SANGHAR, April 22: Sindh Minister for Technical Education Abdul Salam Thaheem passed away after a brief illness in a private hospital in Karachi on Sunday. He was 64.
He is survived by wife and four sons.
He was suffering from diabetes and kidney and lung ailments. He had been on ventilator for at least three days.
He was laid to rest on Sunday evening in his ancestral graveyard at Duthro Sharif, 12km from Shahdadpur. Namaz-i-Janaza was offered in Tayyab Thaheem village.
Thousands of people, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Sindh IG Mushtaq Shah, Senator Aajiz Dhamrah, Mohammad Khan Junejo and Shah Mohammad Shah attended the funeral.
Mr Thaheem joined the PPP in 1969 and remained with it till his death.
He played a leading role in the Movement for Restoration of Democracy against the-then military regime.
His native village Tayyab Thaheem faced a military operation in 1986, resulting in the death of two villagers and the arrest of over 50. Mr Thaheem was also arrested.
He was jailed several times during his political career and was lodged in prisons in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Khairpur and other towns in the province.
He was elected as an MPA in the 2008 election from Shahdadpur (PS-68) Sanghar.
He got party ticket five times and returned to the house three times. He was inducted as a minister each time.
The late PPP leader was known as Khadim-i-Awam in Sanghar district for his services to the poor.
His last appearance in public was at a ceremony held last month in Shahdadpur where he distributed orders of regularisation of jobs among 150 government employees, add news agencies.
President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed sorrow over the death of Mr Thaheem.
In a condolence message to his family, the president prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also expressed deep grief and anguish over the death Mr Thaheem. In a message, Mr Gilani prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul.
