACHI: Senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and former provincial minister Syed Shoaib Bukhari died here on Tuesday after a long illness. He was 72.

Once considered as one of the trusted lieutenants of London-based Altaf Hussain, Mr Bukhari rose to prominence after the 1992 army operation against the MQM when he along with a few people reopened the MQM’s Nine Zero headquarters and started political activities from there.

He joined the MQM in the 1980s and was elected a member of the Sindh Assembly five times — in 1990, 1993, 1997, 2002 and 2008. He became a provincial minister three times — in 1997, 2002 and 2008 — and held portfolios of labour, planning and development and bureau of supply and prices in different cabinets.

He was a lawyer and in this capacity he also worked for the Legal Aid Committee of the MQM. He became a member of the MQM’s coordination committee in 1993 and deputy convener in 2002.

Born in Allahabad, India, in 1944, Mr Bukhari lived in a modest house in Liaquatabad despite being elected an MPA for five times and minister for three times.

While a large number of MQM workers were either killed or arrested during the 1994-1996 operation, which was launched by the second government of Benazir Bhutto after the withdrawal of the army from Karachi, Mr Bukhari did not leave Nine Zero and was not arrested. However, he was arrested during a raid at the party’s Nine Zero headquarters in November 1998 after then prime minister Nawaz Sharif imposed Governor Rule in Sindh and suspended the Sindh Assembly.

His party had alleged that he was tortured by some notorious police officers in custody. A photograph of a frail Mr Bukhari with a black eye after a court appearance also lent credence to the torture allegations. However, he remained loyal to Mr Hussain and did not switch loyalty. He remained in custody for years and was released in 2002 after Gen Pervez Musharraf ousted PM Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999.

He had contested and won the 2002 general election from a provincial assembly constituency in Liaquatabad. He became the minister for planning and development and in this capacity he approved various development schemes for Karachi when Naimatullah Khan and Mustafa Kamal were Karachi mayors.

He did not accept a party offer to contest 2013 general election because of his failing health. His health deteriorated around four months back and he died on Tuesday.

An MQM statement said that his funeral prayers would be offered on Wednesday (today) at Azizabad’s Jinnah Groud after Zohr prayer.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2016