KARACHI, Oct 11: Syed Ali Mukhtar Rizvi, an eminent student leader of the 60s and an outstanding debater, was laid to rest in the Liaquatabad graveyard on Thursday. He died of cancer at the age of 68 on Wednesday.

Earlier, a large number of his relatives, friends and fellow political activists offered his funeral prayers, held after Zohar prayers at Imambargah Shah-i-Najaf, Martin Quarters. Prominent among the participants of his funeral were Justice (retd) Abul Inam, Justice (retd) Rashid A. Razvi, Ombudsman Yusuf Jamal, Senator Abbas Kumaili, Mairaj Mohammad Khan, Fatehyab Ali Khan, B.M. Kutti, Dr Mehboob, Nawaz Butt, Agha Jaffer, Hasan Rizvi, Abdul Khaliq Junejo and Masroor Ahsan.

The soyem will be held tomorrow at 4 pm at Masjid Asna Ashri, C-1 Area, Liaquatabad.

The late Rizvi was one of the 12 prominent student leaders, including Mairaj Mohammad Khan, who had waged a valiant struggle against Gen Ayub Khan.

Mr Rizvi was born in the Indian city of Agra and he, along with his family, migrated to Pakistan in 1951. He acquired education in Karachi and after passing his intermediate examination from the Government College Nazimabad, did his graduation from the Islamia College. He obtained a Master’s in philosophy from the University of Karachi.

Mr Rizvi also did LLB from the University of Karachi but except for a short stint with Advocate Azizullah Shaikh, he never tried to adopt law as his profession.

For his active role during his association with the National Students Federation, he was arrested in 1958 when Gen Ayub Khan imposed martial law on the country. He was arrested again along with many students who held protests in Karachi against riots in the Indian city of Jabalpur and observed “Jabalpur Day”. Later, he was shifted to the Lahore Fort and sentenced to one year imprisonment. Following the ensuing protests by students against the crackdown and conviction, the government released him and many other students.

Mr Rizvi, along with Fatehyab Ali Khan, Iqbal Jafferi and Mairaj Mohammad Khan, was rusticated from the university of Karachi for leading a movement against the government’s decision to convert the two-year degree course to three years. The movement forced the government of Gen Ayub Khan to withdraw the decision.

In 1966, the late activist joined the National Awami Party’s Bhashani group. He was arrested again and jailed for taking part in a movement against Gen Ayub Khan in 1968.

In the Z.A. Bhutto era also, Mr Rizvi was arrested during the language riots. After his release, he joined the Jeay Sindh Movement and remained associated with it till his death.